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The Aim of Training
by General Bramwell Booth
Extract from Training Staff Council
Lectures - 1925
In the previous Session I spoke of some of the things which
you are asked and expected to do for the Cadets who are
placed in your charge. Let me say that no one would make
this request or entertain this expectation unless he felt
sure that you would call upon God. You will, of
course, go to Him in prayer with and for each Cadet.
You will ask above everything for the aid of the Divine
Spirit. You will look upon each life entrusted to you
as a problem to be solved only by the Spirit's light and
love and power.
I know how unequal many of you feel to this great task.
It will mean for you to toil and travail in spirit.
But God will teach you; God will show you how to bring these
young lives to His feet; God will illumine the path for you.
My hope is not in you only, it is in God; that, with Him,
you will be able to achieve.
Broken Pride
There is one thing more I want to say about humility before
I pass on. Remember that the highest-minded people can bend
the lowest when they have learned humility. The
high-spirited purposeful girl and the lad who carries his
head high and is stiff and difficult, when they come down
before God, and really reach the point of saying, 'Lord, I
am nothing before Thee,' are more likely to receive great
gifts from God than those who find it easy to grovel and to
disparage themselves. Your greatest victory will always be
with those who are least disposed by nature to the humble
spirit of Jesus Christ. The choicest and most abundant
fruit will be borne by those who were once 'high and
mighty,' but who have been bowed down before God.
I want to say a word to you to-day about the importance of
linking the individual Cadet on to God. All that
belongs to true religion, to salvation, results, of course,
from a connecting of man with God. There is no doubt that
all who are really brought to know Jesus Christ as their
Saviour receive some uniting spirit, find some connecting
link between themselves and the Divine Spirit. But I
am thinking now of that special link with God which belongs
to those who are employed in His work, those who have to
carry responsibility for the souls of others and for the
rule and extension of His Kingdom.
A Direct Link with God
One of the most important things we can do for the Cadets is
to show them how they may make a direct link with God, so
that they may have their own proved way of finding Him in
every need. Many of them come to the various Training
Garrisons with only a superficial experience of spiritual
things. They have been helped along and brought as far
as the Training Garrison largely by instinct, by involuntary
impulse, by their liking or admiration for certain people,
or by certain fortuitous preferences or desires.
Some of them, again, have been guided chiefly by the
instinct of fear. For some people fear is a great
safe-guard. They are saved from certain evils because
they are afraid. Some of them, again, have been
leaning almost entirely upon material things, forms, and
ceremonies, the outward manifestations of spiritual life and
effort. The affairs of their Corps, its Meetings, its
prayers, its interest have been their bulwarks. The
opportunities it has given them for testimony and work, the
kindness of its people, the counsel of some of the Local
Officers, have been their great support and help. It
is intended that it should be so, and we are glad that it is
so. But we must now so link them with God that He, and
not human personalities or conditions, no matter how
favourable, becomes the source of their strength.
Some of these young people make friendships in the old Corps
which do not seem very suitable, but which do help them in
the course they take. A frivolous and thoughtless lad
picks up with a serious-minded girl – or the other way about
– and those who are interested in the young people deplore
this association as unfortunate. But there is another
side to it. The serious-minded girl with her goodness
and strength may with her friendship prove to be a kind of
bridge for this lad to help him over a dangerous period, and
in the end the friendship – even though it becomes nothing
more – may prove blessing to at least one of the pair.
The Cadets, then, come to the Garrison leaning to some
extent on other people. They have been propped up in
their spiritual life by external aids. In the
Garrison, too, they are further buttressed by special help.
The atmosphere of the place itself helps them, so does the
counsel which is available to them, so does the routine of
Training. But the supreme necessity is, over and above all
these human helps, that the Cadets shall be definitely
linked with God. The material things which helped and
supported them when they were Soldiers will avail no longer
when they go out as Officers. Then they will have to
meet a new life, with a different aim, a higher standard, a
more pressing call of duty. Some of the old
friendships which helped them in the past might be highly
undesirable, even dangerous now. Remember, as you look into
the faces of the Cadets, that, after this period of
instruction and illumination in the Training Garrison, they
will have to fight their battles alone, without the
resources to which they have trusted hitherto, save only God
Himself.
