Military Metaphor - Warrior or gardener?
Janet and I recently did a presentation to the TEC on the emerging church. Thanks to all of you for putting in your "two cents (in some cases two dollars, others two hundred dollars) worth." We posed a couple of questions to them to wrestle with. I am wrestling with this as well.
In particular, I am struggling with the military metaphor. This is not just a uniform thing. That is grist for another set of questions.
Spencer Burke in "Making Sense of Church" talks in terms about evangelism and compares the metaphor of the warrior and the gardener. We are quasi-military in our structure. In earlier days, I wanted to "Storm the forts of Darkness" and I have tried to "Gird on the Armor." These were all strong images for me as I "fought" spiritual warfare and was further influenced by the writings of Peter Wagner.
I must be honest and tell you that the images of war now are such a negative to me. I hate seeing the destruction being rained down upon Iraq. I have seen the mangled bodies of soldiers coming back from the front. As an evangelistic metaphor, I have trouble seeing the casualties of the cross-fire. I have seen, the militant signs ("God hates Fags" was the sign that killed my soul in an anti-gay rights protest by Christians (?).) and even a military mindset where we "claim territory" for Jesus. These seem so antithetical to the Gospel. After all, hasn't Jesus already claimed the territory through His death and resurrection?
I have seen evangelism turned into score keeping. I did it. I can remember the pride I had reporting the "first time seekers" on my stats as a corps officer. I had another notch in my ammo belt in this war. Now I see that my attitude was sinful. My celebration should not have been the numbers but, the fact that someone returned to the Savior.
I think I am beginning in evangelism to prefer the idea of the gardener. Jesus did call for "laborers in the field." I see these as people who will do the painstaking work of tilling the ground of relationship and watering it with the Word and love. In other words, people who will reap the harvest of souls. Isn't it interesting that in Jesus's first appearance after His resurrection, he looked like a gardener.
I think there is a place for the warrior metaphor. It is as people who will fight against repressive systems, attitudes (i.e. racism, sexism, etc.)and the powers that put them in place. I believe these things to be sinful and it will take some strong people to bring these systems down with the help of the Spirit.
I often wonder about the military metaphor in our movement. Does it cause some problems in leadership as people are given orders by their leaders? I have heard of one corps where the CO has just decided to put people "on discipline" for things like an unkind word toward him. I am not really into the ordering around of people. Leaders inspire, don't they?
I am really mulling the whole metaphor thing over.
Should we see ourselves more as gardeners or warriors? Does the warrior mentality work in evangelism? Does the military metaphor really work with postmodern society, which is really sick of war? Do we need to revisit some of our terminology? What is spiritual warfare, really? Is that valid theology?
I am sorting through this one today as we get ready for a mission trip with the gang here at 117.
What do you think?
In particular, I am struggling with the military metaphor. This is not just a uniform thing. That is grist for another set of questions.
Spencer Burke in "Making Sense of Church" talks in terms about evangelism and compares the metaphor of the warrior and the gardener. We are quasi-military in our structure. In earlier days, I wanted to "Storm the forts of Darkness" and I have tried to "Gird on the Armor." These were all strong images for me as I "fought" spiritual warfare and was further influenced by the writings of Peter Wagner.
I must be honest and tell you that the images of war now are such a negative to me. I hate seeing the destruction being rained down upon Iraq. I have seen the mangled bodies of soldiers coming back from the front. As an evangelistic metaphor, I have trouble seeing the casualties of the cross-fire. I have seen, the militant signs ("God hates Fags" was the sign that killed my soul in an anti-gay rights protest by Christians (?).) and even a military mindset where we "claim territory" for Jesus. These seem so antithetical to the Gospel. After all, hasn't Jesus already claimed the territory through His death and resurrection?
I have seen evangelism turned into score keeping. I did it. I can remember the pride I had reporting the "first time seekers" on my stats as a corps officer. I had another notch in my ammo belt in this war. Now I see that my attitude was sinful. My celebration should not have been the numbers but, the fact that someone returned to the Savior.
