Heroes

I grew up in an age of heroes. Sports figures like Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays wowed and impressed the group of kids I ran with. Then we’d go home and watch the heroic adventures of TV cowboys such as Roy Rogers and the Lone Ranger. Heroes were just everywhere! What’s more is that this was also the golden age of superheroes. I can remember running around with my arms stretched in front of me in “flying” fashion while my Superman cape dramatically rippled and flowed in the breeze behind me (In reality my “cape” was an old dish towel that my mom had pinned to my shirt. But as far as I was concerned, it was the genuine article!)

But regardless of when or where you were born, there’s something in each of us that is drawn to the heroic, isn’t there?

Just think about it... Have you ever noticed just how many box office blockbusters over the years have centered on a heroic main character? Luke Skywalker, fearlessly steps forward to face-up to the Empire. Maximus, the Roman general, heroically refuses to surrender his honor. William Wallace, who, even in the face of his own execution courageously challenged his countrymen to believe they could actually be free.

And it’s not just movie heroes. We’re moved by the real-life soldier who has returned safely from a war zone, the fireman who has just put his life on the line to save people from a burning building, the policeman who rescues someone from a dangerous situation. Heroism tugs at our hearts.

You see, heroes are the embodiment of values that are important to us. And I believe that somewhere deep inside each of us is the secret desire to be heroic.

Salvationists…do you know that heroism is woven into the fabric of our heritage? In a sense it’s our birthright. The Army that you and I are part of has been passed to us by an incredible group of heroes. Heroism is in our spiritual DNA.

Beyond the well-known adventures and exploits of the Booths, Railton, Brengle, Booth-Tucker, and the like, we have truck-loads of records and accounts from around the world that demonstrate the heroic spirit of Salvationists whose names we likely have never heard of at all.

In their book, Be A Hero, Commissioner Wesley Campbell and Captain Stephen Court include some snapshots from the pages of our history that illustrate exactly what I’m talking about. Like this report sent to the War Cry from Major Wells (whoever he was) – a pioneer Officer in California:

"My heart is cheered. We are making the devil mad. Victory will come! Look
out for some martyrdom here in the near future – it is to come, for sure. Well,
we are saved to die, and don't care much where our bones are buried."

Don’t you love that?! No backing down, no compromising. No running away from the
enemy. Yeah, they’ll likely kill us and throw our bodies into some hole... Whatever...!

Campbell and Court also share this telegram sent from Captain Albert Brice to his Territorial Commander, back in 1887. For whatever reason, Brice was evidently facing life-threatening persecution. But rather than knuckling under to the pressure to quit, he decides to stay the course and keep doing what he was doing letting the results fall where they will. His message to the Commissioner simply said...

“Expecting to go to Glory Wednesday night.”

Albert Brice was actually expecting to die! Clearly, he had settled in his mind that such a possibility was simply part of the potential cost of doing business – the business of reaching those that others thought were unreachable. Mocking, beating, ridicule, scorn, possible death...it was all just part of the deal.

Friends, our history is filled with literally hundreds (thousands?) of these kinds of stories!

I have a small collection of early Army books that help to fuel for my passion. One of my favorites is a late 19th century Orders and Regulations for Field Officers (designated as a “Special Edition” intended “…for the use of Candidates for Officership”).

Part VIII of the book makes for particularly interesting reading as it covers such timely subjects as “How To Deal With Persecution”, “Mobs”, and “Riots” (just the sorts of issues your corps faces, right?). Part VIII also has a section that discusses an officer’s responsibilities to reach and save “Roughs” (criminals / gang members / violent types etc.). Here’s a direct quote from this section:

“Go to them. There are certain parts in every town where they are to be found. You need not be in a neighborhood a single day without knowing their haunts. But what if they kill you? Well, you must die. You have often sung and said that you would. Now, here’s a chance. Make up your mind to the worst; then perhaps he that would lose his life shall save it.” (emphasis added)

Remember, this is from Orders and Regulations!! It’s being put forward as the standard. Heroism is pointed to as the rule, not the exception. In fact it was an expectation! And our history records that many lived up to it. “Salvationism” was practically synonymous with heroism.

