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From Here... We Can See The End Of The
World
by Colonel
Richard Munn
 A
renowned New Yorker magazine artistic cover depicts
detailed Manhattan streets prominently at the forefront and
fading overseas continents vaguely way off into the distance.
Yup, we know our own neighborhoods very well, and can
be only dimly aware of great cultures afar off.
Not so the gospel story.
Not so our Salvation Army story.
From solitary Abraham who catches a global vision
that ‘all nations of the world’ will be blessed through
him, to Jesus who challenges his followers to ‘make disciples
of all nations,’ to John who on the speck of an island
catches a consummate vision where ‘every nation, tribe,
people and language’ are before the throne of God, the gospel
story from Genesis to Revelation is decidedly expansive and
global.
(NT Greek) Panta ta ethne – ‘all people
groups.’ Genesis
12, Matthew 28 and Revelation 7 – what a trio.
Fast forward almost a couple of millennia and
William Booth pens ‘the whole world redeeming’ and his
precocious daughter, Evangeline, then adds a second
reverberation, ‘the world for God.’
Panta ta ethne
redeeming; Panta ta ethne for God.
You and I are part of a Christianity that is
relentlessly multi-cultural and global; and, we are soldiers
in an army that is inspiringly inter-joined around the world.
The former gives us a great vision; the latter
disabuses us from paltry self-centeredness.
My friend who left a medium-sized corps to join a
burgeoning 800-member congregation later confided in me, ‘I
miss the internationalism, 800, that’s it.’
So, JAC colleagues, let’s go global.
You can see the end of the world from where you are,
and it is beautiful.
From my mother who faithfully gave £20 a month to a
Tanzanian grandma charity, to the Costa Rican men’s group that
came and painted our local corps gym, to the international
retired officers fund, to Others Trade for Hope, the list can
go on, and the opportunities for interchange are boundless.
It is no coincidence that every territory contributes
to the World Services campaign.
More than that, however, missionally and
theologically we must deliberately adopt a posture of humility
and mutual respect.
And then, we are liberated to expend every effort in
our sphere of influence to make it pulsate with panta ta
ethne – musical groups, corps councils, congregations,
cadet bodies, periodicals, special guests and leadership
teams.
Happy 150th JAC – may your circulation
go panta ta ethne.
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