Vox populi | pathway of duty

No slouching allowed

By the pathway of duty flows the river of God’s grace. Back in the day we used to sing that song, and people used to get to work in the Corps. They were involved because they had a sense of duty. Somehow this has become a bad thing because now we want people who are sold out for Jesus rather than people who are motivated by duty.

With Christmas just around the corner, as a Corps Officer, I would have killed to have a bunch of people who were driven by duty. More work gets done because now that we want to just hang out with Jesus no one wants to do anything. Can you come and stand on kettles for 4 hours? Nope, hangin’ with Jesus. We’re packing hampers on Saturday morning. Can we count on you? Hangin’, sorry, me and Jesus. Sunshine bags? Hangin’. Serenading, visitation, kid’s club? Hangin’ hangin’ hangin’. Everyone is so big into spending time with Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, no one wants to do anything. Whatever happened to God, Queen and the Country? Hangin’ out gives you too much time to think about things and point fingers at the songster who only comes to church out of duty. Look at him. 52 straight weeks of duty. Where’s his relationship with Jesus?

Duty has become a four letter word, and the absence of it has driven some C.O.’s to the brink of using four letter words. It’s Christmas. We’re The Salvation Army. We work, and sacrifice our time, and sometimes even our families suffer a bit from it. Get your duty into gear, and if you’d like to hangout with Jesus? Come and hang out for 4 hours on a kettle. Jesus is waiting.

Friday, November 30th, 2007 Blogroll, Vox populi, theRubi-Blog

19 Comments to Vox populi | pathway of duty

I’m not one to say that duty is wrong, but the problem has been that what developed within The Salvation Army was a duty to the wrong thing. So it became that being on duty was the reason for people attending meetings. There are some places where when the band is not on duty in a meeting then you will not see some of the bandsmen. Duty in these situations actually becomes a hindrance to the building of disciples rather than part of their discipleship.

It could be that the sort of people you seem to think turn around and say “Sorry can’t help you ‘cos I’m hanging with Jesus” are simply using it as an excuse to get out of things, although I must admit I’ve never actually met anyone like that! True disciples are those who understand that true faith carries a duty to serve the Lord.

Also let’s not return to the days when we were so busy serving that we actually forgot to hang out with Jesus and the Holy Spirit because there are more than a few who have fallen in battle because of this attitude.

Give me a handful of people who are committed to Jesus and do their Christian duty out of that commitment over a large group of people who feel an obligation of duty to the Army but are poor examples of what that duty entails any day!

Graeme Smith on November 30th, 2007

One other thought. Isn’t there something to be said for serving just because. If I think of a Matthew 25 perspective, it strikes me if people just served they would meet Jesus.

If you can find the latter it is an absolute payday, but for now, I’ll take the large group. In January we can trade them in for the handful.

admin on November 30th, 2007

Sounds also like modernity meeting postmodernity, the younger people really wanting to be convinced of why they should do it, is this the best way to do it, and is it what God wants of them now? Spiritual directors might help, but they (if it is the younger people who are reluctant) will need you to be journeying with them where they are, in otherwords understanding they don’t think in terms of duty by assuming the army is doing the best things here, before they will journey with you, out in the cold collecting? If their inner lives are fragmented, spiritual accompaniment rather than direct challenge may be more productive. Just a thought.

Blessings, E.

Eleanor Burne-Jones on December 1st, 2007

By spiritual accompaniment I meant a trained one-to-one mentor for each disciple, drawing on Spiritual Director and formation skills. Blessings, E.

Eleanor Burne-Jones on December 1st, 2007

Speaking from a posture of post-modernity, perhaps a spiritual Avatar may be more appropriate. Yeah, this changing from one era into another is tough stuff. Try being a parent in the flux. Some say post-mod has even passed.

I’m still stuck, I guess, because I find myself telling my kids that we do some things just because they need to be done. I can’t come up with a more spiritual reason than that. The spiritual part for me is that regardless of human activity ie. my piety or lack thereof, God is still present, and His grace still active in my life.

peace,rz

Rick on December 2nd, 2007

I’ve logged it many times and I’ll do so once more. Dear Corps Officer, stop talking about duty, help wanted, unless you are willing to accept that help when it has been offered.

Ian Carmichael on December 2nd, 2007

Hi Ian,
It sounds like there’s a bit of a bite to that comment, and it is a shame if you have been overlooked. Obviously we wouldn’t want to “out” someone here with comments, but don’t quit, and certainly don’t take it as an offence. I can only speak for me, and I’ll take the help, except, I’m not a Corps Officer, but if I was…
peace,
Rickz

admin on December 2nd, 2007

A lot of us out here are alienated because the only thing we are considered any use for as soldiers is holding a collecting tin.

