William Booth was passionate that if the Salvation Army was to be defined as a church it would merely be tied down to meeting the needs of people who sit in pews. His vision was far greater, extending past the boundaries of walls to the whole world. The community was the heart of the mission not the church building. William Booths vision was for everyone who signed up to be a soldier, to be an activist. Therefore, if you became a soldier you were meant to take that seriously. Williams Booths vision was that of Christ’s we must GO to the people, not wait for them to find us. We must fight sin and the call for battle is just as strong today as when Jesus called his disciples and when the Salvation Army as a vision was placed on William and Catherine Booths heart.
Membership in The Salvation Army is not for those who want to remain comfortable, it is not about joining an association of like people and trying to be good to each other, it is about “Be(ing) doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22), and being active in social change.
These truths have been given as a challenge to the worshipers of the Box Hill Corps who have attended the membership and information classes, over the past months, and we have responded. People have considered the cost of being a disciple and have chosen to be a soldier. The Salvation Army is marching along. Hallelujah!
So far during 2007 we have enrolled 11 people as soldiers of the Box Hill Corps, the majority of them youth. Here are some of the comments they made as they considered becoming an activist in TSA.
“I want to be a Salvo because I love God and want to serve Him with my life, and I believe in the radical call that the Salvos have responded too… that’s what I want to do with my life.”
“I want to be a Salvo because I could not be a member of a church that does not practice what it preaches. I believe that our Corps is on the verge of something awesome, and the Salvos are on the verge of something great worldwide, and I want to be apart of it.”
“I want to be apart a world changing movement, and I believe that is what TSA is at the moment.”
“I want to be a soldier because it is an outward expression of the faith that I have in God, and the acceptance of Jesus that I have in my life.”“
“Soldiership to me means standing apart from the rest of the world, it pretty much means following God’s way and not the worlds way. It is something that I can stake my life onto. It is canter-cultural which I love, I mean no body really commits to things any more, and I pretty ready to commit to God and stand up in this Army we have got going and to be apart of everything. To have God and His agenda at your very core and have the essence of who you are completely in love with God and devoted to Him and His cause, and I think that when you get that core right then everything else will fall into place.”
“Being a Soldier in TSA mean not just standing by and watching the activities that are going on and the work that is done in TSA, but actually committing myself and getting involved and getting in and getting my hands dirty in all the activities that go on.”
“It means to put God first in my life, and putting others ahead of myself.”
The dreams of the old men, are the visions of the youth.
Onward to victory
