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Unleashing the Apostolic Genius in
The Salvation Army
by
Captain Andrew Clark
It seems pretty safe to say
that there is probably more conversation going on now about
the nature , shape and ‘feel’ of Salvationism that possibly
ever before. The fragmentation away from ‘first love
principles’ have left us with a Salvation Army which isn’t
always encouraging, certainly in the context in which I am
placed.
I have personally been
convinced that The Salvation Army is something akin to a
sleeping bear. When roused and fully awake, its potential is
tremendous. I’ve also been one who has been deeply inspired
and motivated by the Salvationism of our founders. I’ve long
been convinced that there was something in our earliest days
as a movement which are key to our regeneration as a missional
movement, a permanent mission to the lost.
It was in reading ‘The
Forgotten Ways’ by Alan Hirsch that I began to get a really
clear sense of what it was about primitive Salvation Army that
was so potent. Its actually something that is common to many
movements, especially Jesus movements within the Christian
Church over the whole course of its history. Alan Hirsch
calls it Apostolic Genius...that is, certain elements that are
deeply ingrained in the spiritual DNA of Jesus movements. He
draws his conclusions specifically from studying the early
church and the present day phenomenon of the under-ground
church in China. As I read, I started to explore how his
principles applied directly to the missional DNA of The
Salvation Army.
My history lecturer at Bible
College once said that ‘we cannot know who we are and where we
are going, unless we understand where we have been.’ The
thing is, when we look at issues regarding who we are as
Salvationists, we often fail to go further back than Booth,
recognising that what was in him and all that The Salvation
Army came to be came from somewhere else. Its all in Jesus.
Let me share each of
Hirsch’s elements of what he calls, Apostolic Genius, the
stuff that fuels and shapes authentic missional movements.
1 Jesus is Lord
The thing that set Judaism
apart from the rest of the religions of its day was the nature
of God himself. This is the God who declared in the Shema, in
Deuteronomy 6:4, that ‘The Lord is God, the Lord is One.’ The
implication of this was that God was the God of every aspect
of life. This explains the somewhat confusing nature of
Leviticus! If God was God of everything, then he was God of
everything! For Yahweh, there is no sacred/secular divide.
The whole of our being is under his Lordship.
As we move into the New
Testament, we have a full revelation of God in the form of his
Son, Jesus. The concept of the Lordship of Yahweh over
everything becomes focussed. We are invited to understand God
through the Lordship of Jesus. The central war cry of the
early church was ‘Jesus is Lord!’ This wasn’t just a statement
of theology, it was the heart of the Hebraic mindset that
understood that spirituality and religion were not
compartmentalised to certain sections of life. It is the
ultimate distillation of our faith. The whole of life was to
be ordered under the Lordship of Jesus. Everything was
spiritual. It is the essence of faith, after which everything
else is marginal.
The early Salvation Army no
doubt had the Lordship of Jesus at its heart. Catherine Booth
wrote: “And what is our work? To go
and subjugate the world to Jesus; everybody we can reach;
everybody we can influence, and bring them to the feet of
Jesus.
(Catherine Booth,
AGGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY)
More
spectacularly, she said at another point, “
The decree has gone forth that the
kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord
and of His Christ, and that He shall reign whose right it is,
from the rivers to the ends of the earth. I believe that this
Movement is to inaugurate the great final conquest of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
(Catherine Booth, in John
Rhemick. A NEW PEOPLE OF GOD.)
Not
only did Catherine believe in the centrality of Lordship of
Jesus in faith, but she affirmed his was an organising
principle, something which gave reason to our coming together
in the first place.
We see
this Lordship expressed is various ways with the primitive
Salvation Army. Consider uniform wearing at work, the desire
to take faith into the workplace. Look at our theology of
sanctifying the ordinary and our theology of the sacramental
life as opposed to the sacramental rituals. Revisit the
construct of The Salvation Army flag with its reminiscent
‘Yahweh our Banner’ (Exodus 17:15) and the desire of William
Booth to see it flying from every public building. One need
look no further than our response to societal problems! This
was a robust desire to see the Kingdom come in every sphere,
and in every area of life, temporal and spiritual. Today we
call it wholistic; a term we were doing before we knew the
term.
Is
Jesus the Lord of The Salvation Army today? Do we divide our
work, service and ministry into sacred and secular? Are we
passionate about bringing the world to the feet of Jesus to
the extent that everything we do is organised around this
principle? And what of our social work? Does Jesus claim of
Lordship find itself at home at the heart of all we do in that
sector? As a whole, does our ministry look like an expression
of the whole ministry of Jesus as we find in the pages of the
gospels?
