Just a few weeks ago, The Salvation Army in New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga converged on Wellington’ for a congress held under the banner ‘Now is the Time’.
As the first congress gathering kicked off on Thursday morning, Territorial Commander Commissioner Robert Donaldson thanked people for being ‘the grace of God, the hands of God and the feet of God’ in their respective communities. He also thanked them for investing in a day set aside for Salvation Army leaders—officers, church members, staff and volunteers.
The Commissioner’s use of the word ‘investing’ is significant. Just as those of us who attended congress were investing in an opportunity aimed to inform and inspire, so too The Salvation Army was investing in us. No large-scale event comes cheap, but if there’s sufficient impact, any expense is eventually counted a wise investment.
What is the hoped-for return on this investment? It would be a Salvation Army that lives out its purpose: to be an Army that brings life. It would be a Salvation Army that lives out the two practices of our new mission plan: to live like Jesus and to do mission together. The former is a commitment to stay close to God and bring others close too, rather than living in such a way that our attitudes and actions repel people from God. The latter is a commitment to refuse to let the patch protection that can afflict any large organisation be a hindrance to what God would have us achieve.
Whether there is such a return is up to you and me.
Christina Tyson
Editor
Psalm 139:23–24
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Ngā Waiata 139:24
Kia kite mehemea kei ahau tētahi ara o te kino, ka ārahi ai i ahau i te ara pūmau.