Eleanor Burne-Jones on December 3rd, 2007

Rick - The story is too long and I have told it several times in other places so my comment was a very necessary precis of the original.

In brief. I am much too senior citizen to be used in any significant way but for thirty years I have “soldiered” in three medium to large corps but it takes time to makes ones abilities (or lack of them) known.

By the way has my posting beed mediated?

Ian Carmichael on December 3rd, 2007

Hardened by experience here in the UK, I have a rule now and I recommend it to others. If the CO engages you as a soldier in some form of missionally effective service for at least three quarters of the available time you have to give, then give the remaining portion to maintenance related activities as they need it and pay your tithe. Otherwise down tools and wait until they get the message. Serve in the meantime elsewhere, and leave if necessary, taking your Articles of War with you and remaining faithful to them effectively as an independent or network salvationist, work ecumenically or elsewhere as needed, while you wait for the corps to get back on track. We don’t have time to muck about here. People are living and dying all around us without having ever heard the gospel. The army tells us to have a sense of urgency to reach those who have never heard the gospel, and then demonstrates the exact opposite. I advocate trying to maintain a warm relationship, and open and clear communication on the problem but to utterly resist cooperating with dysfunctional church, zero tolerance.

Eleanor Burne-Jones on December 4th, 2007

That is one approach. Another approach is to come alongside your Corps Officer, and be the solution to the problem. Withholding tithe or your service as a way to teach a lesson could be viewed as a vindictive response and should be avoided at all costs as it could lead to bitterness taking root in your spirit. I would also avoid broad sweeping remarks about “the Army” because that denotes TSA in all 110 countries of the world, and it may be the situation is limited to a local setting.

Rick on December 5th, 2007

The concept of “duty” can seem one-sided, but my own imagination has been set in motion by a conviction of Richard John Neuhaus: “It is the highest exercise of freedom to decide on what is our duty.” I think Rick is on to something.

Ray Harris on December 6th, 2007

Hi Rick,

I’ve arrived at the place of a firm response after my own experience of years in the army with several COs, and countless hours listening to others, mainly through the thousand hour prayer vigil which lasted for over a year. You cannot come alongside an officer if they do not wish to engage. They can refuse to communicate or respond to communications and cut all conversations dead. They are human too, and can be depressed, themselves alienated, and sometimes simply very poor communicators - not good with people or teams. You also cannot be the solution if you and others offer initiative after initiative over a long time and they refuse, disregard, or ‘we’ll get back to you’, failing to acknowledge the work and research you’ve put into preparing your suggestion, fail to explain why they don’t think it will work, or offer any alternative route of service. Ever experienced the ‘Wall of Silence’?

I don’t think I’m bitter generally, though I have moments of despair - mostly a deep grief at the moment as I handle giving up altogether and leaving at least in all but technicality. I have plenty of work to do outside TSA, and pretty much always have had, but I had longed to find some connection between that and TSA to which I felt called. I will get over it.

What I have is a burning drive to BE FAITHFUL. That means to live without double standards or hypocrisy faithfully to my undertakings in the Articles of War and the promises I have made to God, and my surrender to him, at the mercy seat. I have this single focus, and I want to go to my grave knowing that although I will have made no great contribution in the world or by its standards, I will at least know that those closest to me saw no hypocrisy in how I’ve lived, but saw authenticity and faithfulness to inspire them. In a church culture where soldiers (and laity in the wider church) can be routinely left frustrated, doing nothing, year after year, you have to resolve the loyalty versus faithfulness dilemma. You have to resolve it with plain, straight, direct talking. I advocate my hard-learned, direct, and very simple response. I do not advocate passive aggression. I advocate clear thinking and clear argument. I will serve where there is an opening to serve. I will not be passive because to do that is to be disobedient to God.

Follow it through a little further. If I (or anyone else and I’ve lost count of those I’ve listened to in similar situations) sit and do nothing when the CO is not allowing things to move forward, or whatever, then WE become unfaithful. We are sucked into their unfaithfulness - and I really don’t want to stand there on the Day of Judgement saying ‘But I was only following orders….’

If we move out to pioneer, or serve in other organisations, who is going to fund that? I’ve just spent six months working on a fresh expression with zero funding. Do the maths. There is only so much money. Pioneering costs. I’m not advocating people stop paying a tithe just because they don’t like the CO or are for some genuine reason unable to serve.