I think I am beginning in evangelism to prefer the idea of the gardener. Jesus did call for "laborers in the field." I see these as people who will do the painstaking work of tilling the ground of relationship and watering it with the Word and love. In other words, people who will reap the harvest of souls. Isn't it interesting that in Jesus's first appearance after His resurrection, he looked like a gardener.
I think there is a place for the warrior metaphor. It is as people who will fight against repressive systems, attitudes (i.e. racism, sexism, etc.)and the powers that put them in place. I believe these things to be sinful and it will take some strong people to bring these systems down with the help of the Spirit.
I often wonder about the military metaphor in our movement. Does it cause some problems in leadership as people are given orders by their leaders? I have heard of one corps where the CO has just decided to put people "on discipline" for things like an unkind word toward him. I am not really into the ordering around of people. Leaders inspire, don't they?
I am really mulling the whole metaphor thing over.
Should we see ourselves more as gardeners or warriors? Does the warrior mentality work in evangelism? Does the military metaphor really work with postmodern society, which is really sick of war? Do we need to revisit some of our terminology? What is spiritual warfare, really? Is that valid theology?
I am sorting through this one today as we get ready for a mission trip with the gang here at 117.
What do you think?
posted by Larry at 10:05 AM
40 Comments:
Isn't it only after we lay down our swords and make ourselves vulnerable that we can begin to "cultivate" a new relationship? Maybe the gardner is really a soldier at heart and under his gardning robe he wore a sword, but he knew when to use it and when to use his rake.
For me, military structure-no, but some structure-yes. We all need some structure. I much prefer the cultivator instead of the commander.
Josh,
Who did Jesus use a "sword" on in the Gospels? I dare say it would be the religious. He cultivated the unbelievers, right?
I think, Larry, that you have hit at the heart of it and our identity as an Army. This is something I've been mulling over as well for the past months. I'm not ready to comment now, but just to say it's the right question to ask...
Grace,
Phil
My initial reaction is to say that the military metaphor has always kept me in touch with the seriousness of the cause at hand - matters of life and death. I would relate more with the role of a medic, though, than the role of a drill sergeant or field marshall.
I think I may have more to say later...but then again, I always say that...
I find it ironic that, after reading this blog and commenting, I clicked on the link to Steve's blog and found this post title - "Corps Cadet War Council Roundtable."
brettster,
not sure what steve is talking about the war council? anyway, the fact is we can debate the military metaphor. i am still not sure that it works today.
Barbara Robinson addresses this in the Jan/Feb officer magazine - I tackled it a number of years ago from the view of the military metaphor being an uncomfortable one for women - just doesn't work for me.
I like the idea of a fellow “traveler” that you posted a while back. I agree that the military idea is not the best. If you go with the gardener idea, what would you call yourself? I think the gardener metaphor is kind of weak. I prefer something a little more masculine.
Why is it that we all have to have the same identity anyway? Can’t each Corps kind of grow, develop and adapt as God leads them? One Corps might be an Army, another a group of gardeners, and another really freaky and crazy and alternative. Why does one size have to fit all?
Blessings,
Bret
Greetings in Jesus' name, friends.
With respect towards Phil and Larry, I think the question is the wrong one. The military metaphor is not a metaphor. We're in a war. We're not in something that is similar to war (metaphor).
In fact, I'll go so far as to speculate that it is when used (solely) AS a metaphor that the warfare stuff is unpalatable (smells of make-believe and dress-up time).
However, my comment is in response to Bret, who asks a popular current question, "Why is it that we all have to have the same identity, anyway?"
Briefly, (I agree with Bret that) we are most effective by customizing our style and approach for the fronts on which we fight. We already do this: corps are generically corps, but we call them citadels, temples, community churches, communities, etc.; and, with corps officers, who are generically corps officers and yet call themselves things such as pastor, commanding officer, cultural architect, apostolic overseer, chief story teller, etc.
But the key is that our identity in those examples is the same- corps and corps officer.
