Our first love

… have we forgotten it, asks Matt Kean?

W

e talk a lot.

We also write a lot, argue a lot, and complain a whole lot. We are the Salvationists.

We’re petty, bitter and always right. There are countless articles, essays, magazines and websites (including this one) authored by equally countless officers, soldiers, adherents and drop-outs, all focused with reckless abandon upon the cause of fixing, improving, or progressing The Salvation Army.

To all of us, I write the following:

Early this morning, I watched a man surrender his life to the Lord. He wept like a baby when he realized that a God who is perfect, righteous and holy could look upon him, a despicable criminal, and forgive even the worst of his sins. He continued to weep as he cried out for the mercy of a God he had so often mocked. I could hardly hear his words between the gasps of repentant breath. He stayed on his knees for hours and thanked Jesus for hanging on a cross in his stead. Ten men couldn’t move him.

“Why did he die for the likes of me?” he asked through his tears. “What did I do to deserve such mercy?” Before I could answer, he blurted out passionately, “Nothing! I did nothing to deserve this joy!” He ended with the words, “Oh thank you God for saving me.”

My question is this: Why are we concerned with anything other than this result? It has never made sense to me that such capable men and women within—or without—the ranks of the Army are wasting their breath on foolish quarrels and opinions. Have we become so bored with our calling, so preoccupied, that we’ve prioritized human and earthly concerns over those of Heaven?

We get lost in bickering with one another around issues like the sacraments, officership, soldiership, the uniform, adherency, finances, numbers, politics, social service or church—the list goes on. It has been heartbreaking to see the Army I love become pointlessly distracted by such clever ploys of the devil—which are exactly what the fathers of this great organization wished to avoid. We are the ones, the few, who brought the message of Salvation to the lost, who preached repentance to God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, who took up the cross of those who were too tired and weak to carry it while absolutely refusing to lay down our own.

Why, then, is anything else an issue? Sure, we have much of which we can boast, being one of the largest social charities in the world, but what good is acclamation if it brings any result other than seeing souls saved? We are worse off than the Ephesian church (Rev. 2:4) if we have forgotten, or ignored, our first love.

Sadly, our many social services have been infiltrated by an agenda that too often looks good on a status report, but turns millions away without having heard or experienced the changing power of the Holy Ghost. Our churches too have become far less than they are called to be. They are places where the uniformed are rotting in splendid pews and sermons are laden with stories of a holiness that once was.

What are we doing? How is it that we are not joyfully yelling our testimonies from the rooftops? Why is it that we are better known among sinners for our clothing rooms than for our message of God’s power to forgive? Why is it so easy for a person to find a red shield, walk in hungry, spend an hour in our drop-in, and walk out physically nourished still spiritually hungry for the knowledge that Christ died to give him life?

Is all this a little too harsh? Look around. What are our concerns? What drives our arguments? I bet that for every time there has been a Spiritual revival within the Army, there have been a hundred disputes about baptism or community churches/corps. I say boldly, and without apologizing, that this great organization has in fact lost its first love.

Oh Lord, please forgive us. We must get back to basics. We must bring ourselves, every single one of us—officers, soldiers, adherents, captains, majors, commissioners, and generals—to the foot of the cross and beg for the mercy of God. I believe that the Salvation Army has forgotten that it is composed of undeserving sinners, far worse than any, saved only by the sacrifice of the dying Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. Equally, we have forgotten that we have been rescued from the horrors of sin in order to rescue those still lost.

Our ministry, our mission, our vision should be nothing else. Our theologies, our doctrines, and our ideas should be nothing else. Jesus said in Luke 19:10 that his entire purpose was to seek and save the lost of this world. I suggest that if the agenda of Christ himself was unwavering from this calling, then ours should certainly be the same.

I would be of no value at all to my Heavenly Father if my ambition were simply to get people baptized. The same is true if I devoted my life to making soldiers or putting people in uniform. Again, if my ministry was lead by a drive to make officers in the Army, or fill buildings with faces, or to start new youth programs, I would stand before my God on that final day empty-handed.

Jesus called his disciples to be fishers of men, sowers of seed, lights on a hill—examples of His saving power. This was, and should now be, the driving force for the Salvation Army and all who are a part of it. Everything else we do should follow in this vocation. We should refuse to compromise. We should be holding forth the cross in every meeting place, every boardroom, every office, every food bank, every drop-in—and, above all, every life. Is not the command to Paul meant also for us (Act. 26:18)?

I pray with all my heart that the countless articles, essays, magazines and websites (including this one) will soon be painted with glorious testimonies of new disciples, miraculous spiritual revivals within this great family, and an overwhelming increase in honest repentance and holiness within, and without, the ranks of The Salvation Army. Please, pray this with me.

Writer: Matt Kean attends Corps 614 Regent Park in Toronto where he leads the adult men’s ministries. For the past four years he has been working at The Salvation Army Gateway, a men’s homeless shelter in the downtown core. Both Matt and his fiancée are planning to go to officer training college in 2009.

