Boundless Salvation

In the final session of the Boundless international congress, General André Cox envisages a Salvation Army that is still battling for people’s lives, and reaching out a helping hand for those who are drowning in sin, despair, injustice and greed.

What has this celebration been all about? What is going to change as a result of the fact that we have gathered here in London for these five days? What is God calling you to do?

I dream of a committed Army, rooted and confident in the Word of God, and on its knees. But if we ever think we can do it by ourselves, if we ever place our confidence in our own abilities, then we are doomed to failure. This dream will only become reality if our own lives, our own hearts, are impacted, changed and transformed by the Holy Spirit.

It was Charles Spurgeon who said, ‘Holiness is the visible side of salvation.’ What we do is much more important than what we say. So, what does our commitment to the cause of Christ look like?

Does the public persona of our dedication and commitment to serve the marginalised, match the very deepest motivation of our hearts? The reality in some places around the world is that we are being cowed by materialistic and social values that are in direct conflict to the values of the Kingdom of God …

Surrendered lives

We need to be totally committed to the task that has been assigned to us. We cannot be a people who serve with divided hearts; it requires surrendered lives.

It’s one thing to be convinced about our calling, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. If we’re truly convinced about our calling, it will be evidenced by the fact that we live lives that are fully surrendered to the will of God.

The apostle Paul appeals to the Roman Christians—and to us—that we should live our lives in total commitment. ‘Therefore I urge you,’ says Paul, ‘in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1–2)

His argument is logical, it’s simple: because of what God has accomplished for us, we can, in turn, do no better than give ourselves fully to him as living sacrifices. Of course, this goes against the culture of this world. [And] that is exactly the challenge you and I face: we are to live counter-culturally to this world, seeking to live in a similar way to our saviour, Jesus Christ … There needs to be a sense of sacrifice. There needs to be a surrender of our lives to fulfil God’s plan for each one of us.

Re-capturing the vision

If we have a sense of calling and we live surrendered lives, we also need to have a sense of urgency. There is a world out there that is mired in sin. There is a world out there where there is so much injustice, hate and war. You and I have a job to do, and that job requires a total commitment from each one of us.

As I travel around the world, I see many great initiatives, but I sometimes wonder if we are truly driven by a sense of urgency. Do we still have a vision for a world in peril that is sinking in sin, despair, injustice and greed?

What are we doing about it? What should we be doing about it?

Over 100 years ago, William Booth had a clear vision of the moral bankruptcy of his generation. He urged his Army—The Salvation Army—to rescue victims of vice and poverty from the raging sea. [In his vision, he saw] images of lifeboats, a life house, and soldiers simply lending a hand, saving those who are perishing … These are moving images of an Army at war against sin, darkness and despair.

I ask myself the question today: how mobilised is our Salvation Army in responding to such distress, suffering and pending doom in the world around us? It’s not a work just for our specialist social services, it’s not a work just for our trained disaster responders; this is something that must engage everyone!

If there’s one thing I fear, it’s that we have become comfortable, settled and contented within the middle class in our ranks—that we have become detached from the suffering of the world around us today.

There is work to be done

[Suffering] is not just something that affects far away nations. It’s shocking to recognise that there are millions of children growing up in the United Kingdom in families mired with poverty. We’ve had to introduce ‘breakfast clubs’ in schools in this great land, because we’ve become increasingly aware that there are many children that would have nothing to eat at the start of the day without them …

There are some 16 million children struggling with hunger in America. Then there’s the scourge of human trafficking, modern-day slavery, and the plight of the working poor, and before long we can paint a picture as dramatic as William Booth’s day. There is work to be done. We cannot sit in comfort, pandering to our personal fancies. As we look at the state of the world, we see the fallen state of mankind, we see around us people that are incomplete.

The reality is we are all still works in progress. There is always room for growth and development. We see around us people that are broken—so many people are damaged by abuse, disease or relationship breakdown. The Bible is unequivocal that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God … and because of that we would be alienated from him.

