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Ambassadors of
Holiness Valedictory
by Lieutenant James
Thompson
Good evening
everyone. Thank
you for allowing me to share some words on behalf of the
Ambassadors of Holiness.
Tonight is a special night. Tonight is a night where we
acknowledge the satisfactory completion of The International
Certificate of Officership. As the Training College Prospectus
states, “In The Australian Southern Territory many, (though
not all,) of the requirements of the International Certificate
for Officership are achieved through the study of 20 units
toward an Advanced Diploma in Ministry.” And so tonight is a
celebration of our academic accomplishments.
In today’s world,
some would say that academic qualifications seem to be the key
to employment. If we get the right qualifications we can get
the right job. Perhaps we can see this in ministry too.
Perhaps there are some that may believe that this academic
study will produce better-equipped ministers. Perhaps
diplomas, advanced diplomas, bachelors and masters are the key
to more effective ministers of the gospel. It would be easy on
a night like tonight, to think that those who studied well,
achieved high marks and stood out in class discussion would be
the best officers.
However, whilst
researching for an essay I realised that this perception is
strongly contested. I was reading a book by Peter Wagner. In
it he speaks of a man named Christian Schwarz who undertook a
massive research task. He looked at church health and church
growth. He analysed over 1,000 churches in 32 Countries.
Schwarz writes, “Formal Theological Training has a negative
correlation to both church growth and overall quality of
churches.” I asked myself, how could that be? Has all this
time studying, hours bent over books, with all nights of
writing been for nothing?
I looked through
history, and to my amazement a pattern began to emerge. You
see, history seems to prove his point.
For example, the
early Methodists were sweeping through the land when they
began to realise that their ministers were not as qualified as
the ministers from other denominations. Therefore they began
giving their ministers higher education to bring them up to
speed with the rest of the church. However, this directly
correlates to the stagnation of the Methodist church. As soon
as formal theological training became the qualification for
ministry the Methodists stopped growing and their
revolutionary mission came to a halt.
So if academic
study is not what makes a good officer what does? Is it our
skills, passions or experience? Is it quite simply, “What we
are good at?”
I’ve heard a
number of these Graduation speeches over the years, and more
often than not they begin by noting all the different jobs and
skills, the experience, that the session has had. For example
the Ambassadors of Holiness has a wide range of skills ranging
from Truck Driving to Beauty Therapy, from Dentistry to
teaching, and from exterminating to social work. Not only that
but our session is remarkably talented in sports and creative
arts. Some have even ran marathons! (And if you want to hear
how talented we are, buy one of our CD’s this weekend! Only
$10 with all the profits going to Training Cadets Overseas.)
You would think
that with all our academic study, different skills and
achievements that we are a qualified bunch, ready to enter
into full time ministry as Officers of The Salvation Army. We
sound quite good don’t we?
However, there’s
more. Let me fill you in on some more personal details about
who we have been…
In our session,
THE AMBASSADORS OF HOLINESS, we have people who have
worshipped other gods. We have people who have participated in
the occult. We have been completely disobedient to a just and
Holy God. We have not always worshiped God with all our heart,
mind, soul and strength. At times we have even tried to make
God into who we wanted Him to be.
Along with other
filthy language we have used God’s name in vain. We have not
kept the Sabbath holy, instead preferring to spend our time
and energy on ‘more important things’. As many of the parents
here would know, we have even disrespected and argued with our
parents.
But that’s not
all. We have been addicts. We have abused drugs, alcohol and
cigarettes. We have been alcoholics, gamblers and addicted to
pornography. We have started, and finished fights, threatened
people with guns, knives, fists and words. We have had
unhealthy sexual relations, we have lusted, we have stolen,
and we have lied. We have been envious, jealous and gossips.
We don’t sound so
good now do we?
So how could we
possibly be qualified for Officership? It is not our academic
study, it is not our experience, it is not even what we are
good at! Do you know what it is?
It is Jesus
Christ.
Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, the man who never sinned, walked the Earth. He
loved the unlovable. He performed miracle after miracle to
show the world that He was the all-loving God. He spent time
with the rejects of society and the vilest of sinners.
Then He then gave
His life to save the world. The book of Isaiah says that His
face was beaten beyond recognition, we are told of the
beatings He received at the hands of the Jews and Roman
soldiers. Jesus allowed the world to nail Him to a wooden
cross and kill Him. And as He died, this innocent and all
loving man took the punishment of our sins. He took the
punishment that we deserved. And by doing so He took our
guilt, condemnation, misery, pain, selfishness and sin to the
grave.
But the story
doesn’t end there.
Three days later
Jesus Christ gloriously rose from the dead. He defeated death
and gave us an opportunity to be born again. God has made a
way for us to be happy, saved and free. He is the one that
accepts us, loves us, redeems us, heals us, makes us whole,
and gives us life in the fullness. As Jesus Christ rose from
the dead we too can rise from the dead and live a new life in
the power of Gods Holy Spirit.
This is not just
something we read about in a book or a lesson we listened to
in College. This is not just a theological statement that we
should all believe, critique, write essays on. This is the
real life experience of THE AMBASSADORS OF HOLINESS. We can
all stand here today and say that we are “SINNERS SAVED BY THE
GRACE OF GOD.” God has changed our lives. God has equipped us
for ministry. Our qualification for ministry is none other
than Jesus Christ Himself.
The early
Salvation Army knew this. They offered a vehicle for both the
young and poor to engage in the Salvation Army’s mission.
Catherine Booth, founder of The Salvation Army, once said, “He
may not be able to put together two sentences of the Queen's
English, but if he can say that he has been born again, if he
can say, "once I was blind but now I see", he will do for The
Salvation Army.”
The early
Salvation Army looked for people who had been totally
transformed by the power of God. The qualification for
ministry was not academic degrees, not vast experience, and
not what one was good at! Rather it was what God had done.
We, The
Ambassadors of Holiness can stand before you tonight and say
that “We have been transformed by the power of a loving God.”
We can all say, “Once I was blind but now I can see!” We can
all say that we have been born again. We can give you specific
examples of how God has saved us, healed us and set us free.
We can tell you about living a life of integrity, a life of
victory over sin, a life of holiness. Is it something we have
done? No, it is simply the work of God in our lives. Because
of the work of Christ in our lives, we can stand before you
qualified to be ministers of the gospel.
The Salvation Army
must guard itself against any idea that academia, experience
or skill will qualify a person for Officership. We must
remember that academia, although useful and necessary, is only
part of what makes a good officer. Instead, we must continue
the tradition of William and Catherine Booth. We must remember
that we are only qualified for ministry because of Christs
death and resurrection.
Jesus Christ is
the only reason why we can stand here tonight even remotely
qualified for ministry as officers in The Salvation Army.
In closing, let me
close with the passage from 1 Corinthians Chapter 1 that
Commissioner Finger preached to us on Covenant day:
26 “Brothers and
sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many
of you were wise by human standards; not many were
influential; not many were of noble birth.
27 But God chose
the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose
the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose
the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the
things that are not—to nullify the things that are,
29 so that no one
may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in
Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is,
our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as
it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
Although we are
celebrating our achievements and our commissioning this
weekend, we cannot boast in what we have done. The truth is,
we are simply sinners saved by the grace of God. We are simply
normal, everyday people who have been transformed by a loving
God. We are nothing without Jesus Christ. But because of Jesus
Christ, we are, and you can be, if you choose, Ambassadors of
Holiness.
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