2 Disciple making.
Inherent in the concept of
disciple making is the concept of the Holy Spirit imparting to
us the grace we need to become, in essence, little Jesuses to
our world. The early disciples ate, breathed and slept
‘Jesus’. Their task as talmidim, followers of their Rabbi
Jesus, was to become like him in every way, to somehow begin
embodying all there was about him in terms of practical
expression of his spirituality as well as simply the teaching
he gave. The Hebrew disciple wanted to be so close to his
masters footsteps that the dust from his feet would be
continually in his face. The implication being that as the
Rabbi moved, so did the student.
We notice that Jesus’ method
of discipleship and teaching was very pragmatic. Yes, there
were times when he sat them down and taught them, but much of
the teaching was ‘on the go.’ He recognised that the best way
to get these guys to think like him, was to first teach them
to act like him by practically ‘doing the stuff.’ The
thinking came out of the action. Look at the example of Jesus
sending his 72 disciples out to heal the sick and proclaim the
Kingdom in Luke 10. It was at this point that he was saying
to a group much wider than his initial 12 ‘Look...you’ve seen
me do it, you know the score, its your turn.’ They obey, the
respond and faithfully go only to return with a extreme
excitement of all they had accomplished. Right off the buzz
of their missional accomplishment, Jesus enforces their
experience with the theological back-up to explain what had
just happened.
When we delve into the
history of our own Jesus movement, our own discipleship
training mission, we see early Salvationists in the cut and
thrust of active discipleship. Catherine Booth explains the
discipleship emphasis like this: “There
is no record since the Apostles of a body that has so
encompassed the Divine idea, all its members being taught to
make all other objects and aims of life subservient to the one
grand purpose of preaching the Gospel to every creature and
striving to win every soul with whom they come in contact to
its salvation
(Catherine Booth. THE SALVATION ARMY IN RELATION TO THE
CHURCHES. p31,32).
Hinting herself at the
discipleship making element of Apostolic Genius, she reflects
on the contrast between discipleship in the Army and in other
churches of her day. The fact that the soldier saved at the
drum was pinned with an Army badge, called upon to testify
straight away to their new faith in Jesus and in uniform
serving Jesus at the front line the next week is proof enough
of this dynamic. In Scotland, we have a phrase that goes
something like ‘its better felt that telt’ – in other words,
learning comes from experience, not from simple accumulation
of knowledge.
As we have developed as a
Salvation Army, we’ve taken up the very discipleship practices
that Catherine Booth was protesting against. We She said
that “these people stand in these
paths of traditionalism and routinism just where their
forefathers left them occupying all their time admiring the
wisdom and benevolence and devotion of their forefathers
instead of IMITATING THEIR AGGRESSIVE FAITH, and MARCHING ON
TO THE CONQUEST OF THE WORLD.
(Catherine Booth.
PAPERS ON GODLINESS, emphasis hers.)
If
ever there was a danger for The Salvation Army, it is this
very same thing. It is imitation that is the key, seeking to
live out the aggressive and apostolic faith. Not necessarily
of Booth, or Railton or any other such name that played a part
of throwing the mission of The Salvation Army round the globe,
but in the ways of Jesus that threw the Christian faith
worldwide; the same passionate commitment to living the life
of Jesus that has permeated modern-day China with Christians.
Authentic discipleship can never be about either membership or
about simply what we do at the Army. We must ask ourselves,
‘what exactly is the everyday, practical requirement of the
follower of Jesus?’ How transformed would our world be by a
group of people who covenanted to flesh out in real terms the
life of Jesus in every area of life? What would our officer
training look like? How would this approach change our
teaching and training methods for soldiers and local officers?
It
strikes me that if there is to be a future for The Salvation
Army, our ‘members’ must cease to be members and begin
passionately run after Jesus to see what he is doing in our
day in the lives of our communities and learn from him, by his
Spirit and grace within us, what it means to be a little Jesus
in that immediate context. I wonder if we will have the
courage to take our discipleship learning outside the
classroom and hit the road with our crazy itinerant Rabbi.
3
Missional-Incarnational Impulse.
We saw that a crucial
element of discipleship and disciplemaking was a thrusting of
ourselves into the world. For Jesus followers, it was the
same. The concept of ‘sending’ is central to the mission of
the New Testament. Jesus was sent by the Father, the Spirit
was sent by Jesus into the context of our lives so that we
could then be empowered for witness ‘to the ends of the
earth.’ But like Jesus, that ‘sent-ness’ involved becoming
one with that which he was sent to. It involved a deep and
intimate engagement with the world.
Hirsch describes the
missional-incarnational impulse of Jesus like and good
preacher and offers us some ‘Ps’:
-
Presence – Jesus
became flesh and blood, ‘moved into the neighbourhood’ and
developed a close relationship to us. He didn’t ship out to
Heaven every night.
-
Proximity – He
dealt with every strata of society, from Chief Priests,
Pharisees, Roman Legionnaires all the way down to tax
collectors, prostitutes and ‘sinners.’ He had table
fellowship with people in ways that got him a reputation.
