Pilgrim Soldier

There is so much talk around within the Army blogging world about what is the right way for us to be Army. Each time the discussion is raised it seems to go round in a circle a couple of times and then fades away only to appear on another blog a few days later and do it all again.

Why do we keep having the discussion? I think the answer is easy! We look at the early day Army and see the radical nature of what those early Salvationists did and are disappointed at what we see today.

Without any doubt there are things wrong with this Army that God raised up. When I look at our corps I can see elements of the Revelation churches everywhere. Some like Ephesus (Rev 2:1-7) have lost their first love; others blow neither hot nor cold like Laodicea (Rev 3:14-22). We definitely have Sardis-like corps (Rev 3:1-6) who are spiritually dead.

But lets not forget we also have a growing number of corps who are like the church in Philadelphia (Rev 3:7-13), who Christ praises.

Nothing radically new in that line of thought I know but bare me out. A few weeks ago I wrote a piece about the need for a radical overhaul of the Army. This is still my position, but I’ve come to a realisation that the only way this is really going to happen is if those of us who recognise the problems become passionate about being The Salvation Army that God called us into being to be!

We can argue forever about which model of Church reflects best what The Salvation Army needs to be today! For me we need to forget all the different models and simply get on with the war! I don’t think that we can ever become what we once were, but if we focus on God’s calling we will become an even bigger force in the future.

Let’s be what God called us into being for! Passionate examples of His love for a fallen world! Passionate Saints who are passionate for souls and God’s Kingdom on earth!