If someone can come up with a clear alternative to how to resolve the ‘loyalty versus faithfulness dilemma’ I’m happy to look at it. But for now I’m standing by what I wrote. Someone told me it is the duty of officers to engage soldiers in active service.

Eleanor Burne-Jones on December 6th, 2007

Great discussion.

Guess I’m not an ambitious servant.

Most of what I do that comes under the heading “duty” isn’t terribly fun or glamourous, but it’s often the sort of thing that if I stopped doing (paying bills, working, making my son’s school lunch) the world as I know it would stop.

This is not a matter of obedience now as much as one of those habits that serve the greater good. Yes, it’s important to rededicate myself to His work every morning, but that is not enough to bring inspiration on a regular basis.

Doesn’t moving from missional to incarnational mean, by definition, having to do the same things over and over (especially if they keep working)? And won’t what was originally motivated by obedience have to start being motivated by duty?

Yes, duty has become a fusty, quaint sort of word. Think of Tennyson and the “Charge of the Light Brigade” (“Ours is not to Reason Why”) and trying not to think too much…It’s a grudging approximation of altruism. But I’d like to make a case for reviving duty.

My place of calling is full of people who never had anyone do anything for them out of duty. A check, yes, but not duty. And that is sad.

Because duty is meeting people where they are.

Thanks all,

Andrea

Andrea614Regent on December 6th, 2007

I feel you! It’s a lot easier for me to find out where my Soldiers talents are strongest when they’re knee deep in duty with me.

Bink on December 6th, 2007

Andrea thanks as always for your insightful comment! My concern though is that, within my context of the Army in the UK, is that duty was what you had towards the band and songsters rather than towards God and people. It didn’t matter how your personal walk with the Lord was as long as you did your part in your section!

I’m all for duty in the sense you have highlighted, although in the sense of incarnational living it must be a duty to something you believe in otherwise it would be difficult to sustain the lifestyle that you choose to live out for any significant period.

Graeme Smith on December 6th, 2007

This quiet topic has sure made for pointed, useful discussion.

Eleanor, your latest post was in the queue before I made mine so I didn’t have a chance to deal with the issues you raise. As a lay Christian of modest means I have noticed that yes, ministry costs, but when it confirms to His will, costs are covered. There are many things that could be done that are good in and of themselves, but they are not always what he wants done then and there.

Thanks Bink.

Graeme, yes faith and belief are vital to incarnational living. However, some of the time many of us don’t feel them intensely. It bridges us back to Him. And duty isn’t a motivation borne of eternity, true, but it certainly can be functional in this world.

If songsters and bands bring what they have to serve the poor, and they keep returning to the poor then their duty will be well-placed.

Thanks,
Andrea

Andrea614Regent on December 7th, 2007

Hi Andrea, I agree completely that God provides, but he needs us to make sensible decisions as well. I stand by my belief that sitting around doing nothing is basic unfaithfulness to Christ and to our undertakings as soldiers. If the church we are a member of is doing nothing, we have a responsibility to get out, get on with the work ourselves, and resource it with all God has given us.

Graeme raised a good point (here or on another blog) that things are not working if the soldiers are constantly asking the officer to ‘give them something to do’. I mean at least people have some impetus there to serve which is wonderful, but that flags up the need to train soldiers effectively so they can see what needs doing and do it. I am still really worried this isn’t happening so routinely, as it creates or contributes to maintaining a church culture of passivity and a prevailing sense of helplessness. This may make life simpler for officers and congregations easier to control, but it is a disaster in the endeavour to make disciples who will make disciples. I don’t think we’ve ever lived in a time of such rich communication, and development and sharing of skills and ideas on missional-incarnational church, on communication, listening and spiritual accompaniment, on discipleship and leader training. But if you listen in on the ecumenical discussions they seem to be hitting a firewall where the army is concerned. Some of the officers may be in on the discussions, but at grassroots level, we see officers who are decades out of date in the training, unable to handle the different mindsets of the generations, and laity who have been in the church decades without any training or development as disciples. People end up leaving the church because as one recent leaver told me ‘the whole thing doesn’t work’, and they’ve never even encountered the richness of possibilities for living out their faith in authentic and passionate ways. The whole thing has bypassed them, because it rarely penetrates the army to soldier level.

I can hear my late uncle in my memories commenting on how armies are the same the world over, the people who get the least support,the least resources, and the least training are the ones actually engaging the enemy.

I am not giving up on the army, but I’m troubled by what I’m seeing.