Is this still the case, I wonder, or have things changed in our more enlightened day and age?

Tell me…what’s expected of Salvationists where you live? What’s required of the soldiers at your corps? What standard are they held to? Is “just showing up” good enough? Is that all that’s asked or hoped for?

Using our heroic past as a backdrop, it just may be that there’s a message for the soldiers of today’s Salvation Army to be found in the following passage:

Remember those days in the past when you first learned the truth. You had a hard struggle with many sufferings, but you continued strong. Sometimes you were hurt and attacked before crowds of people, and sometimes you shared with those who were being treated that way. You helped the prisoners. You even had joy when all that you owned was taken from you, because you knew you had something better and more lasting.

So do not lose the courage you had in the past, which has a great reward. Hebrews 10:32-35 (NCV)

Learn from our past. Let it serve as a model. Hold to our heritage of heroism. Count the cost and be bold for Jesus. Allow God to stir and awaken your inner hero!

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

Willis

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

You remember the story of The Three Little Pigs, right? Early renditions and tellings of this standard fairy tale date back to at least the 1800’s. More recent versions include Disney’s classic 1933 cartoon as well as some more contemporary “politically correct” interpretations. Regardless of which adaptation you choose, the story line is basically the same.

In spite of this fact, however, let’s still have a quick review:

Three young pigs go out into the world to seek their fortunes and make a life for themselves. Two of the pigs are generally irresponsible and indifferent – wanting only to live and enjoy the moment – while the third pig approaches life from a more practical and intentional viewpoint.

Realizing that some sort of shelter will be needed, the first couple of pigs, you’ll recall, want to get the job done as quickly – and with as little effort – as possible They don’t want to be bothered with taking the time required to build sturdy, protective homes. After all, they’re now independent and eager to get on with their new lives and all that it offers. So one of them quickly throws together a house of straw while the other fashions bundles sticks into what he calls a home. Pragmatic pig #3, being far more deliberate and aware of the risks around him, builds his house out of sturdy bricks.

Enter one wolf with a craving for fresh pork.…

He goes to the first pig’s straw house, knocks at the door but is denied entrance (I wonder just how successful the wolf had been over the years in using this approach with other pigs…?). “No big deal,” thinks the wolf. And with hardly any effort at all – a huff here and a puff there – he removes the only flimsy barrier between him and a ham dinner (The fact that the wolf ate the pig is a small detail left out in Disney’s far less traumatic, more “family friendly” telling of the story).

Going up the road to pig number two’s stick house, the wolf has ideas about a second helping of bacon. As before, the pig doesn’t welcome the wolf (go figure!). But welcomed or not, the scene plays out pretty much like the previous pig-wolf encounter: a little huffing, a little puffing, a little blowing, and before you know it, the wolf enjoys a second course of pork chops.

Coming to the third pig’s brick house, the wolf is anticipates yet another helping of what has essentially proven to be a day-long ham fest. Once again he goes with the direct door-knocking approach, and for the third time is not invited in. Fine – time for the huffing, puffing, and blowing. But something’s different. This time he’s dealing with a would-be victim who is prepared, on guard, and equipped for just such a danger. Try as he will, the wolf can only bully, bluster, and do his best to intimidate. The pig, on the other hand, is safely behind solid defenses, and never becomes the wolf’s victim.

OK, so why this review of an old folk tale? It’s simple, really. You see, as with all good fairy tales I think there’s a lesson – a moral in the story – to be learned and applied.

In the culture and society where I live (USA South), a significant percentage of believers appear to live their day-to-day spiritual lives in the careless, lackadaisical style of little pigs #1 and #2. Their actions and choices seem to reflect a driving desire to live only for the moment as they impulsively chase after whatever the culture’s latest “shiny trend,” or current “fad-du-jour” may be.

That being said, they still want some kind of shelter for their souls. But not wanting the bother and discipline required to build a substantial, unshakable faith, they search for something quicker and easier. As a result, many have settled for a kind of cut-rate, wobbly, spiritual shanty that’s held together with little more than the sappy stickiness of the emotional “soul candy” that gets handed out Sunday after Sunday in some churches. Certainly no place to run when times get tough!

