Yesterday afternoon I finally took my first ever driving theory test and passed! Now I can simply concentrate on the actual learning to drive bit and hopefully will be as successful on the practical test when I sit it early next year.
Monthly Archive for November, 2007
The more I think about how we have done ‘Church’ or ‘Army’ in the past the more convinced I am that the Church and the Army have failed generations of people.1 The biggest problem is not only have we failed people by selling short the fullness of life on offer through the grace of God and faith in Jesus, its possible that we have also enslaved them into a way of living that is probably contradictory to what following Jesus is really about.
These words may seem harsh, but I’ll explain what I mean. Over the years in the Army a great deal of emphasis has been placed on the practical side of discipleship and the fact that it is our duty to serve. In my opinion this has caused two things to happen. Firstly, we have narrowed the avenues in which we are able to serve Jesus. Secondly, we have created a reluctant core of members who serve, not out of joy or even with joy, but because of some misguided sense of duty.
In some places we now face a situation of our own making. We see soldiers who are more interested in maintaining what has gone before than they are transforming the communities in which they live. I’m not sure whether this is simply a result of our humanity and our not liking change, or whether it is also because there is a belief that the Army subculture, in which I grew up, is to be protected at all costs because this is what the ‘real’ Army is.
Now I know that I am opening myself up to being accused of making generalisations, so I acknowledge that there are some wonderful expressions of the Army/Church that are working. However, as I have talked to people over the last few months and have been involved in meetings where extremely difficult situations have been part of the discussions, I have come to see how bitter some Salvationists have become and I simply cannot ignore that. I’m seeing and hearing of people so caught up in past hurts that they seem incapable of moving past them. I see people so indoctrinated into a particular way of ‘doing church’ or serving others that any joy they have found in the past has gone. I see this and I want to cry out to heaven and ask “Why Lord? Why have you allowed this to happen?”
The real tragedy is that this bitterness is often not of the person’s own making. It is more often the result of a institutional form of faith that draws people in with the promise of personal salvation but which then requires subservience to the institution rather than the Jesus who the institution should be serving. What is even worse is that it is this is not done through a concious effort that has resulted in this, but it is simply something that we have slipped into over the decades.
I suppose this post is really an expression of what is on my heart at the moment. Unfortunately, it seems in some situations the bitterness is simply too ingrained in people that only the Spirit can make a difference, yet those same people are often not open to the Spirit’s leading.
Where do we go from here? I honestly have no idea, but I do think we have to be honest with ourselves and search for a solution that only come from an openness to the Holy Spirit! I also suspect that something that will be needed is corporate repentance on the part of the Church for the sins of our past.
1 Please note that I’m not singling out the Army for criticism in this post but can only write about what I know and currently see.
I’ve been thinking about the word renewal recently and am trying to see what a renewed congregation would look like. My difficulty with the concept is that when a lot of people seem to speak about renewal, what they actually mean is a return of the old days. I’m not entirely sure that this is what we should be seeking. These models seem to use the verb ‘to renew’ as a analogy of ‘recreate’ or as in renewing a lease. In other words that the old system will continue but with a new injection of life.
However, when we look at the Bible, renewal actually seems to mean something more than this. When we look at the renewal of ourselves through the blood of Jesus we actually see a completely different person emerge from the process. It is the old person in nature, but with a totally new outlook. It is about being something different, not simply a recreation of the old.
I suppose what I’m trying to say is that if we embark on a path of renewal of our structures and people thinking we know what the end result will be, we are not really seeking renewal at all. We simply want to impose what we want God to do, rather than truly seeking God’s will.
So The Salvation Army is changing its rank system back to that before General Gowans did his long consultation several years ago. The reasons that have been made public for this so far, as well as the opinions of those who have so far expressed them, seem to be humanity driven, rather than for real Kingdom building reasons. What do I mean?
Well, firstly there is the opinion that people might think it strange that the majority of officers would only receive one promotion under the old system, from Captain to Major after 15 years. Maybe I’m being a little dense, but why would anyone think this is strange? Does it really matter which rank we hold when we should be thinking in Kingdom terms?
