|
Button Holing
by
Commissioner Wesley Harris
I read a report which stated that only about four per cent of
North American evangelicals had ever led anyone to Christ.
That statistic was a challenge because all Christians should
be intentional about leading people to the Saviour. It should
be what we are all about as a Salvation Army. But is it?
Commissioner Catherine Bramwell-Booth told me that in the
early days people were often reluctant to get into a railway
compartment occupied by a uniformed Salvationist because they
could expect to be ‘buttonholed’ and challenged as to whether
or not they were ‘saved’.
William Booth had set an example. One of his former
secretaries told me that if he travelled in a cab or a train
he would almost invariably challenge the driver about his
spiritual condition. The same went for the wealthy host or
hostess in whose home he had been billeted. Does that sound
‘scary’?
Nowadays habitual ‘button-holers’ seem to have disappeared
from among us. In fact we might be embarrassed if they
reappeared and we could make a case that their reappearance
would be counter-productive. We could affirm that rather than
trying to force an immediate entry into another soul we should
first look for the key of friendship and take time to
establish some rapport before raising spiritual issues.
Different people in different ways may lead a soul step by
step to Jesus. Fair enough?
But now is the day of salvation. How much more time can we
count upon? Is salvation the point and purpose of all we do?
Or don’t we care enough about a person’s soul salvation to be
willing to try all means in order to bring it about sooner
rather than later, if possible. Some time may be no time! Has
that master passion which brought us into being become cooled
over the years? Would perusal of our corps seekers’ registers
lead us to question whether we are still a Salvation Army in
the fullest sense of the term, or have we become something
else?
In recent years our corps have become more and more involved
in welfare work for which we gain public approval and even
government grants. Personally, I welcome this development and
even as a corps officer did my utmost to bring it about. But
in pressing the need for social salvation and the relief of
physical deprivation we must be sure that we see it as an
expression of the gospel and not a substitute for it. The
spiritual imperative must remain at the heart of all we do.
The best service we can render to anyone is to introduce them
to Jesus Christ.
Satan may come up with some plausible reasons why we should
not be direct and intentional in our ‘aggressive
Christianity’. He may even suggest perfectly good things which
could deflect us from the primary purpose for our existence.
Keeping the first thing the first thing is not easy but it is
imperative.
|
