|
Controlled Aggression
by
Commissioner Wesley Harris
THE first I
heard of The Journal of Aggressive Christianity was when, at
the time of its introduction, I had a letter from someone who,
perhaps understandably, had concern about an Army publication
not prepared through an editorial department. In my reply I
expressed confidence that what would be produced in this
instance would be lively but loyal and certainly in harmony
with accepted Army principles and practice.
That vote of confidence has certainly been justified during
the past decade. There have been many and varied opinions
expressed, as might be expected in a movement which has been
described as ‘a mosaic of grace’ .But there has been evidence
of a remarkable unity of purpose and commitment to the
holistic mission of the Army, and as a contributor from the
beginning I have counted it a privilege to share space with so
many ‘comrades dear who love the Lord’
Catherine Booth wrote about the need for aggressive
Christianity but I wonder if she would feel that in these days
some of us are not as aggressive as we should be. Sometime we
are so frightened of saying the wrong thing that we fail to
say the right thing when Scripture would enjoin the redeemed
of the Lord to ‘say so’. The late Commissioner Catherine
Bramwell-Booth told me that in the early days of the Army
people would be reluctant to get into a railway compartment
occupied by a uniformed Salvationist for fear of being
‘button-holed’ about the state of their soul.
I ask myself as well as others, have we gone to another
extreme so that we only engage in shadow boxing rather than
the real thing? Has some of the fight gone out of us so that
while we enjoy our camaraderie we are not so fond of ‘hand to
hand’ fighting? In that case, JAC will challenge us to be up
and doing for the Lord. The Salvation Army exists for people
who don’t belong to it as well as for those who do. We were
meant to be a people with a passion and our passion should be
people and how they can be won for Jesus.
Of course, ours needs to be .a controlled aggression. The Holy
Spirit must direct our fire and save us from becoming ‘loose
cannons’. That will call for wisdom as well as enthusiasm. As
an Army we need to adopt strategies suited to the present age
which is very different from the time of crinolines and old
lace when we came into being.
It is encouraging that the Army still has a holy inventiveness
and is discovering new ways of presenting the old truths of
the gospel and service for the present age. A few years ago
the idea an internet magazine would have seemed an impossible
dream. Now the dream has come true and I pray that JAC may
long continue to provide munitions for the war against evil.
|