The bigger question is that of the identity of The Army. I suspect that readers don't want to rename it the gardening society. We've had some leaders in our territory who dislike the military vocabulary so much that I once blogged a suggestion I thought they'd like: "The Helping Group" (since they defined salvation so vague and broad that it became synonymous with 'help' and and since 'group' was vanilla enough not to offend most people).
I'd love each of us, from every stream, to consider if we can agree on this identity of The Army: a revolutionary movement of covenanted warriors exercising holy passion to win the world for Jesus.
Already, representatives of the church growth stream, the emergent stream, the trad stream, the primitive salvo stream buy into this identity, and yet use widely variant strategies and styles on local fronts.
Without unity in identity we lack the power to accomplish the international mission with which we've been entrusted (get me started on covenant another time!). Gordon Cotterill's blog (urbanarmy.blogspot.com) is addressing this issue from a different perspective right now.
God bless The Salvation Army.
Stay close to Jesus. Much grace,
stephenc
armybarmy.com/blog.html
Bret,
As far as being masculine....you must not know many farmers or gardeners.
Steve,
As to the whole idea of spiritual warfare..are we in effect in a war for evangelism or social injustice?
I am not sure that the metaphor of war in evangelism is a theologically sound one. Fighting systems of sinfulness makes us an Army.
As to your comment on the emergents agreeing on the war metaphor in evangelism, Burke, McLaren, Pagit and Kimball are the ones who write that the gardener metaphor may be best. So your assertion that the emergents are in line with the war metaphor may not be correct.
Not proposing a name change here. I am thinking that with the Gospel being the Good News unto salvation, there must be a different metaphor that applies to our relationships, after all, isn't that evangelism?
I think Danielle spoke well in Atlanta back in June. She talked about you all living in a neighborhood park,encountering a gentleman who asked why you were there. She said, "We are looking for friends." Sounds like planting seeds and gardening.
Cultural architect??? Wow.
Larry- hi. Thanks. Clarifications:
1. When I said reps from different streams buy into the proposed definition of The Army I meant reps from within The Army. And that is the goal for me.
2. I don't disagree with your inclination that the war metaphor is wrong. As I tried to say, it IS a war, and mere metaphor is unpalatble.
3. And we agree on different approaches to evangelism. I was on that picnic blanket! ;-)
It looks like we agree on most of it. I'm reaching a fair bit (I think) to meet you. Can you reach as far as that definition of The Army (revolutionary...) to meet me?
grace,
stephenc
armybarmy.com/blog.html
related thoughts at my blog for anyone interested in a tangent. didn't want to post it here, Larry, it's almost the same question but not quite...
Steve,
As indicated in my post, I am convinced we must lead the charge against sinful systems and attitudes. I think that the revolution takes place in those areas.
I think the even better thought is that of transformation not revolution. The revolution, transformation or whatever you want to use must be internal first.
Christ has already won the victory. We need to be faithful in the tending of the field and reaping the harvest. We can fight against systems and sinful attitudes.
If we do that then the Army will be transformational.
Hey, Ive recently asked the same question but probably came up with a different answer. Check out my thoughts on it at
www.holywarpropaganda.blogspot.com/
Andy n castle,
Interesting...I saw your post on evangelism. I agree.
Not much that I found on the issue of gardening.
Thanks for checking in.
For some reason I really like the military 'metaphor' (sorry Steve). And this is coming from a (relatively) pacifist daughter of a Vietnam Vet who promised herself she'd never marry someone in the armed forces, let alone join the armed forces herself! :-)
So, why would someone like me identify with a Salvation ARMY?
Lemme see...
- 'Choose your battles wisely': I see the SA as a group who has made the choice to fight the important battles of life... not against flesh and blood but against evil in this world!
- I don't know about y'all, but sometimes I just get MAD. You know? I see a girl who's been abused so much that she acts like a cornered, badly-wounded animal... lashing out at anyone who gets close, even if they're trying to help. I see a teen whose parents have told him he's useless, worthless and a loser... who's flushing his life down the toilet because he doesn't see anything else he can do with it. I get sad, then I get angry. And I want to fight. HARD! I want to do some real damage. But the parents, the govt, society... they're just victims too. The fight needs to be for salvation, for more light in this dark world of ours.
