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Too much to handle
by Cadet Peter Lublink
If you have
spent anytime either as a member of the Salvation Army, or
with people who have been a part of the Salvation Army, you
have likely come across the following phrase: “I didn’t
realize that you’re a church!” Or perhaps you have come across
one of these other common reactions: “Can a government social
services provider really be a church as well?” “Don’t you guys
just recycle old clothes?” Or perhaps finally, “Don’t you just
help poor people?”
Over the years many Salvationists have begun to doubt
themselves, their essence and their place in the Global Church
as a result of these kinds of questions. For example, the
question, “Is the Salvation Army a church?” has been raised in
the minds of many in and outside the Army. While at times
these discussions can be interesting, the reality is that we
are unquestionably a “church” in the most biblical sense of
the word. We are also however, a social services provider on
behalf of the government, we do feed and clothe the poor, and
we do operate a variety of services internationally that seek
to aid people and their needs. And of course, we do re-cycle
clothing and bring new life into your old furniture, but that
doesn’t mean that this takes away from our number one
priority: to see new life breathed into people and their
families.
The Salvation Army has both the blessing and the curse of
being able to be many things to many people. For some that has
caused a sense of disorientation; for others the diversity has
fed their spirit of ingenuity and has led to a plethora of
ministry models worldwide. Unfortunately, the disorientation
has led some to want to become more like the Western World’s
vision of what a church should be; and yet it has led others
to quite the opposite desire for further recognition as a
secularized social services provider. The unnatural division
however, between serving a suffering humanity and proclaiming
the good news that some have sought after can only harm us.
Our very essence as a Salvation Army is that we are a body of
Christian believers, growing in our own walks with Christ and
seeking after the physical and spiritual salvation of the
lost. There can be no separation between the tasks of sharing
and demonstrating Christ’s love.
If you were to consider the life of the person of Jesus Christ
you would note that there is no distinction as to which
moments he was “ministering” and which moments he was not.
Better yet, there is no real distinction as to when he was the
“church” and when he was not. Christ lived a holistic life of
teaching in the synagogues (Mathew 4:23), challenging the
wealthy in the marketplace (Mark 10:17), feeding and clothing
the poor (Luke 1:53), caring for the sick, preaching on the
street corners, caring for the widows and children and loving
everyone whom he met (Mathew 4:23). Now there is a great
holistic example for the Army to follow.
If we are to remain the Army, we were first called into
existence to be, we must not draw artificial lines between
being a church and serving suffering humanity. There cannot be
a distinction, or we have lost the very thing that has been
our reason d’ętre thus far. We are at our core a Christian
community mobilized and unified by the principle that we
desire to see souls saved, saints grown and suffering humanity
served. We are an Army of Salvation. That is not a 40 hour a
week job, nor a career path, nor a matter of church membership
and nor is it a profession that simply requires training and
certification; it is a life style: A life style to which all
officers and soldiers of the Salvation Army have joyfully and
humbly committed themselves.
While it sometimes remains difficult to explain ourselves to a
curious public and a Global Church, it becomes a lot easier to
explain who the Army is if we live and demonstrate who we are
by our actions and choices.
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