Nothing we can do can change that reality, which is why God sent us a saviour. We see all around us people who are poor, and in the 21st century it’s unacceptable that people are living in poverty or exclusion caused by inequality, exploitation and victimisation. People in our world feel rejected and alone. In our comfortable, materialistic, Western society one of greatest problems people face today is the problem of loneliness. So many people are bereft of family and friends …

Engaging in the battle

In the vision of William Booth, we see Salvationists manning the lifeboat, we see Salvationists rescuing those who are perishing in the stormy seas. It’s an image of Salvationists all engaged in this rescue. That image is powerful. It’s a powerful reminder that 150 years on, we are still an Army engaged in a fierce battle to rescue those who have been damaged by life, to protect the weak, to fight evil and injustice, to help establish and defend the values of the Kingdom of God here on earth. Everyone is engaged in this mission. No matter what situations we face, we have to be in that raging sea with Jesus, helping people to the shore.

We ourselves are not yet a perfect people; we are not better or superior in any way to those whom we serve in this rescue mission. We have to acknowledge our own imperfection and brokenness, but our lives can point to Christ! We are working for the day when we will stand with God in the fullness of his eternal Kingdom and experience full restoration. We may not yet be fully what God knows we will become, but we must ever be an Army that is pointing people to Christ. We must be an Army that is inviting others to walk with us on our journey towards healing and wholeness. And, ultimately, our journey towards the heavenly city, when all things will be fully restored to Christ.

We have found a saviour, so we can man the lifeboats. We can be involved in the rescue mission. It’s not for the elite few or the specialists. It is something for each one of us. This is a mission in which we are all engaged, and requires a total mobilisation of the Salvation Army.

A dream for the Army

You have seen my dream for the Salvation Army (see box). Will that dream ever become a reality? I see some people content, yet others are struggling and wanting a better life. We want to be more engaged with the lives of people, and help them realise their hopes and dreams for a better future. We want to be more focused on positive and lasting outcomes for the poorest and marginalised.

All of our many programmes are but gateways in the battle for the hearts and minds of people. It is our desire that all may come to know what those engaged in the battle already know: that wholeness and fullness can only be experienced in a restored relationship with God. This is made possible by the grace of God. When this transformation occurs there are no limits to what God can do in us. This is boundless salvation!

There are those who laud us for our good works. But as we engage in the battle, we must be planting a cross in the middle of the battle: this is our sign of victory. Those engaged in the battle tell of him who gave his life so that all may have new life. The cross is the symbol of the one who draws all people to himself. This is boundless salvation!

We must all be engaged in the battle, telling how we have found Christ, and how he has transformed our lives. We have been saved not only from poverty and brokenness, but he has filled our incompleteness and our aloneness.

We must tell others how our relationship with God has been restored. But we can only do that if it is true, and a reflection of our personal experience. If we are to be the generation that writes the pages of history going forward from Boundless 2015, it will take nothing less than a total surrender of our lives to the will of God, and an unswerving commitment to the mission to which God still calls us today.

I ask you, Salvationists of today, what will your answer be? Will you be part of that great throng entering Heaven to experience the joy of our saviour?

It will be so, if we rely on the one who has called us. And though we are called to battle and to fight, we can win nothing on our own strength. If we are to win this battle, we must bow the knee.

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by General André Cox (c) 'War Cry' magazine, 8 August 2015, pp 5-7.
You can read 'War Cry' at your nearest Salvation Army church or centre, or subscribe through Salvationist Resources.

The General’s Dream

I dream of a committed, effective and joyful Army, rooted and confident in the Word of God and on its knees.

I dream of an Army that truly reflects the mind of Jesus in its commitment to the poor and the marginalised.

I dream of an Army that practices what it preaches from the top leadership down; an Army that is a visible and living example of kingdom values.

I dream of an Army that values its youth, where young people feel that they have a voice.

I dream of an Army with strong, relevant and streamlined administrative structures, and a more effective use of its financial and material resources.

I dream of an Army where all cultures are equally accepted and celebrated through the spiritual ties that bind us together.

I dream of an Army that shuns the culture of dependency.

To achieve this will take more than mere words or even an international congress. If we’re going to be an Army that lives up to its God-given potential, we must put our money where our mouth is and live up to the things we believe and preach to the world around us. The Salvation Army should be above reproach in the way it deals with people, the way it handles it finances and in its transparency and accountability.

We owe it to our people, our donors and, most importantly, we owe it to God to be above reproach. As we work to build his kingdom here on earth, I pray that we will be a people who live in hope and that this hope will give us the courage to live differently in the world.

Proverbs 29:18 says, ‘Where there is no vision the people perish.’ My challenge to you is to consider these dreams with proper reflection, pause and think about what you need to change to make these dreams a reality in your own lives and in the world around you.