FAITH IN ACTION 04 NOVEMBER 2017 | Issue 6679 | $1.50
NZ Bird of the Year
Getting to Grips with Hospitality
Surviving Labels HUNDREDS SLEEP ROUGH FOR HOMELESSNESS Vocational Mission: A Way of Life
HAROLD HILL
A Dangerous Mind If the Church Doesn’t Want to Get Lost, it Needs to Look Back Often
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WAR CRY The Salvation Army
Te Ope Whakaora New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga Territory TERRITORIAL LEADERS Commissioners Andy & Yvonne Westrupp | GENERAL André Cox | FOUNDERS William
& Catherine Booth
The Salvation Army’s message is based on the Bible. Our ministry is motivated by love for God. Our mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and meet human need in his name without discrimination. War Cry exists to support and advance The Salvation Army’s message, ministry and mission. EDITOR Major Christina Tyson | GRAPHIC DESIGN Sam Coates, Lauren Millington | STAFF WRITERS Ingrid Barratt, Major Shar Davis, Robin Raymond | PROOF READING Major Jill Gainsford | COVER Major Harold HIll, Photography: AJ
Johnston.
OFFICE Territorial Headquarters, 204 Cuba Street, PO Box
6015, Marion Square, Wellington 6141, Phone (04) 384 5649, Fax (04) 382 0716, Email warcry@nzf.salvationarmy.org, www.salvationarmy.org.nz/warcry SUBSCRIPTIONS Salvationist Resources Department, Phone
(04) 382 0768, Email mailorder@nzf.salvationarmy.org, $75 per year within NZ
PRINT MANAGEMENT www.makeready.nz | PAPER Sumo Offset
is an environmentally responsible paper produced using Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) FSC® certified Mixed Source pulp from responsible sources and manufactured under the strict ISO14001 Environmental Management System.
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We’re all part of Team New Zealand One of the early things The Salvation Army did after New Zealand’s new government was announced was to congratulate our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on social media. This wasn’t a partisan political statement; we would have congratulated whoever was elected—just as we will challenge and support them to do their job well. What are some of things The Salvation Army is looking for from our new coalition government? To deliver fair access to housing, food, health care, education and employment, to provide ongoing support for the addictions sector, and to mitigate the impacts of climate change. But are these challenges just for our new MPs? On this question I was inspired by journalist Alison Mau’s interview with Brad Jackson, Professor of Public and Community Leadership at Victoria University. When asked whether Jacinda was ‘good enough for the job’, Jackson replied: ‘Actually, are we good enough for her? Can we step up and help create leadership as well? … Leadership is the collective. It’s up to us. If we believe she’s got it, that’s half the battle won. I’m not talking about blind faith, but we have a role in making sure the leadership promise is fulfilled.’ Wouldn’t it be tremendous if—regardless of how we voted—all Kiwis could work together over the next few years? Where is God taking your heart and mind on behalf of people? Become a collaborator with local and national government and help them make a difference! Christina Tyson Editor
Member of the Australasian Religious Press Association. All Bible references from the Holy Bible, New International Version, unless otherwise stated. Articles are copyrighted to The Salvation Army, except where indicated, and may be reprinted only with permission. Publishing for 134 years | Issue 6679 ISSN 0043-0242 (print), ISSN 2537-7442 (online) Please pass on or recycle this magazine Read online www.issuu.com/salvationarmynzftwarcry
www.salvationarmy.org.nz salvationarmyNZFijiTonga @salvationarmynz salvationarmynzft
2 WarCry 04 NOVEMBER 2017
Our [Salvation Army] buildings are God’s spiritual hospitals. Madge Unsworth, Maiden Tribute
Romans 15:7 (New International Version) Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Rōma 15:7 Nā, me whakahoa koutou tētahi ki tētahi, kia rite ki a te Karaiti i mea nei i a tātou hei hoa mōna, kia whai korōria ai te Atua.
