From Russia with blogs | program? community?

Vadim Hurin wonders about our “works”

The Salvation Army is constantly busy, we always have lots of things to do. We feed people and clothe and help them. But we also lose them. In reality, few people who frequent our centers actually become a part of The Salvation Army. People receive help from us but often their lives stay the same. Of course, we cannot help to change anybody’s life unless they themselves want to change. God has given every person the option of changing, but he will not go against a person’s will. Nevertheless, why is it that the number of people in our corps (churches) are many times less than those whom we help?

I suppose it is much easier to just go about your tasks and be busy than to actually devote yourself to one person. It’s relatively easy to feed 100-200 people and not even ask what any of their names are. It’s easy not to take the time to get to know at least one person and let them into your life a bit. All of our programs seem to be aimed at the masses. We are proud of the numbers of people that we help. All this is great, but what are we really trying to do?

Very often it is said that our main goal is to spread the Word of God and he - God - will make sure that those words do not fall on deaf ears. I’ve also heard it said that it does not matter whether people end up attending The Salvation Army or any other church because we are all part of God’s kingdom.

But, I disagree with this. If we really don’t care where people go, then we are not a church. Instead, we are just another help shelter. William Booth’s passion in life was to get people to come to Christ. Belonging to a greater community is a vital part of Christianity. The community is supposed to accept new people and help them grow in Christ. However, creating a strong community is much more difficult than conducting help programs or creating projects. This is why often people choose the easier option.

Our reputation also gets a good boost from all the “good work” we do. But God is not necessarily impressed by these deeds. He likes to see his community thriving and worshiping him with all their might not only in voice, but their whole hearts. He wants to see communities in which we love, mercy, and happiness mark our everyday relationships with each other. Communities in which people others brother and sister with integrity and not because they don’t know each other’s names.

When we get too busy, our relationship with God usually suffers. Statistics can become more important than relationships, and the money of sponsors more important than the grace and the word of God. Let it not be so.

Writer: Captain Vadim Khurin was born into a family of circus artists. He joined The Salvation Army in 1995 and is now an officer serving in St. Petersburg, Russia. He loves music, sports, reading and learning. He has a beautiful wife - Inna - and three children. He likes to ask hard questions and find different ways of helping people get back their wholeness and integrity.

Saturday, April 25th, 2009 From Russia with Blogs, theRubi-Blog

2 Comments to From Russia with blogs | program? community?

I couldn’t agree with you more! It is refreshing and I must admit a relief to read what you’ve written here. I recently wrote here on the Rubicon (Generaltional Differences: http://therubicon.org/2009/04/generational-differences/) about the fact that we can’t seem to break away from the program mindset which is hindering our ability to actually reach people. Sure, we feed & clothe thousands - even millions, but where are they in light of eternity? That has to be the burning question that fuels our methods and attempts to reach the lost…not funding and publicty.