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The Way I See It
by Captain Matt
Kean
The way I see it, the future of The
Salvation Army has only two possibilities:
ease or hardship.
Call me a pessimist, or even a fatalist, but regardless
of how the messenger is labeled, I don’t think the outcome can
be anything else.
The reason I don’t think there’s much possibility of a third
option is mainly because of the chief purpose of The Salvation
Army officer; we are representatives of a holy God, by calling
and by duty. This
is woven into every part of our vocation and it gives us clear
definition and sets out our reason for existing.
Perhaps as much as (or even more than) any other job in
the field of Christian ministry, The Salvation Army officer
has been established to contrast the world and work tirelessly
for the increase of Christ’s fame and kingdom. I know that’s a
very bold statement, but I believe it can be fairly argued.
As it stands currently, there is a
tension that exists within The Salvation Army and it has to do
solely with the officer’s God-given mandate to represent the
holiness of Christ and proclaim His salvation.
I don’t believe I’m saying anything that isn’t fairly
well known. I’ve
personally had the privilege of doing ministry in four
territories over the last 15 years and this tension of which I
speak seems only to be growing as years go on.
Because of our hands-on, down-to-earth approach to the
Gospel initially, our clothes have necessarily become tinged
by the mud of the world.
With that there’s no immediate problem.
After all, in many cases God has put some of the most
softened and humbled people in that mud.
However, over many decades I think
we’ve splashed and kicked the spiritual slop of the world into
our eyes and our vision of the Gospel’s supreme value has been
blurred. The
Gospel’s unmatched power to save sinful human beings, such as
we were, has been too much forgotten.
I say that without apology because I believe it is
evidenced by the vast majority of The Salvation Army’s
programmes marked with our trade-marked brand, the Red Shield.
Granted, there are exceptions – thank Heaven for that!
– but where The Salvation Army is recognized by the world it
is because of the promotion of our own symbol rather than our
promotion of Christ.
Over time, as we have published more and more of our
own praise rather than Christ’s, we have allowed ourselves to
be groomed both theologically and spiritually by a world that
frankly hates our Saviour.
Let me explain further.
Our organization is the second largest
provider of social services in Canada, the government being
first. Our Red
Shield is recognized around the globe and our good works have
reached beyond physical borders, language barriers, cultural
differences, religious disagreements, and so on since our
beginning. We are
often lauded by communities, businesses, philanthropists,
politicians, and paupers for being ones that do the most good.
All of this is BECAUSE of God’s rich grace towards us,
yet we bank the credit ourselves and share little of it with
God, maybe not personally, but as an organization.
For too long, The Salvation Army has been growing more
and more accustomed to the world’s praise, holding up the Red
Shield with a sense of pride because of the work we have done,
and specifically for the work that the world likes to praise.
But the cross we seldom carry in public and the Gospel
we seldom proclaim!
Now, though, the world has changed, and
it will continue to change.
Yet, so has the shape of Christianity, or rather, the
mold that it has been seen to fit.
Most people would assume that church on Sunday is what
it means to be Christian, hence, it has been the perceived
model of our faith.
In these times, however, it is already harder to depend
on our Sunday meetings to guard our spirituality.
Many aren’t even permitted to attend churches.
Like Samson who was given terms for his divine strength
to remain, The Salvation Army, too, has been given certain
conditions.
Soldier after soldier, officer after officer, has vowed to
stand in this world as worshippers of God, proclaimers of THE
Truth, and living sacrifices for the Saviour.
These are our holy criteria, yet, the world will never
praise us for these.
Ever! The
Salvation Army is no longer able to claim that these holy
criteria set by God at our birth can be met on a weekly basis
in our buildings; we must find different ways to let them
loose. It’s unlikely that letting them loose in the public
domain, having them exposed for all to see, will come with
ease.
God doesn’t care about our glory, but
only His own. He
wants the name of Jesus to be lifted up at any cost and every
eye to behold Him.
The message of Calvary is the only message with the
ability to reconcile sinners to their loving Creator, and,
according to the words of Christ, nothing other than their
reconciliation brings any rejoicing to Heaven (see Luke 15).
It’s also true that The Salvation Army has an
obligation to the grace of God to give ourselves entirely to
the conditions He set for us – to be worshippers, proclaimers,
and sacrifices.
The early days of The Salvation Army’s
existence has shown us what will likely come from our living
these conditions without compromise; the early Church has
revealed the same thing.
The result is not ease, but hardship.
They say ‘history often repeats itself’, but I’m more
confident in the fact that God often does not.
What He has said is carved in stone and is immovable.
Consider honestly the words of Christ in His mountain
sermon (see Luke 6:26), when He said, “Woe to you when people
speak only well of you, for so did their fathers speak of the
false prophets.” Are these not warning enough for us who are
called to be a movement of a different kind, the holy kind?
The way of ease is the way of the
world. It will
come to The Salvation Army when its officers are quiet,
compromised, and timid in their portrayal and profession of
Christ. This
world wants our good works to look like the stuff it can
produce on its own.
It wants to be able to fix its own brokenness, solve
its own problems, and wear its own crown without being told of
its desperate need for God.
Its praise, its support, as well as its money, will dry
up when anyone refuses to lay down the banner declaring
otherwise. So, it’s to be expected that if an officer of The
Salvation Army remains true to the convictions written into
our birth, then it will mean that same officer will be shunned
by the world that will not share those convictions.
When an officer refuses to raise the
world’s banner of spirituality without truth, religion without
doctrine, sexuality without boundaries, love without cost,
harmony without humility, and politics without question, rest
assured hardship will result.
Sadly, The Salvation Army’s current silence with
regards to our promotion of the Gospel seems to suggest that
such an officer will reap much of the hardship from the Red
Shield organization that loves the world’s praise.
You see, the organization called The Salvation Army is
only holy and pleasing to God as long as it upholds and
endorses the covenant made by its officers, and that depends
on those sitting in the highest seats of authority.
If they want to remain in favour with the world that
hates the cross of Jesus, then inevitably the officer who
remains true to his/her covenant will be a thorn in their
side, and a hindrance to the Red Shield.
The good news is that the two do not
need to be opposed to one another, but only one can yield.
It cannot be the officer, for if the officer were the
one to yield, it would mean forfeiting the glory of Christ.
If the organization called The Salvation Army will
forfeit the praise of the world, exalt the word of God as the
Truth, proclaim Christ as King above all, and remain
uncompromised on the Lord’s standard for its officers and
soldiers, then both the Red Shield and the officer will shine
with light of Jesus.
It will equally mean that they will be sneered at by
those who do not call Him Lord. But if the praise and approval
of this world is the organization’s preferred trophy, then
inevitably the organization of the Red Shield will cut loose
the covenanted ones and set them adrift.
It has to.
It simply couldn’t afford such a Public Relations liability.
So, the way I see it, because of all
this, the future of The Salvation Army has only two
possibilities:
ease or hardship.
The latter is my hope.
For we are not only blessed to believe in Jesus, but
also to suffer for His sake.
Come soon, Lord!
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