11 Comments to Our first love

1. Don’t be too hard on those of us who are petty, bitter and always right and focussing with reckless abandon. Apart from your opening story you ask roughly 11 questions. Many of us are just trying to offer helpful answers to your questions and indeed many more like them.
Grant on May 1st, 2007

2. I catch what you’re saying, Matt. When it gets down to the guts of things there’s only one thing we should be focusing on.

   Thanks for the challenge.
Cara on May 1st, 2007

3. I read your article Matt and felt a longing to be part of an Army that is impassioned to reach the lost, unashamedly and with urgency - where all we do has this clear aim!
   In saying that I do acknowledge that there are countless places where this is the focus and everything that is said or done stems from this desire however I also have to recognise that there are too countless places where we seem to have lost our ‘first love’; we no longer seem to reach the lost with the same urgency as those who have gone before. Maybe in places we need to stop and recognise again what we are saved from so that it can drive our passion and fill us with the urgency we need to reach those who are lost and need Jesus.
   I am praying with you Matt.
Kirsten Watters on May 2nd, 2007

4. Hey Matt,
   It’s great to see such passion in you in this piece. I know that it is your deepest desire to see people fall in love with Jesus. Good on you.
   Here’s the ‘but’; but I think we need to have discussions. We need to be ‘transofrmed by the renewing of our MINDS’ (Rom.12:1-2). This means we need to think about our faith and what it means to us. This is why websites and discussion formus such as the rubicon are so vital.
   If our faith was only about ’saving souls’ we’d have not been given the Bible but a nice little paphlet with ‘4 spiritual laws’ and had everything nicely wrapped up in a box. In fact, it’s because we’ve attempted to do this that we have seen so many people flee the church.

   A discussion around baptism and the sacraments is necessary for our identity as a church as there is a lot about it in the Bible.

   A discussion about ‘church vs. social’ in the SA is necessary as many of the the uniform wearing bench warming ’soldiers’ in the pews of SA churches have no idea what is going on in the front lines. The SA has over the years had to hire people to do its dirty work while it’s soldiers sit comfortably in the air conditioned sanctuaries and discuss the band and songsters and how good or bad the sermon was on Sunday. Of course we need to discuss this.

   I do agree with you that these discussions can turn sour when they become name calling, ‘I’m smarter than you’, ‘I’m right and you’re wrong’ kinds of dialogue. But we need to engage our minds in these things or else the church will die. Iron does sharpen iron (but this process creates sparks)

   One last thing; Jesus’ first public address was His mission to ‘proclaim the good news to the poor…to proclaim freedom to the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.” While it is my hearts greatest desire to see people fall in love with Jesus and worship him and become more like him, according to this passage and others like the parable of the sheep and the goats, if people do not ‘get saved’ as a result of my ministry, I have been obediant to God and that means my ministry was a success and not a failure.

   Having said all of this, I will indeed pray the prayer with you that you outlined in your last paragraph.

   I should stop here I guess.
   Peace,
   Dion
Dion Oxford on May 2nd, 2007

5. Thanks for your comment, Dion. I feel I should clarify that my purpose in writing this piece was to emphasize how the Army has become preoccupied, or distracted; losing sight of the reason we were called and created. You chose to cite Romans 12:2, and in response I will cite Romans 12:4 - these members do not all have the same function. You tend to spend much time highlighting the importance of the sacraments, but I am simply saying that the Army is not the part of the body of Christ whose function is to care about such things. In comparison to the purpose God raised up the Army (which was to save the lost), such issues are trivial. Those who are called to minister within the SA should be loyal to this mandate because it’s what we were asked and commanded to be loyal to. Loyalty to a calling, loyalty to an organization, loyalty to a people. Now, if we were completely centered and absolutely unwavering in our cause (which I obviously don’t think we are) then our time could be spent on matters of much lesser importance. Until we return to “Our First Love”, I don’t think we have that time to waste.

   I should stop there.
   Peace.
Matt Kean on May 4th, 2007

6. Matt:

   This speaks to your comment directly (and in the interests of brevity to the other comments). I’m wondering when any part of the Church has had “time to waste” “on matters of lesser importance”. By definition, were the SA completely of one mind on issues such as the practice or not of the sacraments, these issues would never be raised so your suggestion that the discussion can wait is something of a paradox.

   And who decides when we’ve got time to waste? What criteria would they use?

   All that having been said, I was raised and spent my younger adult life in the sacramental tradition and I don’t feel their absence much. Making my home church at 614 Regent Park has brought me closer to God.

   But as an outsider (and an incorrigible researcher) I’d appreciate clear, pointed references to the conflicting positions you portray, beyond Biblical citations. These controversies are somewhat new to me (and over my head) and it would nice to be able to ascertain the contexts arguments arose in.