G
uy Fawkes is either the best night of the year, or a complete waste of money that scares our pets— depending on your perspective. Wellington City Council, which has run the biggest fireworks display in the country for the past 22 years, has announced this will be the last year it celebrates Guy Fawkes. Instead, it will be putting on fireworks for Matariki, the Māori New Year, in July next year. Since I was a child, I have loved fireworks. I love oohing and ahhing. As a history buff, part of the appeal is just how ridiculous Guy Fawkes is— I mean, what are we doing, celebrating an attempt to blow up the British parliament 400 years ago? It’s quirky and I love it. But even a fan like me can see how much more meaningful it is for Kiwis to forge our own Matariki tradition. From a practical perspective, it makes more sense to hold fireworks in winter when you don’t have to keep the kids up until nine to see them. Northern Hemisphere traditions have always seemed faintly ridiculous in this part of the world. A roast dinner in December, anyone? But, of course, the deeper purpose is found in carving out our own tradition that honours biculturalism and a uniquely New Zealand identity. I’m excited my five-year-old will grow up with a
celebration that speaks to him as a Kiwi, not an ancient tradition from a far-off land. That tension between tradition and innovation is something often felt in The Salvation Army. Who are we, really? Are we defined by the traditions formed in the Victorian era—brass bands, a uniform, our military metaphors? Or, is our true identity found in the innovative spirit of The Salvation Army that found ways to forge connections with people forgotten by society? I would like The Salvation Army to be known for this self-same spirit in 21st century New Zealand. The way to truly honour our tradition is to show love and care for our neighbour in ways that are meaningful to our modern context. We are at our best when we are pioneers. The Salvation Army still leads the Church in living out the teachings of Jesus, who taught us to care for the least and the lost. Innovations like those coming through Salvation Army Māori Ministry are providing a meaningful path for us to keep doing this in a bicultural New Zealand. We do not want The Salvation Army to become like Guy Fawkes—fun, but irrelevant. Rather, let us honour our traditions by digging deep into our heritage of a salvation that truly cares. BY INGRID BARRATT 04 NOVEMBER 2017 WarCry 3
Which Bird Are You? Sci-Fi / Thriller Blade Runner 2049 (R-13, violence, offensive language & sexual themes) Denis Villeneuve
Who am I? This is the question at the heart of Blade Runner 2049, set 30 years after the 1982 original. Replicants are Earth’s only slaves now, the world having lost its stomach for human slaves. Yet the created are coming into an awareness they are more than androids; perhaps they even have souls. When LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling) retires an old-model replicant, he encounters the hint of a miracle—a child born of human and machine, of creator and created. A slow (almost three-hour!) reveal follows, perhaps reflective of our own gradual awakening to having been made by God, in God’s image. Typical of its film noir sensibilities, Blade Runner 2049’s stylised aesthetics are shadowed shots of raindrenched corrupt cities in a bleak world still poisoned by nuclear war. Harrison Ford reprises his role as Rick Deckard, missing for 30 years. A conversation-provoking reflection on the need for dignity and justice in place of discrimination and exploitation. (Reviewed by Christina Tyson)
The Kea was voted New Zealand Bird of the Year. There is nothing more Kiwi (excuse the bird-related pun) than a lovable rogue. Hey, you thieving overlords, steal our stuff, chew the rubber from our cars, and get amorous with our visitors, we love you! Which endangered New Zealand bird are you? 1 Who is your New Zealand hero? a) Sir Edmund Hillary—a true adventurer b) John Campbell—just marvellous c) everyone on Married At First Sight NZ —they are there for love, true love d) my mum and dad. 2 What would be your perfect date? a) rock climbing b) anything that involves great conversation c) hitting the water d) snuggling up at home. 3 You get pulled up for speeding, you … a) flick your hair flirtatiously b) talk your way out of it, you’ve got the gift of the gab c) head for the hills—fight or flight, right? d) use your charm, everyone says you’re cute. 4 How would you describe yourself? a) a natural comedian b) friendly, with an adventurous side c) loyal and loving d) a homebody, but not traditional. 5 What gets you out of bed in the morning? a) surf, sand and adventure b) the sound of music c) my babies d) I don’t, I’m a real night owl so to speak. Mostly As—Western Rockhopper Penguin: You’re naturally funny, with great hair (or a crest). You may look comedic, but you’re an excellent rock climber.