Here are my suggestions:
- change the uniform to combat fatigues (stuff this 'dress uniform' thing)
- Ditch the idea of a human General, make it clear that Jesus is our high priest and General.
And a couple of other thoughts:
- Jesus himself used two main 'metaphors'... military and pastoral. He mostly referred to himself as a shepherd, with a few garden references thrown in.
- There are a number of problems with the gardener metaphor. To us, today, it often invokes a picture of a personal garden, hidden behind brick walls, kept away from the rest of the world. There's a certain selfishness to the image that I don't like. It also implies that the 'plants' are passive in the process.
- All metaphors are flawed. That's why they're metaphors. If they exactly explain the concept they're used to illustrate, they cease to be metaphors! :-)
Oh, man. I don't know why I've ever aspired to preach. I can't keep a proper 'thread' flowing through my writing! Hope that makes some sense, though.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Are we all totally discounting the doors for ministry that have been opened to the Army via our recognizable "military metaphor?"
I'll agree that we could tame the metaphor a bit, be more inclusive in our terminology, eliminate the "commander" stuff, etc. However, my experience tells me that uniforms / terminology / metaphors don't turn people off as much as people turn people off. A gardener can garden, even if he or she is wearing a "quaint" uniform. Tearing down the identity of the Army (which some seem to be inferring) would seem to do more harm than good.
So many (or all) of these opinions are coming from within the ranks. I wonder if any of us have experienced negative reaction to the "Army-ness" of the Army...and I mean more than just "Well, one time there was this guy who thought the uniform was dorky..."
Brettster,
You do raise some great points about the branding of the uniform. I have never been anti-uniform, especially in situations where it looks as if I do not belong. The uniform has opened doors for evangelism...believe it or not. It has also put many people off. I do believe like anything else, it is not only the person wearing the uniform but when it is worn.
This is not a discussion about uniform though. It is about military metaphor which goes much deeper than uniform.
I have to agree with Stephen...and Larry. We are in a battle...a real battle. It is not a metaphor. But when it comes to individuals we need to be shepards (interesting side note: I live on Shepard Ave.) and gardeners.
I was attracted to The Salvation Army because I saw both of these aspects modeled by my friend's parents in high school. I saw the help (food, clothing, counseling, etc.) they provided and I saw the care and concern for punk kids like myself when went into their corps.
I think we need to keep the military format, but maybe chagne the uniform a bit. And we also need to keep the gardener mentality when dealing with our people.
For blood and fire,
Dave
Ok, so we quit the military metaphor - we change our name to something like "The Love Gardeners". Instead of wearing a uniform, we wear civilian clothes with an apron over the top.
The deal is - we ARE at war. And we're either advancing and taking a position of offense or we're retreating into obscurity and meaningless relativity.
It's interesting that when Paul uses military "metaphor", he is referring to our spiritual life, the armor of God. And I would have to now agree with Steve about the whole metaphor thing. "For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are unseen are eternal." The things we don't see are even more real than the things that do actually exist in the physical realm. Remember, God created the world out of nothing.
I find it interesting that Larry doesn't like the military metaphor, but does like the uniform. I find that the uniform is much more a deterrent (in the Western world) to people than the fact that "army" is in our name. In my current neighborhood, the fact that "army" is in our name is also a problem. But with westerners, the biggest problem I face is simply that the uniform alienates people.
I’m certain that somebody will come along and say, “no it doesn’t”, because somebody always does. I have no idea who these people are or aren’t hanging around because everywhere I look, both outside and inside of the Army, people seem to have a problem with the uniform. But I know very few people who have verbalized any complaints about the word “army” being in our name. In fact, here in the UK, we’ve actually re-branded our entire youth ministry and called it ALOVE. Yet anytime I visit any of our youth projects (including my own), I don’t find young people referring to it as ALOVE or any of the names that any of our local projects have dubbed themselves (oasis, lfc, etc.), they just call it the Sallie Army.
