A lot of those writing in the Salvation Army blogosphere are expressing the need for a return to the militant attitude of the past. It has to be all or nothing and we must keep up with the best examples to be of any use in this Army of ours. Whilst I have some sympathy for this position I’m growing increasingly worried about the way this must be affecting those faithful soldiers who have fought the fight for many years, yet do not have the same sense of urgency in their expression. Is this their fault or are they simply the innocent victims of the malaise that has affected the Army for decades now?
Something I have understood from my very short time in ministry is that we need to give time for people to grasp the vision of a better discipleship. It is not going to happen overnight for everyone and we have many people in our congregations who are open to learning but who are not going to be transformed in the time that we want them to but instead will be in God’s time!
Taking terms from the theatre of war is common in our Army so here’s another. I wonder how many of our potentially best troops are being injured by ‘friendly fire’ from well intentioned but inconsiderate and careless forces within their colleagues!
I believe we get absolutely nowhere by doing psychological violence to people in the form of telling them they shouldn’t be where they are on their spiritual journey. The principle I work with is that discipleship has to be accompanied by spiritual direction/companionship, and that by definition begins with the companion starting where the pilgim is, not where we want them to be, feel they should be, or feel everyone should be!
Having said that, it’s necessary to demonstrate living a covenanted life that has simplicity and clear focus?
The sense I have in my locality is that we are a long way at this point from having people who can disciple others with sensitivity to their cultural background and outlook. So the first need seems to be building up skills in a group of people in spiritual accompaniment, then exploring discipleship next. We are still finding our way here.
For some reason your contact page doesn’t work here so I’ve tried emailing you on the Army system on the assumption that you have an email address.
AC
Andrew, sorry about the Contact Page, not sure what is going on but I’ve e-mailed you back!
Eleanor, I agree that we need to rediscover the element of spiritual direction within discipleship.
I believe we need also to rediscover people who are prepared to lead rather than simply command. If I get chance to sit down over the weekend and write then I’ll flesh out something on that thought!
We went to see Prince Caspian on Saturday. Good film. I love the books (Although prince Caspian was probably my least favourite.)
I assume that all the fighting that goes on is intended as a metaphor to describe the Christian fight.
As I watched I wondered what that means in practice. When we ‘fight’ what are we doing? How do we do it?
I’ve grown up singing about it - but I don’t really understand what it means.