The second thought I’ve seen expressed is that we need newly commissioned officers to be given the title Lieutenant as it shows people that they are new and still undergoing training. Why is this necessary? The tacit suggestion there is that either we allow them to make more mistakes or that they aren’t to be taken too seriously until they get their first promotion! Either is a dangerous road to go down.
Over the years I have known many officers. Some have been excellent and have been ranked from Lieutenant through to General. Others have been motivated by things not of the Kingdom and have been ranked from Lieutenant to Colonel! I have seen senior officers treat lower ranked ones as insignificant because of their rank. This shows us that rank really isn’t that important in Kingdom terms, but Christlikeness is. Maybe that is how we should really reward officers through promotion! Promote the ones who are more like Christ, rather than it being based on years of service!
At the end of the day, whatever the discussion, the changes are being made and we need to make the best of it. Let’s make sure though that in considering every officer we don’t look at their rank, but their example of Christlikeness first and foremost. That is the true test of every Christian, officers included!
Today is a special day in our house for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it is Sian’s 4th birthday today and after her birthday party yesterday is very excited!
The second reason is that today is Independence Day in Latvia. Obviously it is the first time since we arrived in Latvia in 2001 that we won’t be celebrating this important day in their history in Latvia. Our thoughts and prayers are with any Latvians who read this today! Whilst we may not be with you in body, we are taking the corps here on a Latvian journey of discovery with a special fellowship evening meeting tonight, so you can be assured that we will be spending some time praying for you during that.
In the last few days I’ve started to read Dallas Willard’s Renovation of the Heart and on page 20 of the UK version of the book found the following thought:
Churches, local assemblies of apprentices of Jesus, naturally resulted. Churches are not the kingdom of God, but are primary and inevitable expressions, outposts of the kingdom. They were societies of Jesus, springing up in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and to the furthest points on earth (Acts 1:8
), as the reality of Christ was brought to bear on ordinary human life.
Now other than the love I have of the concept of discipleship being an apprenticeship, I liked the idea that in fact local congregations are simply an assembly of Jesus followers. This, in my mind, moves the focus away from the Church itself, onto the people who are apprentices and consequently to the one they are apprenticed to.
One of my biggest concerns is that we are still focussed far too much on getting people inside our meeting places, whatever we may choose to call them. If we have a mentality that sees congregational size and numbers of people through our doors as a measure of our effectiveness as Kingdom deliverers, then I’m not sure that we will ever get out the rut that we are in here in the West. Only when we realise that the Kingdom is wherever Jesus’ apprentices are can we really start to move forward.
So what do we do? Well, in mind opinion we have to move away from looking at quantity and instead start focussing on quality. I suspect that once the quality of our discipleship improves and we become more like the Master who we follow, then the Spirit will take care of the quantity.
I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the way we are to make a difference in society. This has been an ongoing issue for me for a long time now, but was fuelled by a mailing that I received a few days ago. I won’t name the organisation involved, but what came across was an apparent need for us to impose Christian moral teachings on our society, and that this is the only way we can make society a better place for Christians to live.
Something about this simply doesn’t sit comfortably with me! There is something that speaks of religious domination and abuse of power in this sort of imposition of our beliefs on others. It doesn’t seem to be the sort of thing that Jesus would do!
To me what seems to be the Christian way is one of transforming society, not forcing change upon it by shouting the loudest and longest. If we, as Christians, want to see our society and our communities changed we have to go about transforming it by being salt and light in the world. We don’t need to force our views on people, but instead need to persuade them that our way is the best way by proving it through our actions.
It’s the same thing I currently see from the secularists and humanists who seem to feel that Christian’s should not be allowed a voice in society. In my opinion this situation isn’t the case of persecution that many Christians seem to think it is, but is instead a reaction to the centuries of church imposed dogma, and let’s face it for years the Christian voices in the debate didn’t think that other faith groups should have the right to a voice; some still don’t!
We need to learn to speak into issues without an accompanying attitude that suggests that no-one else’s views hold any credence. When we speak words of love into all situation, rather than hate or intolerance, and at the same time practice what we are saying, then surely society will sit up and take notice.
This is the way that I feel Jesus would operate. His often talked about authority came out of his life of integrity, obvious love for others and his adherence to his own teaching. It was this that was attractive!
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