Blinded by the dazzle of the culture’s latest “shiny trend,” or the current “fad-du-jour”– and not wanting to miss out on any aspect of it – they’ve completely lost sight of the fact that there is a savage enemy far more cunning than any fairy tale wolf that actually prowls, stalks, and hunts them.

Peter doesn’t beat around the bush. Inspired by the Spirit of God, he gives us the information right between the eyes…

“Control yourselves and be careful! The devil, your enemy,
goes around like a roaring lion looking for someone to eat.”
1 Peter 5:8 (NCV)

Let’s understand something, gang… The devil – this one that Scripture calls “your enemy” – is not looking to simply “slow you down,” “trip you up,” “discourage you,” “cause you to stumble,” or any of the other little cutsie phrases some Christians use to describe his actions. He’s not some sort of celestial naughty boy who hides in the bushes waiting to play a prank or mischievous trick on us. No, the Bible paints the clear picture of a predatory, murderous, cold-blooded enemy – like a wild, man-eating lion – with a goal of stopping short of nothing less than to kill your soul, and destroy your faith. This is why it’s so critical that the Christian Soldier intentionally builds a strong, durable faith that can withstand the enemy’s efforts to get past our defenses and destroy us.

If your local evening news broadcast alerted you to the fact that a real life, man-eating lion had somehow escaped from the zoo and was last seen prowling around in your neighborhood, tell me…what would that do to your personal “caution level?” Would you bolt your doors and lock your windows? What other security measures might you put in place to protect your family and yourself? How closely would you listen to every sound that reached your ears? And if for some unimaginable reason you had to go outside, just how watchful and alert would you be as all your senses maxed out their awareness?

So why is it that so many don’t operate on spiritual “high alert” to what the Bible says is the exact same kind of threat?

Instead of diligently guarding their hearts and staying watchful for the presence of danger, a significant number of Christians leave the access points of their lives and hearts (e.g. the eyes, the ears, the mind, etc.) wide open and unprotected. Careless about such things as the kinds of DVD’s and TV shows they watch, the sites they visit on their computers and the books and magazines they choose to read, far too many have had their spiritual lives ripped to shreds by this lion-like enemy. No huffing and puffing was needed for him to get past their defenses and savage their souls. He just figuratively knocked on the door and was welcomed in!

General Frederick Coutts sure hit the nail on the head when he observed:

“Many of us know so little of Satan’s real power because we yield so easily.

He has no need to exert himself unduly. We fall so quickly for so little.”

— General Frederick Coutts
The Call to Holiness

How about you…?

Considering your own life and spiritual experience over, let’s say, the last 3-6 months, do you think the enemy sees you as a pushover or an immoveable opponent? A fat target or a fierce fighter? How substantial is the protection around your heart? How hard is it for him to reach you? Do you stand strong or fall easily?

Let me suggest that we take the attitude William Pearson talks about:

No, we never, never, never will give in,
No we won’t! No we won’t!
No, we never, never, never will give in,
For we mean to have the victory forever.

Song 800
Salvation Army Songbook

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot...

Willis

What's Left Behind is Important

One of God’s incredible blessings on my life is that I am the youngest son of Warren Howell (who turns 91 later this month!). I’ve done nothing to earn it, and had nothing to do with the selection process. It’s simply one of God’s amazing gifts of grace that has marked me and shaped aspects of my personality, my work ethic, my parenting, and my views as a Salvationist.

If I had the time, I’d tell you about Warren Howell the Corps Sergeant-Major of nearly every corps we attended, or Warren Howell the Songster Leader, or Warren Howell the de facto corps officer of a small military base in Morocco, Africa, and the many other times where he saw a ministry-related need and filled it. That’s just the way he always was.

The way he is now, however, is something altogether different. In many ways he’s even someone altogether different. Alzheimer’s disease does that to people. Slowly, irreversibly, the quietly strong, spiritually passionate man I’ve known as my dad continues to fade away like an old photograph. The fragile, older man I see in his place bears a striking resemblance to him, but it’s only a faint representation. Many of the best details of his personality have already disappeared,

But throughout his life – one day at a time – my dad has built and handed me a rich legacy. It’s a blessing I deeply treasure, and take great joy in sharing with others. What’s more is that I carefully guard and protect it. You see, I wouldn’t want any careless action on my part to cast a shadow on the heritage he has passed to me.