-
Powerlessness –
Jesus was the ultimate servant of God. He led from a
position of rejecting all the conventional methods of
leadership of his day. He didn’t come as a king, priest or
prophet, but he was, in the absolute truest sense, King,
Priest and Prophet! Jesus influence and authority was
spiritual rather than institutional.
-
Proclamation –
Jesus announced the Kingdom as well as demonstrating it. He
was at odds with the St Francis of Assisi who thought words
we optional. You can’t take away proclamation of the gospel
away and remain true to the gospel.
It is clear to see that the
early Salvation Army understood missonal-incarnational
impulse. The Army invaded and became and integral part of
every slum and palace it could get into. In terms of
presence, whilst Booth’s Darkest England scheme was happy to
‘get people out’, here was a commitment first of all for the
Salvationist to ‘go in.’ The stories of Booth-Tucker in India
are legends. With regards to proximity, William Booth’s
funeral was attended by queens and prostitutes.
Even with our autocratic
rank system and slightly tyrannous William Booth, we find
words like this from the likes of Railton: “We
are an army of soldiers of Christ, organised as perfectly as
we have been able to accomplish, seeking no church status,
avoiding as we would the plague every denominational rut, in
order perpetually to reach more and more of those who live
outside every church boundary.
(George Scott
Railton, HEATHEN
ENGLAND) We resisted the
temptation to approach mission from the lofty position of the
churches, but instead was happy to be the object of ridicule
from the churches who though we ‘dumbed-down’ the glorious
body.
In the
field of Proclamation, we took need say very little. We were
born in the streets and the gospel was broadcast in every
genre possible, as we all know.
For
today, the questions are clear. Are we sufficiently engaged
with the lost? Are we fully participating in the life of our
world? What company do we keep? Is our leadership and
‘position’ as Christians expressed in service? Do we assume
our position in society? Are we willing to stand up to the
requirement of the gospel to proclaim the Kingdom in season
and out of season? Are we still creative in getting the
message out? Are we a movement accessible by ‘the people’ we
are sent to serve and win?
4
Apostolic Environment
William Booth was, without a doubt, a man with an apostolic
ministry. His visionary leadership, along with that of his
closest encouragers, launched a spectacular expansion of the
Christian faith around the world. Its a legacy that continues
today as our current General, Shaw Clifton, launches us into
more and more nations.
Essentially, an apostolic environment (where all 5 Ephesians 4
ministry roles are in place) is one that calls out and
develops God’s people, and releases them and sends them into
their part of the mission. Apostolic ministry creates the
background, the bedrock, for other ministries. Apostolic
ministry establishes true faith communities. It gives birth
to the prophetic ministry which ensures that the people remain
faithful. This then gives birth to evangelistic ministry,
calling people to the one true God. With souls being won,
shepherds are called into play. Once saved, the teaching
ministry leads to fuller disciples who then continue the
ongoing work. The balance must remain if the movement is to
be kept vibrant, ‘sent’ and advancing.
The
Salvation Army has inbuilt a ministry model that most churches
today can only hope for. In its primitive form, the local
corps setting successfully leashed all five ministry roles.
In the corps officer, you could have a mix of any of the five,
but her main role was as apostolic overseer, steering the
mission of the soldiers. We see Generals, Territorial
Commanders, Divisional Commanders ‘talking up’ our mission to
win the world for God. We have our prophets calling out the
word of God, speaking prophetically to the world and the
church on issues such as social justice, poverty, sexual
slavery, the call to holiness, and on the spiritual nature of
the sacrament.
Back
at the corps, the evangelists were leashed in a variety of
forms, directed by Corps Sergeant-Majors galore. The
Recruiting Sergeant team, including the Band and Songster
Sergeants, as well as Visiting or Ward Sergeants were
mobilised in pastoral care as well as in the teaching ministry
along side Corps Cadet Guardians, Sunday School Guards and the
Corps Officer.
We all
know the story. I contend that The Salvation Army worked
because the whole corps (read ‘body’) was mobilised to their
particular ministry. It was honouring to the doctrine of the
priesthood of all believers and it created an effective
fighting force.
Today,
to a large extent, our officers have become one-man-bands.
The simple call is for each officer and soldier to discover,
develop and function within his or her own gifting. As
officers, we fall into the trap of trying to embody all five
ministry roles. Either that, or we believe that our sole
function is as pastors. We need total mobilisation.
As
officers, are we teaching our soldiers to be warriors? As
soldiers, are we engaging in the mission dei where God has
placed us? Is the Salvationism you experience a creative
culture where you are encouraged and released in ministry? If
its not, what can you do to encourage change? Are the
five-fold ministries alive in your setting?