If I were looking for a way to help people better identify with us, I’d first take a look at our leaders, then our programming, and then our rank and uniform. Fact is, the Corps in my division who are doing the growing have dealt with all three of these issues. Then, after I put strong leaders in place, I’d get rid of this arcane belief that officers should be moved every five years.
Tim,
I did not say "I dislike the military metaphor." I said I am thinking it does not always apply in evangellism. I am not anti-uniform. I think in this context it does open doors. I have experienced (9/11 and other disasters, fires, and other service areas, hospital visits) times when the uniform has opened doors for me to serve and be known as a Salvationist and then opened the door for witness. So in fighting disaster and the systems of evil, that metaphor and the uniform works. In fact, in the urban neighborhood where I was the corps officer, I needed to have my uniform on. The only white people who visited, were cops, dealers, users, pimps and johns. My uniform associated me with the Salvation Army. The Army was an oasis in the wilderness of a neighborhood. I was able, because of my uniform and the Army name to go into projects by myself where cops would not go alone. I did it with no fear. My uniform opened doors to serve. It unlocked doors to areas I never would have been able to get into as a white man, in the ghetto.
As I built relationships, the gardener metaphor was appropriate for evangelism.
Maybe in YOUR context Tim the uniform does not work. Fine. Don't where it. Where it does, we don't abandon it. Where it does not work we take it off.
Phil,
You too missed the point. No one is suggesting a name change. Just someone to understand that our fight is not against "flesh and blood." That is where the rub is. We are at war with systems NOT people.
Evangelism is about tending the garden. It is about building relationship.
The military metaphor of which Paul speaks is one of several. He also uses an athlete. He also talks about the inner life being fire.
So if we want to withstand temptation in our lives and fight systems, we stand as a warrior.
If you want to be a warrior with people and relationships, you will scare them and run the risk of being obnoxious.
So if you believe that war is an appropriate metaphor for evangelism does that mean we need to break out the 4 spiritual laws and steps to peace with God and get in people's face? That would be a warrior mentality. To build relationships to win a war is not authentic. It is using people as pawns. To build relationships to be inclusive in community of love is authentic.
Barbara Robinson has really done a great job at explaining this in the officer magazine.
Dave and Bill seem to be the ones who actually understand the post.
Phil,
One last thing; how is building and tending relationships, being active in loving service retreating into obscurity?
Isn't that what Jesus did?
"Where it (the uniform) does not work we take it off."
If it were that easy, we wouldn't be having this discussion would we?
Larry,
My last post was written in a rush - actually this one is too. With all respect, I think it's funny that you say the ones that got your post are the ones who agree with your premise. :)
I'm not a big fan of the uniform, but I'm not gonna lie - it's not because I've got research to prove its effectiveness or ineffectivess, but because I just don't like it. There, how's that for honesty. I'd much prefer to wear t-shirts and jeans.
I wasn't implying we should be warriors against people, except when those people are interfering with others hearing the gospel or oppressing them. I like the gardener model. I like the soldier model. I like being all things to all people that by all means I might win some.
Grace,
Phil
I don't think the big issue here is the uniform. Most people do identify the shield, uniform, whatever, because of the people who wear them.
I think we would all agree that we are in a war. But in any great army we need to have many types of warriors. Some on the front lines with swords, some in the background planning the attack, and even some serving those fighting etc...
I think an issue with the metaphor of a military warrior, is the mentality that The Salvation Army is in some degree not as effective as it could be. Then the only real answer to this is to look inside of ourselves, because in turn, you and I are The Salvation Army. How I act will influence others to accept or reject what I have to offer. And in terms of evangelism...let's not forget the Holy Spirit plays a pretty good role in the whole deal, it doesn't matter what I am wearing.
As far as my thoughts on the uniform...maybe we could be more like the real military with different gear for different situations yet there are all idenitifiable by the US flag. You never see a Navy Seal going into battle with his clean white pressed uniform on. Let's find what we are identified by and use this to go to the garden or to the front lines.