I ask you, therefore, to give yourself to the task of
directing them to find in God more strength and support than
that which they formerly sought and found elsewhere.
Open this new source of power to them. Show then how to make
their way to God, to realize His presence, to hear His
voice, to lean upon Him in difficulty, depression,
temptation, fiery trial. Do we not often see the dark
hour ahead of them as we look at them? Do we not
realize the bitter lonely conflicts upon which sooner or
later they may enter? Do we not see the furnace fires
which are hidden from their own sight? The greatest
service we can render to them is to show them how to find
their way to God for themselves, to bring them to turn to
Him, to lean upon Him, in just the same way as they have
learned to turn to their friends and advisers in the Corps,
or to their Officers in the Garrison, but with even a
greater freedom and a firmer assurance of help.
I do not know whether you have had much experience in trying
to help older people. It always charms me to help the
young, and there my own service began when I was a lad.
But I have also had a good deal to do with people of middle
age and older. If you ask me which of the two classes
is the more difficult to help, control and direct, I answer
without hesitation that it is the older. A sapling may
be transplanted and may thrive; not so a tree which already
has its roots far in the soil. Your opportunity with
the young is the great opportunity. The material is
pliable, and it is for you to see that it is impressed with
the stamp of God.
The Power of Prayer
The first element in forming this linkage with God is
prayer. Prayer must be made a reality in the lives of
these Cadets. The humility of which I have already
spoken will help them to pray. I think the daily
'Half-Hour' useful because it helps to create the habit of
approach. Some Cadets find it very difficult to give
themselves for half an hour to communion with God. But
to form such a habit is worth a struggle. Numerous Officers
in various parts of the world have told me that the habit of
prayer, formed when in Training, has proved to be their
salvation. It has led them to feel that in times of
trial, difficulty, and loneliness they could enter into His
presence without formality or delay. The daily
'Half-Hour' will be of permanent value to the Cadets if they
learn thereby to appreciate the value of prayer, and to
become, apart from any time-table, men of prayer.
Personal waiting on God is not to exclude united prayer, and
Meetings for Prayer at which all Cadets are present can be
of great value. I have been exercised lately about
those passages in the Bible – in the New Testament
especially – which seem to indicate that God has great
regard for the prayer of the multitude as well as for that
of the individual. There is very much to be said both
for solitary and for united prayer. Elijah on Carmel
was a wonderful figure, standing alone in the midst of the
crowd, lifting up his hands to God, and calling down fire
from heaven. But, in bringing about the coming of the
Holy Ghost in the upper room, great stress was undoubtedly
laid on united prayer, on combined intercession. Much
in the Old Testament seems to indicate that united prayer is
of even more value than individual prayer – for instance,
those great gatherings in the Temple when God came down on
the multitude and the place was filled with His glory or
shaken by His power.
Let the Cadets understand, too, that anyone can pray:
that the door of prayer is open to the lowliest and the
weakest. When I am talking to sinners, especially in
the Open-air Meetings, I frequently ask this question and
make this appeal, 'When did you pray last? Will you
begin to pray again? ' When pleading with fathers I
ask them about their children, and say, 'Anyhow, pray with
the children!' It is not only good people who can talk
to God. Any one can pray.
Freedom with God
I want you to encourage the Cadets to be free with God.
Let it be less you who link them on to God, than they who
link themselves with Him. Let them understand from the
early days of the Session that it is for them to open out
their hearts before Him. Let them learn that
intercourse with Him does not depend on their being
sanctified or walking in some high state of grace. Let
them learn how to go to God, bringing their sore places,
their disadvantages, their disappointments and
self-condemnations with them. I want them to go time
after time and say, 'Here I am, Lord; wrong again (if it be
so), but still I come to You.' We must encourage the
sick soul to go to God for healing, and the weak soul for
strength, as well as encourage intercession for the whole
world by those who know themselves to be free from bondage
and strong in Him.