As Salvationists, just how careful are we with the doctrine of and belief in heart holiness which has been handed to us by our Army forbears? Far beyond the lives of the Booths, Railton, Brengle, and other well-known personalities, a vast Army of faithful soldiers – the majority of whose names have faded from our memories – have proved the possibility of living a holy life.

I wonder… Are we in danger of allowing this spiritual birthright to fade until it becomes little more than a footnote in a religious history book, or will we pray that God’s Spirit rekindle this burning zeal that inspires us to live our lives out from under the power of sin? Will we hold to our God-given spiritual heritage of holiness or will we blend into the background in an eager attempt to look like everyone else on the evangelical landscape?

In a classic passage in his book Love Slaves, Commissioner Brengle shares his concern on this very subject:

“…it is this Holiness – the doctrine, the experience, the action – that we Salvationists must maintain, otherwise we shall betray our trust; we shall lose our birthright; we shall cease to be a spiritual power in the earth; we shall have a name to live and yet be dead; our glory will depart; and we, like Samson shorn of his locks, shall become as other men; the souls with whom we are entrusted will grope in darkness or go elsewhere for soul-nourishment and guidance and while we may still have titles and ranks, which will have become vainglorious, to bestow upon our children, we shall have no heritage to bequeath them of martyr-like sacrifice, or spiritual power, or dare-devil faith, of pure, deep joy, of burning love, of holy triumph.”

– Commissioner Samuel Logan Brengle
Love Slaves

I think his words have proven to be rather prophetic, don’t you?

Tell me...What kind of an Army are you leaving to those behind us?

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis

An "Over the Line" Life

Colonel William Barrett Travis knew the situation was hopeless.

He was in command of a rag-tag group of rebels holed up in San Antonio, Texas, in an old Spanish mission called the Alamo, surrounded by thousands of Mexican troops under the leadership of General Santa Anna. Travis offered a final opportunity to the men gathered with him inside the walls. According to legend, Travis drew his sword and scratched a line in the sand. He then challenged all those who were willing to stand and die for what they believed to cross the line.

The choice Travis put to his men couldn’t have been clearer. It was a classic “black-and-white” decision:

• CHOICE A – Stay, fight, and accept the consequence for their actions and convictions.
• CHOICE B – Give in and surrender to the force that surrounded them.

Choose this or that — period. No third option, no “middle ground.”

The stakes were ultimately high. One side of the line meant life and general comfort. The other side represented sacrifice, pain, and probably death -- a fact that was certainly in sharp focus.

While the “line in the sand” story may or may not be true, we do know that a life-or-death choice was, in fact, made by each man in the Alamo. History records that in the early hours of Sunday, March 6, 1836, Santa Anna’s forces breached the walls and eventually killed every Alamo defender. But their courageous stand inspired an army and their sacrifice fanned a flame of passion that led to the establishing of the Republic of Texas.

It’s not too much of a stretch to draw the parallel that as Christians – and especially as soldiers of The Salvation Army – we too are surrounded by an enemy force that would like to eliminate us. And like the Alamo’s soldiers, we have to choose to either make an uncompromising – often uncomfortable – stand for our convictions and our mission, or give in to the pressures of culture, peers, and critics all around us. Clear cut choices of right and wrong, good or bad, courage or cowardice, participant or by-stander, are put in front of us on a daily basis inviting us to choose a side and act accordingly. And the choices we make will either inspire others to similar acts of faith and courage or give them reason to question our beliefs and write-off our witness.

Generally speaking, today’s society doesn’t like well-defined lines — let alone people whose actions are determined by their beliefs and convictions. In fact, there are many who work very hard to blur and distort much of what is clear. Today’s culture tells us that there are few, if any, moral absolutes, truth should be left up to the individual and his/her circumstances, and that open-minded acceptance of everyone’s point of view is the preferred attitude of the day. Consequently far too many of God’s soldiers have become uncomfortable with openly declaring a firm position or opposing view about most of what goes on within their circle of influence. Rather than crossing the line, taking a stand, and making a difference, they sit back and blend in with the crowd, allowing people to sink deeper in sin and continue their slide toward Hell.