There are truely times when I need an Army to keep me from falling. There are times when the temptations of my past come upon me so fast and furious that I feel like I'm in the battle of my life. Over the course of my life there have been true to life spiritual battles that have gone on. On many occassions as I look back (before Christ), there where times I now realize satan was trying to win a victory by killing me off. The battle that Christ won on the cross was what saved me. He fought the fight and won the battle over death and sin in my life.
You may want to say that this little portion of my life was one big metaphor but you couldn't convice me of that.
I'm of the opinion that God has given us the proper tools in the Army to fight this fight, that includes the uniform and all that goes along with it.
It's not the lingo nor the uniform that needs revision but our own frame of mind.
I go to City Council to pray from time to time. I go in uniform. Why? Each time I go to pray before Council I go hoping that someone who dosn't know Christ will get a glimpse of Him. I go knowing that there are some in attendance that have a war going on in their spirit much the same as I have gone through.
In the day in age we live in with so much evil and everpresent danger I can't think of a better name than THE SALVATION ARMY.
Larry. You have too much in your blog! (Good job BTW; and your replies to boot....) You let others refer to THEIR blogs which muddies the water, or crystalizes the discussion as I go there and also learn to see with fresh eyes! Let me mull some of your points before try to I add more deeply.
Sorry for the Rant; The Lord made me do it.......
I must say, though, that as the church - - Army and/or otherwise - - continues down their own paths and interpretations of the Savior's Vision, patting themselves on the back, enjoying the endorphines that come with passion internalized and then externalized (uniforms and flags and ranks add to this state), until a clear stand is taken against REAL physical war (not suggesting there isn't spiritual warfare, obviously), on THIS sphere, is it really that Savior-pleasing that we give a hot cup of java to a "bum" or "piece of bread to a "bag lady" on the streets out of one of our new and snazzy canteens.....while men and women and children are getting wasted by the thousands in real war, trumped up by greedy capitalists, and faux, photo-op Christian evangelicals???
Also, when I came back from Vietnam, my older officer sister asked my wife if I would be going back to the Army (even as I somewhat am now, some decades later...)she was told that I probably wouldn't, not the least of which was my recently diagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome aversion to the uniform, the flags, the ranks, the jargon, and the duplicity of the church worshipping the Prince of Peace while keepinbg its collective voice silent on the chilling uncalled for carnage over there, just as is happening in Iraq today.
Larry.
Apparently my PS was lost:
PS Sorry for the rant....The Lord made me do it.....
the interesting thing about the two metaphors for evangelism (warrior or gardener) is, the context for gardening seems to be sharing the good news with OTHERS (seeds, soils, harvesters, vines, branches, etc.), and on the other hand the context for warrior seems to be developing our OWN journey following Jesus (I run the race, put on the armor, buffet my body, etc).
perhaps we have waged war against those we should have been nurturing towards Christ and nurturing Pharisaical habits we should have put to death…
crap, wish I would have thought of this before I wrote the book…
Tim,
Obviously, you have taken the uniform off in your context, because it does not work. In 117 we take it off many times because it doesn't work. We are always identified someway as TSA. So you can make it work.
Phil,
Thanks for responding. You did not really say that people who disagree me get the shaft did you?
The reason I said you did not get the post, was the "love gardner" comment. I do believe like you that the name TSA is fine. It is as Heather says the opportunity for us to really stand against systems and philosophies that really drive sinful agendas.
I am talking just about evangelism in gardening.
Spencer,
Thanks for visiting the blog. It is great to have the author of the book to which I am referring comment.
Would love to discuss this with you and others. Your comment was very pointed and mostly where my thought process has been going lately.
Gaither once described the Salvation Army uniform as priestly garb. The uniform speaks volumes if we let it. Once again as probably has been mentioned it is the person inside the uniform that makes the difference not the uniform.
I've had mine hanging in the dugout of my Babe Ruth team on occasions. Maybe I should have gone home first to take it off.
The uniform doens't have to be standoffish if we don't let it.
I don't know about anyone else but there seems to be a pretty big war raging for the souls of people. I don't take that as a metaphor but reality. It is a fight.
The military lingo seems to be on everyones mind because of the devisiveness of the war we are currently waging against the evil that was brought to our attention on 9/11.
