Missing the point

Like a star athlete chained to a dead man

The opening band played too long. The old man dancing thought he was hot stuff. A middle-aged woman thought The Salvation Army was only a charity.

A lot of people missed the point that night. I had traveled with my friends to the Hard Rock Café in Boston to see a few bands play and have a good evening. As the evening went on, I found myself wondering at how often people were missing the point. The first band played for about an hour, noticeably longer than the headliner was able to play later. There was a middle-aged man dancing the most ridiculous dance in front of groups of girls, missing the point that they weren’t interested, nor there to get with a guy 25 years older than them. And finally, the woman I talked to misunderstood me.

There were no seats open in the house. We had arrived 45 minutes early, but there were no tables left. After an interminable amount of standing, I took a seat at a table where a middle-aged woman was sitting, behind people standing near the stage. She didn’t seem to have a group of people with her, and so she allowed me to sit. Over the din of band’s clashing cymbals and shredding guitars, she asked me “You go to college around here?” This is much better than the usual “What high school do you go to?” I responded “I’m a graduate student.” Immediately I knew what the next question would be. “What school?” “Gordon Conwell Seminary” I replied.

“Seminary! What are you going to do after that?” I proudly stated “I hope to pastor with The Salvation Army in Chicago.” The look of confusion on her face was matched by my frustration at not being able to explain the Army, as I have to do every time I mention it, Christian company or not. I tried to tell her it was a church. She may think that I’ll be pastoring in a thrift store for my life.

Who is missing the point? The opener missed the point of what it means to be an opening band. The old man missed the reason why people go to concerts (mainly to hear music and have a good time). The woman did not miss the point of the Army. She is the passive subject. We missed the point of being a church. The Army misses the point of ecclesiology.

Part of me is glad we’re not seen as “just another church,” but another part of me hates that people don’t see us as part of the body of Jesus Christ (aka the Church). I think our ecclesiology is being dragged, supported, carried and sometimes forgotten by our missiology. Think of it as a star athlete chained to a dead man. The corpse is a part of everything, and technically, he’s there, but he’s not doing much. Just imagine if they could run together.

When it comes to being the Church, the Army gets the point where many other churches don’t. On the other hand, we miss the point too. And saying we do mission better than others or that we’re “just a movement, not a church” isn’t cutting it for me any more these days. I think it’s time to revive the dead man.

Writer: David Witthoff is a Salvationist from the Oakbrook Terrace Corps. He recently graduated from the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago with a BA in Pastoral Ministry. Currently he lives in Hamilton, Massachusetts, USA where he is working towards a Master of Arts in Old Testament and a Master of Arts in Biblical Languages at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. David enjoys writing music, exegeting, sci-fi tv shows, running, soccer, languages and talking about the Army with his friends. His hope is to be the best soldier, officer, student and teacher of the scripture that he can be.

3 Comments to Missing the point

1. Amen brother! We focus too much on our services now instead of our mission which is first and foremost to “preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ” THEN we “meet human needs without discrimination”

   And I cringe everytime I hear we are “doing the most good” haha.
Matt McCarter on February 24th, 2009

2. Good stuff, David. Very good stuff. Love the athlete/dead man illustration. Keep it coming. Looking forward to hearing more from you on here.
Phil on February 25th, 2009

3. Good article David, and certainly representing a concern of many Salvationists around theses. But I think we need to be careful in our desire to be ‘a church’ first and a social movement second. This is not to say that we are to hide God or not do all that we do as an expression of our faith; being the church is absolutely essential to who we are. The problem lies in the public’s view of what ‘church’ is.

   I see no problem when someone thinks the Army is a thrift store or a social services group and then find out it’s a church. Quite the opposite actually! I think it’s a good thing: they have seen what we do, and now it makes sense why we do it! I would much rather have this be the case than for someone to see the Army as a church (in the building-you-meet-in-on-Sunday sense) and seeing no service with that.

   If people don’t see the actions out where they are, they don’t see the body of Christ. Church is not people to most people. I think what we do is as close to real church as many people will ever get. But my situation may be much different than Chicago. Do you sense this at all where you are at?
Graham on February 25th, 2009

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