Make Salvationists!
Another word about the Aim of Training. I know, and you
know, that there are a great many good people in the world
besides Salvationists. God bless them all! The
Lord is no doubt very impressed with us, and we may think,
or indeed feel sure, that we are the best of the lot!
But there are others.
When I bid you make the Cadets Salvationists, I mean for one
thing make them different from the religious people around
us, different from those who are merely good. Now and
then you hear a comrade say, 'He is a beautiful fellow, but
I wish he were more of a Salvationist.' We know what is
meant.
It is very important that these young people, our leaders of
tomorrow, upon whom the future of The Salvation Army
depends, should feel the charm and power and inwardness of
Salvationism. They must be led to see with what
distinctiveness Salvationism stands out in the world today.
It is quite a special kind of life and experience to which
we refer when we say, 'He (or she) is a Salvationist.'
To be a Salvationist means the blending of many qualities.
It cannot be said of one particular characteristic that it
makes a man a Salvationist. A man may shout and dance
and appear to overflow with zeal and joy. That may be
symptomatic of Salvationism as it affects certain
temperaments, but it does not in itself make a Salvationist.
I was talking to the Sergeant-Major of a struggling Corps in
a little village. He earns 34s. a week, has a wife and
three children, and pays 5s. a week for his house. In
order to keep the Corps going he gives 6s. a week
towards the rent of the Hall. I said to him' How do
you manage? How do you live?' He said, 'I and my
dear wife take care that the children do not suffer, though
we are often hungry ourselves. But we feel we cannot let
the Corps go.' That man is indeed a Salvationist.
But even that perpetual sacrifice, precious as it must be as
an expression of Salvationism in the sight of God, does not
alone make him a Salvationist.
When I say, therefore, make the Cadets Salvationists, I mean
many things.
The Spirit of Liberty
One or two essentials of Salvationism I particularly desire
for them. One is what I call the spirit of liberty.
Salvationism includes liberty before God, liberty in working
for God, liberty in experience, emancipation from the
artificial and formal, the freedom of the 'large place',
into which David said the Lord had brought him. This
freedom, which comes from deliverance and is a mark of God's
presence and approval, will show itself in many ways in the
life and influence of the Cadet. I want it to be seen
and heard in his talking and witnessing. I see a
certain tendency amongst Cadets, as amongst Officers
generally, towards that stilted style of talking which is no
part of Salvationism. Officers who adopt the
preachifying style have side-tracked themselves from the
open highway of our calling. Nothing will so quickly
drive away the people as men preachifying. In saying
this, I do not condemn those who, notwithstanding their
preachifying, are very successful in soul-winning.
Some such men have been and are mighty in dealing with
sinners. Now and again a Cadet may safely be left
alone, although his talking is of the preachifying order.
But generally we do not want that kind of talking. In
the exceptionist case it may be unwise to interfere lest one
should interrupt a remarkable work of soul-winning which is
going on in spite of the preachifying, but such cases will
only occur here and there.
How can we help Cadets to this freedom? We can bid
them, 'Be yourself! Talk in your own way. Do not
imitate any one. Just talk as you feel naturally
disposed to talk.' But it is necessary to go further
with some who already have formed a habit of speaking that
is neither simple nor natural. What I want you to do
is to insist with all classes of Cadets on the colloquial
style of talking. By 'colloquial' I mean
conversational. Encourage them to talk from the
platform in the same free and easy way as they would talk to
a group around the tea-table or to an individual in whom
they were interested. They must not be allowed to get
stereotyped in their talk or to 'ape the parson.'
Preaching and Talking: The Difference
The little grey book in general use in the Training
Garrisons was prepared by the Founder, with some assistance.