I think we all realize that, in a social service or disaster relief situation, the uniform certainly serves the purpose of immediately identifying us as somebody who is there to help. But are we all prepared to ignore the fact that it has become quite divisive within many of our congregations? Has the uniform become “the point” when we require people to wear them to play in the band or sing in the choir (I often find it hard to actually say the word…songsters). And before anybody suggests that these are rare, one off occurrences, c’mon, it’s a world wide epidemic.
As with anything, we need balance. But if I only had the choice of making everybody wear the uniform (as some people would like), or ditching them all together, I’d ditch them all together and ask everybody to remember “THE point”.
Again, the uniform isn’t THE point of this post, but as Larry’s posts often do, it’s made several of us consider the other issues surrounding the military metaphor.
p.s. I'm really just commenting because it seems that Larry waits until his comments reach a total of 50 before posting anything new. Only five more to go! : )
Thank you Larry for the thought provoking post. I don't know which word describes evangelism, but I do know that I've seen positive and negative come from both. I've witnessed the in-your-face screaming and pointing that comes oftentimes through warrior evangelism when someone was just looking for a compassionate ear, but I've also seen push-over enabling that had come from "nurturing" when the individual needed some "tough" love. I use quotes because I don't really know the exact words to use when describing what I had witnessed (and even had happen to me directly).
This week I preached from
1 Corinthians 9. I stressed verses 19-23. We do not become fake or phoney to win people...we just need to put ourselves in their shoes. As "warriors" we need to be alert and aware of the snares and arrows that can come up in our encounters with others (their choices being the products of ignorance to the truth). But we also need to be clear about our mission, our purpose (vs. 23). But we need not be crazed warriors running from person to person swinging our sword of the Spirit hoping to hit one! This is where the "gardeners" come into play. I believe that we are all called to be warriors and gardeners (but each as in proportion to our faith...or to the gifts and talents given to us by God).
for someone on the outside it's confusing. dhq, thq, nhq, ihq, songsters, timbrels (that was fun to explain), the ranks, the uniform. it's confusing and sometimes intimidating to someone trying to 'break through' and become one of us - a member of Christ's church. sometimes for me it's too much.
I think too, that its easy to hide behind our military structure (and the uniform) and think that because we're part of this great Army (and I do think that our Army is great in number and in quality) that we're doing all we could be doing.
there is so much to be done. what are we REALLY doing to help the poor? i know that most corps have good programs and activities and they have some social service programs going on. What are the results? Have we seen a decrease in welfare applications in our town b/c of our social services? do we provide job training or even financial management? do we require or at the very least encourage good parenting to our young and/or single mothers who have boyfriends in and out or support them when they really are trying to make a good living for their family?
have we become as bad as the government at helping others help themselves? Booth said something about folks needing physical nourishment before they are ready for spiritual nourishment...are we just pushing through the clients to finish the day or are we takign time to find out why they can't make ends meet? and in a NON-threatening, NON-condescending manner?
the military mode for me is done. i don't wear my uniform anymore (and not ONLY b/c I don't fit into it) I don't feel that connection to it, or need for it that I did before.
many have said that its not the uniform but the person in the uni that makes the difference....you have never been more right!!! on the whole i respect those who wear the uniform and adhere to the promises made ... however, there have been MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY situations where the person inside the uniform consistently displays non-SA and more importantly to me, unChristlike attitude and/or behavior. Those many situations have, I think, contributed to my apathy toward the uniform.
Larry,
You say we fight against systems. I think that is the metaphor many are referring to. The "real" fight (others are referring to) is against evil beings in the heavenly realms (all around us- not up in the sky somewhere). That's the Spiritual Warfare Paul talks about (and Peter Wagner). That's the Spiritual Warfare TSA means.
The scriptures use a variety of metaphors- each has its purpose in energizing a particular group of people. Some are charged up at the thought of a spiritual battle. Some get psyched dealing with gardening, etc.
Each has their purpose. The real trick is knowing what to use with the particular people we are dealing with at the moment.
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