Thinkaloud | summer salvation

… do more than talk a good fight

V

ery soon the playful months will be upon us; those lazy, hazy days of summer when the combination of heavy scented air, clear blue sky and warm breezes beckon. Of course those of us who live in northern climates are aware that almost before we know it the cool winds will begin to blow and the early frost will pinch the last bloom of summer. So why not soak up the sun while we can. After all, summer is a time to we enjoy ourselves.

God is no killjoy. After all, He invented pleasure and He wants people to enjoy themselves with good, clean fun. Our heavenly Father has a smiling face. He knows that a good sense of humour and the choice to relax are signs of sanity in the creatures He came to earth to save. So, enjoy the good old summer time, but let part of that enjoyment of the world and its delights include listening to God’s voice, responding to His gentle urging, and living an obedient lifestyle that reflects His restorative love.

But as Christians we must never lose sight of the fact that this season of the year is the golden opportunity for telling others about the gospel. The good weather, the relaxed attitude of holidayers, and the ease of opportunity for frontline Christian evangelism make this a marvelous time for Christians to be engaged in sharing Jesus.

And who are better equipped for this vital ministry than Salvationists? Even a surface knowledge of the Army’s beginnings reveals that God called the Army into being so that He might have a people who were not afraid of spiritual warfare. The Army – by its very name – was meant to be a company of Christian shock troops who would prayerfully and strategically move to the hottest point of the battlefront. There, with sanctified commonsense and wide-awake intelligence, they would win the day.

The downside is that for many the Army has become just another church full of church members who are happy to fill the pews but who never witness and who have never participated in personal evangelism.

The fields, said Jesus, are still “white unto harvest”. There are many opportunities today to tell about Jesus to a spiritually searching and bewildered society. In a world where false gospels abound the truth of Christ’s saving power will still bring people into spiritual freedom and salvation. But we must be prepared to do more than talk a good fight.

In its days of greatest growth the Army marched to songs that will be considered by some to be old-fashioned and jingoistic. The spirit of this 1887 “call to arms” by William Pearson will never be out-of-date.

God’s trumpet is sounding: To arms! is the call:
More warriors are wanted to help on the war;
My King’s in battle, He’s calling for me,
A salvation soldier for Jesus I’ll be.

Writer: Lieut.-Colonel Maxwell Ryan is a former Editor in Chief in Canada and the UK. In retirement he is a copy editor of theRubicon and the author of theRubicon series called Resurrected Writers.

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