5 Organic Systems
This is about appropriate
structures for metabolic growth. Phenomenal Jesus movements
grow precisely because they do not have centralized
institutions to block growth through control. Here we will
find that remarkable Jesus movements have (1) the feel of a
movement, (2) structure as a network, and (3) spread like
viruses.
Now, this is an issue for us
in The Army. At its best, our military approach was to harness
efficiency. By this, we cut out layers of beurocracy such as
committees and boards. It was swift and efficient. However,
like any man-made system, or even any interpretation of any
sort of church leadership structure, it can become an end in
itself, instead of a means to an end.
Today, however, is a
different picture. Our structures don't allow for flexibility,
spontenaity and all the other 'ity's' you care to mention. We
sometimes structure ourselves out of any felxible mobility.
Hirsch notes, not without
significance, that Jesus movements are viral networks rather
than command structures. This doesn't mean to say that there
is no structure of leadership, rather it is flexible. We need
a structure that can support potential growth, not stifle it.
You see, when I reflect on
the leadership of the early Salvation Army, aside from the
sometimes control-freakery of the likes of Wm Booth, we see
something interesting. The 'Army' thing gave direction and
purpose, but when we consider some of Booth's strategies, we
see they are something akin to organic structures.
Listen to what he said:
Beginning as I did with a
clean sheet of paper, wedded to no plan. willing to take a
leaf out of anybody's book. above all, to obey the direction
of the Holy Spirit. We tried various methods and those that
did not answer we unhesitatingly threw overboard and adopted
something else.
And while the conclusion was
the military model, Primitive Salvationists were quick to
borrow from other systems:
We believe that all
rational measures, all the measures which men use with respect
to the world, if they are lawful and good, may be transferred
by the sanctification of the motive, by the transposition of
aim, to the Kingdom of God. Yea, we are bound to it.
(Catherine Booth. THE SALVATION ARMY IN RELATION TO THE
CHURCHES)
Change, adaptation,
fluidity...they were there. It also strikes me when seeing
this in reality. Take the stories where Booth would get
stories from some distant lands saying that people had started
the Salvation Army, could he send and officer. Now thats
exponential and virus like growth.
I've heard more modern and
recent comments similar. I think it was General John Gowans
who noted that he still often had people write to tell him
that they had started the Army somewhere and that some of his
Salvation Army Commissioners in some African territories could
never quite pinpoint how many corps they had at any given
point because soldiers would simply go off and start something
where they were.
Now, thats apostolic genius
at work, all enabled by an organic organising principal.
We all need to work at
thinking about how we help, or hinder, the growth of our
movement by what we think is our right to sanction or not
sanction. Can we get to the place again where we structure for
growth and spontenaity?
6
Communitas, not community
Communitas is something very different
to community. I guess you could even say that communitas is
community in action, and community at its best. The example
of what happened after the terrible Tsunami in Asia at the end
of 2004 is an example of world-wide communitas. Everyone
banded together and did something to make a difference in the
midst of the devastation.
Biblically, think of Abram setting out with his family into a
new adventure, David and his band of men, the apostles and the
early church all banded together not just as a community,
which they were already, but community with a purpose! The
life of Jesus and that of Paul were out there on the edge
lives, dangerous existence and living for the sake of the
cause.
Commissioner Phil Needham, in his great little book, Community
in Mission, writes that “mission is the dominant and
controlling passion of the church and that every aspect of the
church’s life ought therefore to be seen as contributory to
mission in one way or another.” In Hirsch’s words, mission is
the ‘organising principle’ of the church. Captain Stephen
Court expresses this as ‘the fellowship is in the fight’
highlighting that whilst it can be good to ‘hang out’ with
Salvationist friends, the deepest form of togetherness and
purpose comes with fighting the fight together, as a Band of
Brothers...and Sisters!
William Booth said it like this: “A
Salvation Army Corps is a band of people united together to
attack and Christianise an entire town or village.”
Fellowship in the fight, indeed.
This appears to me to be a
significant issue in our Army today.. More and more we take
on the forms of churchliness, with our services, members and
committees. Officership has become a priesthood, and so many
‘members’ have ceased to be militant soldiers. In our
primitive Army, people were saved and straight away attached
to a brigade and engaged in the fight.
How do we begin to develop
communitas from our communities? How can we take steps of
faith out into the world in which we are called to work which
will create the necessary dynamics for effective mission?
How can we re-position ourselves in the new battlefields of
the 21st century?
It appears to me that we
have in our missional DNA and heritage everything needed for
explosion into all that God has for us. One of these days,
God’s Army will claim its birthright and become a force to be
reckoned with once again.
I’ll let Booth have the last
word.
“‘When
The Salvation Army ceases to be a militant body of redhot men
and women whose supreme business is the saving of souls, I
hope it will vanish utterly’.
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