I am The Salvation Army

We have one more week left of Picnics in the Park. I have to say it's been an incredible summer. We have absolutely fallen in love with the neighborhood, these kids, and their families.

As I think about this, I am reminded of a story told in the biography of William and Catherine Booth. Catherine as a little girl was often in tears or in intense prayer for the lost souls around her. At one point Catherine heard a commotion down the street and ran to see what was happening. Police were escorting a drunk own the streets to lock-up while people yelled from the side of the streets. Catherine ran out and grabbed the man's hand and told him that he was not alone and walked with him to lock-up.

These stories in the book are inspiring to me. I often go back once a year and re-read the book so that I am reminded of the purposes for The Salvation Army and the work that it has done throughout its history. Now though, I find that I have traded inspiration for a real understanding of the mission of The Salvation Army. If you really get into the "trenches" and befriend people, and live the same struggles that they have, in the same messiness that they live in, you begin to see them not so much as a target for salvation, but as a soul in need of redemption, love, compassion, friendship, accountability, and blessing. This is what the founders of The Salvation Army did and many Salvationists today still do.

There is so much more to evangelism than pointing them towards repentance and to Jesus. I don't mean to denigrate Jesus or the need for Salvation, but it cannot simply be done in a "drive by" process. I wouldn't come to someone and say "hey friend, I have your future spouse in the car waiting for you, would you like to marry her? The only catch is that you have to marry her in faith unseen, not knowing much of anything about her. Oh and if you reject her, she will condemn you to hell." I don't know about you, but I'd want to know about something and see what this something is doing in others before I embrace it.

When you begin to understand the calling God has for The Salvation Army, you begin to see how The Salvation Army isn't a church, it isn't a movement, and it isn't an employer. It embeds itself in you. It fuses to you and changes you. You are driven to be with people, among the people. You feel love for the lost like you have never felt. You wake up and think about your neighbors. You go to sleep thinking about your neighbors. You are never off the clock, and you are never above helping someone if you can help them. I used to think this was insanity....never beeing off the clock so to speak, but now I consider it pure joy.