It is very useful, especially in helping Cadets to arrange
their ideas in an orderly manner, but it is open to the
fault that it rather encourages preachification. It
was intended to be put into the hands of those who, in
teaching from it, would warn the Cadets not to make mere
sermons. Women – from every point of view better
talkers than men – are specially prone to this temptation.
It is sad to see them going off into that sermonic style
when they can be the most natural and most effective of
talkers.
The Salvation Army was not made by preaching, although we
have had a few wonderful preachers amongst us. The
dear Founder – he knew how to preach, although he was one of
the best examples the world has ever seen of colloquial
talking. He had to face crowds such as few of us have
to face; but even in the Albert Hall, with nine or ten
thousand people hanging on his words, he would begin his
talk in a conversational way as if he were speaking over the
breakfast-table to somebody who had dropped in. And
when he had won attention and was holding the crowd as one
man, he went right for that man. He was, although a
great preacher, a perfect example of naturalness, in that he
gave his message in his own way.
My dear mother, too, was a marvelous example of this
conversational style. With only a sheet of paper in
her hand, she would stand up before a great audience of
Church people, intellectual people, people in a critical
mood. I have seen her before vast audiences, in London
and in Paris, and speak as if she were just talking to one
person – pouring out the unusual riches of her heart and
mind for his or her help alone. She was not 'trained',
and yet, because of her sincerity, her obedience to God's
personal revelation to herself, she had unsurpassed power in
dealing with crowds. Her talk did not consist of fundamental
things, but always the manner of it was simple, colloquial,
womanly.
I want the Cadets to see that the simple, natural,
colloquial style is the highest aim they can set before
themselves in talking. The very substance of what they have
to say will be helped by this colloquial method. The
lesser truths, the more casual thoughts, will have a value
and a helpfulness when introduced in this conversational
way, which they would not have if they were given forth in a
formal pronouncement. The least gifted amongst us may
succeed as a talker if he will resolves to talk simply and
naturally.
No Ridicule
Do not allow the Cadets to ridicule one another with regard,
among other matters, to their methods of speaking.
Some Cadets find occasion for fun in everything, and may
make fun of each other unless discouraged from doing so.
Much of it is the result of youthful spirits, but is should
be checked, as far as possible, because it may be wounding
and discouraging. The men are more at fault in this
than the women, who, generally, are more considerate of each
other.
Again, the attempt to improve the Cadet's grammar or
pronunciation is apt to hinder the freedom which is so
important. At least it needs discretion in the doing,
for I suppose we must correct flagrant errors. On the
other hand, every one must see that the Cadet will get very
little benefit from his training if, every time he talks, he
is watching himself nervously to see that he does not make a
mistake. I am inclined to say, never correct the wrong
use of a word, a mispronunciation, or a mistake in grammar
which was made in public. Correct mistakes when they are
made in the Garrison, in the class, or in an interview; but
never say to a Cadet, 'In the Meeting last night you' – said
so and so. Do not let him see that you noticed he made
the mistake on the platform. Exercise a little guile.
Contrive that the Sergeant or Brigade Officer, or some one
to whom he will listen carefully, shall engage him in
conversation in which the same mistake occurs, and then put
him right.
Encourage Freedom
Jesus Christ said, 'The truth shall make you free.' I
rely upon you to make the Cadets a people free from self and
free in Him. Help them to freedom in their Meetings,
in their talking, in their praying, in their fishing.
Encourage freedom in personal dealing, which affords one of
their most important opportunities. Encourage them to
talk to people in the train, in the tram, in the street.
Teach them to make the very most of their opportunities for
talking in the homes of the people. This is important
everywhere, but its importance in the smaller places is most
evident. Six people in a house offer as great an
opportunity as six people in the Hall. If you help the
Cadets to freedom in speaking in the homes of the people,
you will not only have done a great deal for those whom they
influence, but you will have done a great deal for the
Cadets themselves and for their future, teaching them
self-forgetfulness, boldness, directness, and reliance upon
the Spirit who will give them utterance.
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