Pilgrim Soldier

For the last month I’ve been slowly reading my way through Ann Morisy’s Journeying Out having read good reviews. On the whole the book is superb.

As Salvationist’s we have sometimes been guilty of doing social and community work for its own sake, rather than to reflect God’s Kingdom and fulfill the Great Commission. This book challenges that stance and offers a series of thought-provoking reasons for change.

For me personally, the biggest thing that came out of the reading of this book was the power that stories have in our lives. The experiences of our lives produce stories and these can have either a positive or negative influence. Communities that only have negative experiences end up spiralling down into disharmony and discord. When we in the Church enter those communities and reflect God’s Kingdom through our interactions with individuals God is able to provide new stories that have a positive effect and breed a new sense of hope.

Here are a few of the phrases that leapt off the page at me:

Using social action as a means to an end must not be allowed to pass as a full-bodied expression of holistic mission.

Some minimal structure that enables active participation is essential if discipleship of the venturesome love king is to be tangible and move beyond pious words and naive optimism.

We have to take seriously the possibility that being alongside those who are poor and who know deeply the reality of struggle may be a thin place where God reveals himself in a very mysterious and indisputable way.

The only check on negative stories is to counter them with other, more positive stories.

In our history, the Church has operated as if it was in full possession of all understanding. The parallel is, of course, with the Pharisees and the way they behaved in Jesus’ day. [...] In a post-modern world it is wiser to exchange power for authenticity.