Modern technology is great isn't it? At the beginning of the year I was in an American Navy camp and I picked myself up an I Pad. It's an amazing piece of kit and it's revolutionised my life at sea. No more carrying a laptop around, I can listen to my music in my office when working, my photos are instantly at hand and most importantly if I am in port I can just go to somewhere with Wifi and in seconds I can be on Skype and talking to home!
One thing I love about it as well is the fact I can download and store magazines on it. Every time I get into a port and can get wifi I download the Salvationist and the War Cry. This gives me something to read when I am out at sea and makes me feel a bit more in contact with the UK. Don't get me wrong, it's not as good as physically having the paper itself to flick through, but it saves my mum having to post them out to me!
One thing I like about the Salvationist is the New Commitments page. I love looking to see if there is anyone I know, or any new Soldiers in Corps I have visited. As much as I love to see who is new in the Army, I have often wondered how many people each week have left or died. I have often thought, it looks like there are lots of new Soldiers and Adherents, so the Army must be growing.
I also like to read an online magazine called "Journal of Aggressive Christianity" The Journal is published online every other month, and it is well worth a look. Just follow the link if you fancy a read. http://www.armybarmy.com/jac.
This week I read an article in the JAC called "Salvo Stats Snapshots". This really got rid of any misconception I may have had that the Army is growing. Have a look at the article; the Army is not growing, it's rapidly in decline! I was not overly surprised that numbers in some places are dropping, but I was alarmed by the rate in which the Army seems to be loosing Soldiers, Junior Soldiers, Officers and even whole Corps.
This got me thinking; how come in the early days the Army saw such rapid growth and today it is seeing such rapid decline? Really it's a massive subject and there are many reasons and no easy solutions. But anyway here is my taking on some of the reasons and how we can buck the trend.
I must admit I can be a bit of an SA History geek at times. Just ask my girlfriend, I took her all the way to London, just to go to William Booth College and the Heritage Museum. One of the things I like to do is collect and read old SA books.
I find these books really interesting and love the passion with which the early Salvationists used to go for souls! As most people involved with the Army know it was set up in the west end of London, which at the time had some of the most shocking and poverty ridden conditions in the world. The early Salvationists would be right there, in and amongst the poor, living with them, sharing the same conditions, and trying their hardest to save them. This approach seemed to work and many people were saved this way. This was extremely effective in so much as when someone from these conditions was saved they knew exactly how to reach out to others who were in situations such as they had been in. This led to self perpetuating growth, as those poor people who were saved carried on to save those around them.
I know today there are many great Army people doing great outreach work in this area, but what of the average Soldier, what are we doing to reach out to the poor and the homeless? What are we doing to save and recruit these people? If were not doing a lot (and I'm not sureI am!) then what can we do! I am sure these days in many places the average Soldier has separated themselves from the poorer side of society and feel that they are better than them. It would seem in many places Corps want to be respectable rather than full of ex alcoholics, prostitutes and drug addicts. But that's exactly who the SA was established to save! This way of thinking must change if we are to see the Army get back to where it should be, and see the numbers start to rise again.
Another thing I have noticed in these early Salvationist books is the amount of time and effort people put into the Salvation War. People worked just as hard as we do now, if not harder and they did not have many of the comforts lots of us have today. Yet most nights andalmost all weekend they would be out trying to Save Souls, trying to lend a hand to help people, or doing some part to support the effort. It seems sometimes these days we just don't put enough effort and commitment in.
Please don't think I'm having a dig at anyone here! I know modern life can be hectic and draining. These are just my thoughts on the subject and I am just as much on at myself! Half the time I go to the morning meeting on a Sunday, but by Sunday evening I just want to chill out so don't go to the evening meeting. But I really don't think that is the right attitude! Yes we need down time to rest and relax, but we also need to increase our commitment and time spent serving God in this battle. We need to spend more time out and actively fighting this war and less time fighting on Call of Duty on the X Box, or slumped on the sofa watching TV. It seems most early Salvationists had no other hobby; there only aim when not in work was to save souls! Now that is commitment! To them the Salvation Army was not just something they did on a Sunday, or a building they would class as the place they worship.
It was a way of life. They lived for the fight!
These are just two of my thoughts on the subject as I said earlier, the subject of decline and the reasons behind this are massive. I could spend all day writing about it, but to be honest I expect you would probably get bored of listening to me rant on!
I really do think every Soldier should ask them selves the following questions though:
1) What am I personally doing to reach out and not just help, but save those that no one else in society cares about?
2) Am I really truthfully and honestly giving God as much time and effort in my life as is possible and as He deserves?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we should necessarily go back to the tactics used by early Salvationists. Personally I'm not sure if marching up and down the streets every night with a brass band would have any effect! (Just my personal opinion there sorry to any bandos!). I feel we need to move forward in our methods and evangelical tactics.
But I also think we can learn a lot from the early Salvationists. I do feel we should move backwards in or commitment and passion to fight this war and reach out to the lost. I think if we re-engage the enemy with the passion and commitment of the early Salvationists we just might be able to turn the rapidly decreasing Army into a growing Army.
The Sailing Salvationist
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