Friends, this kind of compromise and fence-straddling is simply not an option for the Salvationist!

Tell me… When was the last time you reviewed the terms and conditions you agreed to live by when you were sworn in and enrolled as “a true soldier of The Salvation Army”? The day you signed your Soldier’s Covenant, you made a choice and stepped over a line to make a clear declaration as to where you stood, what you believed, and how you would behave as a result of those beliefs (Check out the 10 “I will…” statements in the “Therefore” section of your Covenant.).

I wonder… Do you still feel that way? Does your life agree with your Covenant? Do your choices inspire and encourage the soldiers around you, spurring them forward to action?

I’m convinced that as Salvationists, we are called to be activists for Christ not passive spectators. This line is clear. The question is which side of it are you on?

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis

Too Big Even For God?

If someone were to stop you on the street and ask you just how powerful you suppose God really is, how would you answer?

It’s hard to wrap your mind around such an infinite concept, isn’t it? I mean, how do you even begin to try to calculate – let alone describe and define – that which is unlimited? How do you take what is completely without boundaries and confine to the limitations of language, words, and human comprehension? No matter how far you take it, or how deeply you’re able to imagine it, or how well you describe it, God’s power and ability would still be endlessly beyond our greatest measurement or explanation, right?

Still, you’ve been challenged. You want to give the best answer you can. You might point to the vastness of space and the cosmos, or describe the intricate detail and balance of the microscopic world as proof of His power and ability. You could try to describe the might of the most powerful force in the known universe, a black hole (so powerful that not even light can escape from it), and explain that God’s power is immeasurably beyond even that.

Could be that you’d even use some Scripture to support your answer. Maybe you’d start with Jeremiah’s declaration…

“O Sovereign LORD! You have made the heavens and earth
by your great power. Nothing is too hard for you!”
Jeremiah 32:17 (NLT)

Perhaps you’d want to add the testimony of an archangel…

“…nothing is impossible with God."
Luke 1:37 (NIV)

You might even use Jesus’ own words…

"What is impossible with men is possible with God."
Luke 18:27 (NIV)

Or you could even choose to let God simply speak for Himself…

“I am the LORD God. I rule the world, and I can do anything!”
Jeremiah 32:27 (CEV)

Regardless of how you approached the challenge, I would imagine that the bottom line idea you would want to get across to your questioner is that there is nothing God cannot do. No limits. No boundaries. No constraints. Nothing is outside of His ability. Nothing is beyond His power.

So if that’s the way we see God, why is it that when it comes to the possibility of a Christian living a holy life – having a truly purified heart – many believers dismiss the idea as impossible? We’ll shout loud and proud from the rooftops that our God has the power to do everything ranging from the creation of galaxies and solar systems to raising Jesus from the dead. But somehow this same God is completely stumped when it comes to knowing how – or having the ability – to make the human heart holy in this present life…. That’s an order too tall even for Him.

If this were really the case, why would God frustrate and tease His people by requiring something of them that He could never provide and they, in turn, could never achieve?

Let’s let Oswald Chambers weigh in on this matter:

"If Jesus ever commanded us to do something that He was unable to equip us to accomplish, He would be a liar. And if we make our own inability a stumbling block or an excuse not to be obedient, it means that we are telling God that there is something which He has not yet taken into account."

Oswald Chambers
My Utmost for His Highest

If Chambers is right, then tell me….

• …what is the “something” in your life “…which He has not yet taken into account” ?

"I am the LORD God. I rule the world, and I can do anything!”
Jeremiah 32:27 (CEV)

• …what obstacle do you see that He somehow doesn’t?

“I am the LORD God. I rule the world, and I can do anything!”
Jeremiah 32:27 (CEV)

• …what conditions do you face that, in your opinion, puts heart holiness completely out of reach?

