Rescue The Perishing!

I’m a native New Englander. A “Connecticut Yankee,” as some would put it.

Born into a family of New Englanders (Mom from Malden, Massachusetts; Dad from Portland, Maine), I grew up being very familiar with the heritage and tradition of New England sea stories.

One of these stories has always reminded me of this section of the classic lithograph found in the front of William Booth’s In Darkest England and The Way Out.

Here in this portion of the picture (which actually is an artistic rendering of a vision Booth had and described in an article he entitled Who Cares? in the June 20, 1885 War Cry) you see the heroic efforts of Salvationists gathered around the edges of a turbulent sea, doing everything within their power to rescue the multitudes of those who are drowning in an ocean of evils, vices, and sins. If the image had a bit better resolution, you might make out the fact that there are even a couple of boatloads of Salvationists who have put their own lives at risk by going out into the heavy seas to rescue those who are beyond the reach of the shore-based efforts (one boat even has an Army flag flying!).

Here’s the New England sea story that closely mirrors this picture:

Back in colonial days of this country, countless ships were wrecked and lives were lost off the rocky coast of Massachusetts. The sad fact was that this often happened within sight of the Nantucket shoreline. Finally, the people of Nantucket could no longer stand by and watch tragedy after tragedy happen so frequently, and so close to their reach. In 1786, they formed what was called the Massachusetts Humane Society (for rescuing people, not animals, as we think of the term today). From that point on, any time a ship hit the rocks off the Nantucket coast, the alarm quickly spread to the Humane Society members who would launch out in boats – regardless of the time of year, the weather conditions or the hour of the day – putting themselves at severe risk in the process in order to save as many lives as they could.

Over time, they adopted a motto for themselves and their mission: “You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back.” (Is that heroic, or what? -- W)

Roughly a hundred years later (1870’s), the Government professionalized life saving efforts with the implementation of the United States Life-Saving Service, which eventually became the U.S. Coast Guard. Volunteers no longer went out to rescue those who were shipwrecked. That job was turned over to the paid professionals. The self-sacrificing citizens who had once risked their own lives in order to save others no longer challenged one another with the words, “You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back.” Now, they sat back and let the “experts” handle the work.

I’ve got to tell you folks, I see this as something of a cautionary tale for us as Salvationists…

Consider our Army roots. It's easy to see the close parallel between the actions and attitudes of the early Army with those of the colonial Nantucketers, isn't it? I mean, even the most casual glance at the picture is enough to validate the comparison, right?

We all know the story of how, in Booth’s day, people’s lives were being “wrecked” on the rocks of sin, often within reach of professing Christians. We’re very familiar with the details of how finally a group of believers who cared more about those being lost and less about their own safety could no longer stand by and do nothing – they had to act! So under Booth’s leadership, they banded together as the Christian Mission and ultimately The Salvation Army. Nowhere in Army history do we read of any Salvationist announcing the exact phrase “You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back.” But that same “whatever-the-cost” attitude and passion of those words and that sentiment was certainly reflected in the early Salvationist mindset and behavior.

Fast-forward to today…

I don’t know how things are in your part of the Army world, but here in the States, more and more of the rescue work Salvationists once willingly took on themselves is being passed over to “professionals.” In far too many locations, Army work with the homeless, the needy, the hungry, and the fallen which was once seen by our soldiers as an opportunity to talk with a person about their soul has been transferred to the efforts of hired employees who may or may not be in step with our spiritual mission.

Also, like the Humane Society, we once had a reckless passion to launch out from our corps and citadels into “less refined” areas of town hoping to find and rescue those drowning in sin. For too many these days, going out after the shipwrecked has become…well…an inconvenience. It’s far easier to sit in the climate controlled comfort of our buildings and pray that God sends someone their way. Hey…isn’t that why we have professionals?

I wonder what the world might look like if our Army re-embraced a “you-have-to-go-out-but-you-don’t-have-to-come-back” attitude. I wonder what difference that kind of behavior might make in our communities. What difference would it make to the Kingdom?

Wouldn't you love to find out….?

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot...!

Willis