We are blessed as soldiers in The Salvation Army that there is a new emphasis by our international and territorial leaders to empower us to move the mission forward in this great organization. We have a voice and we need to use it to ultimately further God’s Kingdom through The Salvation Army.
As Blood & Fire Soldiers, God has called us we are blessed to share in the mission: to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in His name without discrimination. Jesus Himself kept the gospel a priority amid His good works and we should do the same in all we do.
Within our Soldiers’ Covenant it states: “I will be faithful to the purposes for which God raised up The Salvation Army, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, endeavoring to win others to Him, and in His name caring for the needy and the disadvantaged.”
We praise God that He sent His Son Jesus into the world to show true love. But we now have the responsibility to continue to show this same love to the whosoever. There are injustices happening all around us that need to be fought against by strong soldiers of faith. There are people trapped in dark places emotionally, spiritually, and physically who need us, as soldiers, to fight the battles with them. It can’t be enough just to be connected to The Salvation Army and sit comfortably in our corps buildings, going to events, enjoying social gatherings, or just participating in our musical groups.
It can’t be enough just to call ourselves Christian. It can’t even be enough to believe or to know that God sent Jesus and that Jesus sends us out. We need to put all of this into action outside of the walls of our corps and into the spheres where we have godly influence. Our involvement as soldiers needs to be outward focused to build the Kingdom!
We, as soldiers, have been sent to influence the way The Salvation Army moves the mission forward. Forward means movement and forward must be the only movement. We cannot settle for mediocrity, just maintaining what already exists or we are obstructing what God has called us to do – to thrive forward in reaching the unsaved and unchurched. There is a dying and sinful world out there that needs to personally experience the love of Christ that lives within you. Quit hiding and live it out through every personal interaction you have. Uniform or non-uniform, blue epaulet or red epaulet, small corps or large corps, young or old, let us truly be Salvationists to the world!
This is a task given to each of us as disciples of Christ. We have the amazing opportunity to fulfill this command as Salvation Army soldiers. Our prayer is that the Holy Spirit will speak, convict, and spark a new passion in your heart as we all live out His calling to give hope to the world.