“I am the LORD God. I rule the world, and I can do anything!”
Jeremiah 32:27 (CEV)

The majority of those I’ve spoken to who question the possibility of holiness, generally look at the matter from a purely human standpoint:

• "There’s just no way I can be free from sin."
• "I’m bound to sin in some way each day. "
• "I could never overcome this-or-that temptation. "

It seems to me that this viewpoint is alot like looking through the wrong end of the telescope – everything seems impossibly far away.

Turn the whole proposition around, and suddenly it all looks different! You see, it’s not what we can or can’t do; it’s what the infinitely powerful God of the universe can do in us and for us. That’s how we get the pure heart that God expects and we dream of!

All He waits for is your invitation. You see, the Holy Spirit doesn’t come barging in to a heart uninvited. He waits to be asked in. A clean heart is only a prayer away from you.

So here’s a thought… Why not spend a little knee-time with Him about this and give holiness a try today?

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis

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

Still Wild at Heart?

It seems to me that some of God’s creations were never really meant to be tamed.

Sure there are folks who have managed to fairly well subdue some of the natural instincts and behaviors of certain lions, and tigers, and bears (“…oh, my!”), but these animals should never be considered completely tame. We watch them with their handlers, and are tempted to believe that they’re cuddly, cute, huggable, and…well…managable. But deep inside, they are still true to their nature. They’re still wild at heart. Provoke them – get them stirred up, or angry – and just watch what happens. The “wild” that is hidden but still inside them will come roaring to the surface with terrible consequences.

Let me point out another of God’s unique creations that in my opinion was never intended for domestication: Christians (especially Salvationists!).

That’s the overall theme of The Barbarian Way (subtitled Unleash the Untamed Faith Within), a short, but very interesting book by Erwin McManus. Throughout the book, McManus uses the image of a “barbarian” – someone generally unwelcomed and out of step with polite, civilized society due to their wild, aggressive, non-conforming nature – as a metaphor for the untamed Christian. Here’s something of the flavor of his writing:

Somewhere along the way, the movement of Jesus Christ became civilized as Christianity. We created a religion using the name of Jesus Christ and convinced ourselves that God’s optimal desire for our lives was to insulate us in a spiritual bubble where we risk nothing, sacrifice nothing, lose nothing, worry about nothing…

It may seem counterintuitive, but the more civilized we become, the more detached from the pain of others we end up finding ourselves. The most civilized churches have really no practical concern for people outside their congregations. The brokenness of a lost and unbelieving world is not enough to inspire the painful changes necessary to make the church relevant to the world in which we live.

Would somebody please get this guy a uniform and a flag…?! He’s got the heart, spirit and attitude of a Salvationist! He’d fit right in with us!

Or would he…?

I don’t know how things are where you live, but more and more here in the West, a growing number of Salvationists are lining up and signing up for “civilization.” Much like the wild animals mentioned earlier, their Salvationist impulses and behaviors having been fairly well subdued by our culture, far too many Soldiers are embracing a sort of domestication. In short, they’ve become tame. Sadder still, they like it

Years ago, Colonel Lyell Rader,(O.F.), was concerned about this very thing. Addressing the issue head-on, he figuratively grabbed his readers by the lapels of their uniforms as he shook them and pointed out: Salvationists once startled the world as an assault force for Christ. Dare the Army now be content to be merely an army of occupation?

I wonder… Is the Salvationist instinct still in us? Does something still stir in us when we see the man under the bridge or the girl on the street, or have we become subdued by the applause of the more affluent in our community? Is there a passionate, holy “untamed-ness” still in our hearts just waiting to rise up and roar back against the enemy? Is there a “hallelujah!” left to be shouted, or is it possible that we no longer do such things because we’ve bought into a more carefully cultivated image recommended to us by those who would gladly be our handlers?

Salvationists who are still wild at heart, let me try to intentionally provoke you – to stir you up. Shake off the constricting frills and trimmings of religious civilization and reconnect with our mission, our passion, and our calling. Raise your banner! Draw your sword! Make all of Hell shudder as once again you throw back your heads and shout your war cry for all to hear! Hallelujah!

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

Willis