   Living life with gratitude for the gifts God has given us is to my mind (and heart) the best testimony. Some among us have the gift of intellect and are as called to use it as they would any other such as compassion, friendship etc.

   Andrea
Andrea614Regent on May 5th, 2007

7. Ah, I remember my first love, good old puppy love. I also remember when reality set in and I realized that the ‘love’ I had been feeling towards the girl I had been holding hands with for the past two weeks was a pretty superficial love.

   Obviously, Matt, you have to agree that Christianity goes well beyond the first recognition of Christ as Savior so to say that that should be the Salvation Army’s only (or at least their above and beyond main focus) seems quite absurd. The Epistles are filled with urges from St. Paul for members of the Church to mature and grow in their understanding of God and Christ and his teachings. According to the Army itself our salvation is dependant upon our lives AFTER that first recognition.

   I find your dismissal of the sacraments and other aspects of Christian Theology to be quite disappointing. Imagine a different denomination deciding that they shouldn’t help the poor or preach the gospel because that isn’t “their job” within the Body of Christ. To see how God uses the sacraments to make positive impacts in our lives you only have to look at the S.A’s theological mentor, John Wesley. It’s a cause and effect thing really.

   God causes change in our lives through different aspects of our Christian walk and because of this our eyes are more open to the things you’re discussing. I don’t think you can have one without the other. Well you can, you just run into the same problems that a lot of seeker Churches are running into.

   Anyway Matt, I can understand being frustrated with hearing the same conversations over and over again and it appearing as though this is getting the S.A nowhere but I don’t think you should underestimate the impact these discussions could be having on people’s lives beyond your own. Good luck at the Training College, I hope you don’t plug your ears when they force you to go beyond this one aspect of Christianity.
Dave on May 6th, 2007

8. I am astonished that out of all the things I said in this short piece, there seems to be one focal point for our discussion: the sacraments in the Salvation Army. This piece was not even about the sacraments. I actually thought it would be one of the few pieces that sparked any other kind of conversation. My point was that The Salvation Army’s purpose should be to bring the spiritually lost to the cross of Jesus Christ and this above all else. If you read anything by William Booth or about him, you would see that his concern was for the eternity of people. I am not saying that we are not called to the poor, the hungry, the orphaned, the widowed… absolutely not! I am saying that IF WE GET CAUGHT UP IN OTHER THINGS AND FORGET THIS POINT, THEN WE ARE BEING DISOBEDIENT TO GOD’S CALLING! We are proclaimers of the gospel. Saving souls is what we were purposed for. All else must be the result of this passion. There are thousands of very good, Godly churches with sound doctrine that administer the sacraments on a regular basis. If this practice (or lack of) is so severely important, then why not attend one of these fine establishments. I wouldn’t dare walk into an Anglican church and start ranting about how there regularly read prayers are simply vain repetitions and therefore wrong. They are the Anglican church, and I respect them. I have no right to insist they change even though I have solid family connections to it. They have their ministry, and we have ours. To quote general Booth, “We are in the business of saving souls.”

   Dave: Was she cute?
Matt Kean on May 7th, 2007

9. Matt, I don’t think that anyone is questioning that our first calling is “the business of saving souls”. However, it is clear that we have lost our way in this calling in the western TSA.

   There is a middle ground to reach somewhere amidst the discussions that are going on. Some simply say that true holiness is the only way to solve our problems. I would agree but then what is true holiness. The Army’s position has evolved over the years and been taught very poorly in my experience. So people are asking questions, and its about time too.

   Others say only a dramatic overhaul of TSA will result in us getting back on track. This overhaul includes the discussion on whether or not it is time to take up Booth suggestion that we should revisit the question of sacraments.

   The real problem though is that in the majority of places TSA is no longer an effective force for the Kingdom in the western world. Certainly the majority of corps I’ve been involved in are, like a lot of western local congregations, stuck in a rut that make them very unattractive to today’s non-Christians.

   The vast majority of the discussion I’ve seen is centred on making the Army an effective force in the west!

   Yes we are in the business of saving souls, but in order to do so discussion is needed about methods, spirituality and discipleship. This is our sacred duty as Jesus calls us to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. Only when we allow the Spirit to shape us in all these areas can we really regain our effectiveness in our calling.
Graeme Smith on May 7th, 2007

10. Matt, just want to say, thanks for continuing to inspire me with your passion for your first love - we need more like you. In fact what we need is for each of us return to our first love
Tim on June 23rd, 2007

11. Matt

    This is article is brilliant, inspiring, heart-warming, encouraging. Thank you for writing it. I agree with every single word you have written and say a confident Amen (in my heart and out loud!)

    Thanks for talking about the only thing that matters - sinners on their knees finding victory and forgiveness.

    Halelujah!

    Much lov and prayers

    A
Andrew Bale on June 26th, 2007

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