Souvenirs of Salvationism 2
by Commissioner Wesley Harris
A NOTICE in the Australian edition of The War Cry in October
1885 invited orders for ‘Soldiers’Passes’ at four pence each.
Apparently these were required to gain entry into specified
gatherings such as Soldiers’ meetings.
The passes were coloured red and embossed with gold lettering
plus the Army crest and certified that the bearer was
authorised and required to perform under the direction of a
superior officer all possible duties for the salvation of
souls and the glory of God.
The
pass indicated that possession of it did not give anyone the
position of a soldier any longer than they continued really to
be one. It stated that to be a soldier one had to be saved
from the guilt and power of sin through true repentance and
faith in the blood of Christ.
It laid down that the soldier had to be a total abstainer from
all intoxicating drink, from cursing and swearing, lying,
deceit and fraud of any kind and be baptized with the Holy
Ghost so as to be on fire for the salvation of others and
willing to do as they were told by a superior officer for the
salvation of souls – without any discussion!
Further requirements included regular attendance at meetings
outdoor and in, giving to the funds and making known its
publications.
Although the conditions might seem rigorous soldiership was
seen as a privilege and in rollicking meetings our forebears
could sing meaningfully of ‘joy in The Salvation Army’. Holy
hilarity often went along with serious spiritual purpose.
William Booth was both inclusive and exclusive. On the one
hand everyone was welcome at the Army but not everyone was
welcome in the Army. William Booth wanted soldiers - for
without soldiers there could be no army! - but he felt that it
was important to have people who would believe and behave as
‘good soldiers of Jesus Christ’.
There were plenty of church spires on the skyline in the
mid-nineteenth century but William Booth was not into forming
another denomination on lines similar to those already in
existence. He wanted to raise a fighting force of militant
activists.
We live in another era when people’s mindset may be very
different. Post modernism is far removed from the attitudes of
Victorian England. But pondering on the soldier’s pass and
what may be described as primitive Salvationism may cause us
to at least ponder whether ‘the big ask’ of sacrificial
service may still have more appeal than attempts to
accommodate people in more ‘comfortable pews’ and ever easier
‘churchianity’.
I recently spent some weeks at the new Army ‘War College’ in
Vancouver. The Salvationist students have been ‘doing it
tough’ living in extremely spartan accomodation and studying
and witnessing in an appalling ‘downtown eastside’ district.
But these ‘soldiers of the pavement (to use a description of
Salvationists attributed to the late Pope John Paul II) would
be as happy a group of young people as I have known, and
worthy successors of those who would undoubtedly have carried
their soldiers’ passes with pride.
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