1 Corinthians 16:13 “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.”
Sometimes when I’ve been fixing a bicycle or packing the car for a journey, my kids have asked to ‘help’. But after a few minutes they’ve got distracted and lost interest, whilst still being there; and so in the end they’ve got in the way and their ‘help’ has proved to be more of a hindrance.
A metaphor that is often used in the Scriptures for our Christian lives, is that we are at war and called to fight the Kingdom battle as part of God’s army. It’s natural that such militaristic metaphors were used in a country like Israel at the time, under brutal military occupation by the Romans. However the army metaphor has stayed relevant even in peace times. We are at war. War against evil, against the powers and principalities of this world, against injustice. We know the result – the Lamb conquers – but we are called to be part of that victory.
William Booth knew that well when he named his organisation the ‘Salvation Army’. It was originally going to be called the ‘Volunteer Army’, but he and his close friends realised that Christians aren’t volunteer members of the army – rather they lay down their rights for Jesus’ cause. So they swapped the word ‘Volunteer’ with ‘Salvation’ and the rest is history.
Once we get our heads around being part of God’s Army, the motivation for helping rather than hindering the cause becomes clear. In an army if you are not playing an active role you will get in the way of those who are, and become a risk not just to yourself but to those around you. So it is that by being spectators in the Kingdom battle we put our brothers and sisters at risk as much as ourselves. That thought alone is enough to get me off by backside and back into the fray.
Lord, I choose to be an active member of your salvation army today. Amen!
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