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Interview: Colonel Linda Bond
Original Publication - JAC #13,
June - July 2001
Linda
Bond is the Chief Secretary for The Salvation Army, Canada &
Bermuda Territory. She has been a Divisional Commander in the
United Kingdom and Canada. She has also served at I.H.Q. in
London.
JAC: Please tell us a little about your
conversion experience.
LB: I don't recall having a dramatic
conversion. I was raised in the Army and my earliest memories
are of hearing the gospel. It took no "leap of faith" for me
to confess my sins and accept Jesus as my Saviour. Those who
shared the Good News with me were Sunday school teachers and
officers who were credible witnesses.
JAC: Please tell us a little about your
experience of holiness.
LB: If I look to a dramatic experience, it
would be while I was a cadet in College. This is not the time
or place to go into detail, but the Lord came to me in a very
clear way and assured me of a deep cleansing. I do have to
confess that I have failed Him miserably, but I am convinced
that His call to holiness is insistent and every provision
through His Son and Holy Spirit has made it possible for me to
claim by faith this holy life.
He has all there is of Linda Bond and
whether He chooses to grant dramatic encounters in my
spiritual journey or requires me to walk by faith alone, then
that is His choice. I seek to be like Jesus and be open and
responsive to the Holy Spirit.
JAC: What are the greatest challenges of
your current appointment?
LB: The greatest challenge is to see every
part of my work as His. It is to recognise that He is in
charge. It is to take tough decisions when they are not
popular. It is to recognise truth even when it comes from
sources least expected and respected.
JAC: What books have had the greatest impact
on you over the years? Why?
LB: The Bible (It is still my favourite
textbook for living and leadership), The General Next to God,
Knowing God, The Cross of Christ, The Disciplines of Grace,
Songs of Heaven. There are many more but these have either
been significant because of a spiritual need or to stretch my
mind to take in something of the magnitude of God's grace.
JAC: Who are your heroes? Why?
LB: Commissioners Ed Read & Roy Calvert.
These men have modelled a believable holy life and leadership.
Our leadership styles are different but I am convinced that
one can have their approach to life and leadership sanctified.
JAC: General Catherine Booth went on record,
stating, "The great fundamental principle of The Salvation
Army is the law of adaptation." This comment has been used by
many salvos at many times toward diverse ends. What is the
proper understanding of this fundamental principle for us
today, in light of tensions between priestly vs. prophetic
roles?
LB: In my earlier years, I thought it was
necessary to protect and preserve the Army that I had grown up
knowing. John Larsson's article in the April 1998 Officer
Magazine entitled "Back to the Future" has provided me with
the best understanding of what we need to hold on to. It is
not the snapshot of the 19th Century Army but rather this
flexibility at the essential core to carry out our mission.
General Gowans has also been helpful with "save souls, grow
saints and serve suffering humanity".
I have personally adopted the UK Vision 2002
Statement and added one line on
holiness, "We will be a Spirit-filled,
radical growing movement, with a burning desire to lead people
to Jesus Christ, lead believers into an experience and
expression of holiness, actively serve the community and fight
for social justice."
If the above clearly describes our identity
and mission, then we must hear the Army Mother out on
"adaptation", and in my mind that is the willingness to change
in order to get the mission done, not change our essence but
change our methods, if in fact they are kept only for
preservation and not for advancement.
JAC: What is the most significant part of
your ministry today?
LB: The proclamation of the Gospel. I take
my covenant very seriously on this matter. I have never
allowed my office to interfere with my platform ministry but
have trusted the Lord to give me strength to attend to the
"business" entrusted to me and keep a rigorous schedule for
preaching/teaching. However, I use more than the platform.
Personal relationships, correspondence, and even board
meetings are also avenues for Kingdom news and values.
JAC: What are your dreams for The Salvation
Army?
LB: Perhaps the vision statement above best
describes it. I do have "watchman/warrior mentality and
therefore I dream of an Army moving forward to claim people
for Christ, moving in purity and courageously. I still believe
we must be a soul-saving movement. I have great hopes for the
reclamation of our Wesleyan doctrine. I also believe the Army
will once again find its "voice" and speak with conviction and
intelligence on issues that matter to our Lord.
JAC: What is God teaching you these days?
LB: The Lord has been teaching me that He is
absolutely trustworthy when it comes to guiding us in the
right direction, if only we listen, obey and act with courage.
I have been helped by the words of Jehoshaphat, "We don't know
what to do but our eyes are on You", and on Alan Kreider's
(Towards Holiness) interpretation of "Be still and know that I
am God -Stop fighting and know". He is right I believe that
our God has promised to provide for and protect His children.
My leadership these days is characterized by my conviction
that this is true.
JAC: You are considered one of the Army's
great preachers. What are your keys for faithful, bold and
compelling preaching?
LB: I don't think of myself as a great
preacher. I am unpolished and not a great adherent to the
disciplines of sermon-making and presentation. The keys for me
are a healthy devotional life, allowing the Scripture to speak
and then seeking to understand the principle and translate it
for today.
If the Word excites me than I can preach
with passion and if the Holy Spirit anoints me, I can speak
with power. I generally pray that I will be "fuel for His
burning". I don't try to be anyone else; I don't even try to
conform to any set standard. If I am faithful in preaching, it
is because I tell people what the Bible says, what it means,
and what it can mean for us. It first of all meant something
to me in order for it to be considered for others. Boldness-
This could be a personality trait but it is more than this. I
do believe in the Word and if the Spirit has used it to speak
to my heart, I don't, find it difficult to speak clearly, with
conviction. If I have been a compelling speaker, it is because
I maintain eye contact. I preach from outlines. But beyond
that, it is because, once again, I have personally been "fired
up" and have given myself to the Holy Spirit for His
anointing.
JAC: Can you tell us of any memorable
preaching you have heard and what made it outstanding?
LB: My favourite preacher is John Eric
Akexanader, a Scottish preacher that I heard many years ago at
Urbana. He was outstanding in my mind because he preached the
Word clearly and cleverly (not in a negative sense). His deep
convictions come through in his passion. You never felt he was
trying to sell himself or make an impression. He was totally
sold out to the Lord and committed to faithful proclamation.
JAC: Please comment on the state of
aggressive Christianity in the 21st century. How
relevant is primitive salvationism?
LB: In 32 years of officership, I have never
known such a sense of the Church desiring to move forward.
Prayer is more intense than I have ever known. Our young
people are mission-minded in a way that my age group never
was. The Church is linking arms, not to submerge their own
personalities but to proclaim the gospel in word and deed.
This is primitive salvationsim. This is primitive
Christianity. The world may appear to be bleak but greatest
extremities provide greatest opportunities. I used to say that
the Army's greatest days are ahead but I think it was more
"wish" than truly belief. I now have hope as I have never had
before. There is much cause for optimism. There are still many
salvationists in the "barracks or on the parade square". We
need to encourage them to "move out". We are on the march. Its
an old chorus but it has profound truths: "The world is need
us, Christ is heeding us, comrades let us be true".
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