GOODSTUFF
Turkish photographer Mehmet Genç travelled the world taking photos of people before and after telling them that they were beautiful. The pictures tell a thousand words—an isolated tribes person covers her face in delight, a toothless grandma beams, a young women smiles shyly … and each picture captures the deep connection between us all. 4 WarCry 04 NOVEMBER 2017
Mostly Bs—Stitchbird: You are pretty and talented, with a great singing voice, and you have unusual breeding patterns (enough said). But you’re no snob —you are curious and love to chat. Mostly Cs—Blue Duck: You are a true romantic who is looking for a mate for life. You may not stand out from the crowd, but up close, you are unique. Mostly Ds—Kiwi: Awww, you are so cute. And often timid. But that doesn’t mean you’re predictable—you love the night life, and you are likely to choose nontraditional gender roles. A house husband, perhaps?
QUIKQUIZ
1 Which former All Black was nicknamed the ‘Paekakariki Express’? 2 What was Thomas the Tank Engine’s Fat Controller known as in America? 3 What section of New Zealand’s west coast was formerly known as Golden Coast?
ONTHESPOT Shamubeel Eaqub Shamubeel Eaqub is a rockstar economist, who went viral during the New Zealand elections with his catchphrase ‘tax is love’.
4 Which cats live only in the deserts of North Africa, The Middle East and Central Asia? 5 What animal came forth out of the Nile in droves? Answers on page 22
Secret Indulgence: Cooking. I love to cook for my family and friends—the more the merrier. My favourite recipe book at the moment is by Yael Schotat. It’s called Ima—of Ima Cuisine on Fort St, Auckland. She brings the amazing flavours of the Middle East to my home. Celebrity crush: Kate Rowarth, author of Donut Economics. She is an amazing person, taking her beliefs and using her expertise to change the world for the better. What I’m watching or reading: A book on how to cope with two children! I am very afraid of what will happen when our monster count doubles. One thing I love: Going to the beach with my toddler. I love seeing his little face when he finds something new like a shell. One thing I hate: People who litter. There is just no need for it and it's disrespectful to others. Something that would surprise us about your job: Most of my job is talking to people, reading and thinking; only a small part is taken up with crunching numbers.
Best Bean Burgers Eating less meat is good for our waistlines and great for the environment. These bean burgers are easy and can be made with ingredients from your cupboard. 1 cup black-eyed beans 3 cups water 1 large onion, finely chopped
In a frypan cook the onion in the butter or oil over a medium heat until evenly browned and tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the oregano, curry powder, salt and sugar.
1 Tbsp butter or oil 1 tsp oregano 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp curry powder 1 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar 1 egg 2 Tbsp wheat germ 2 Tbsp dried breadcrumbs
Put the black-eyed beans and water in a smallish covered pot and simmer for 30-40 minutes until the beans are tender enough to mash.
Drain the cooked beans, and add to the onion mixture. Add the egg, wheatgerm and breadcrumbs and mix well. The mixture should be quite soft, but if you find it too soft to work with, add some more breadcrumbs. Cook in a film of oil in a large frypan for about 10 minutes per side. Serve in buns, with carrot and celery sticks, or with mashed potatoes. A little tomato relish makes a good topping.
From Dollars and Sense by Alison Holst.
Weird of the Week: In 1993, San Francisco held a referendum over whether a police officer called Bob Geary was allowed to patrol while carrying a ventriloquist’s dummy called Brendan O’Smarty. He was. 04 NOVEMBER 2017 WarCry 5
A Dangerous M
Mind
Major (Dr) Harold Hill has been described as ‘a radical and a provoker’. His latest book challenges The Salvation Army to look back at our past in order to look forward, and rediscover our radical heart. BY INGRID BARRATT
H
arold Hill’s new book Saved to Save and Saved to Serve is a rare achievement: a textbook that is a genuine page turner. I found myself reading late into the night, ferreting out the gems on every page. It is an eloquently written and balanced history of The Salvation Army—peppered with one-liners that have to be read with a wry smile. For example, Harold concludes that William Booth’s vision of discipleship was never fully realised because ‘by then everyone had joined brass bands instead’. That’s not to say Harold’s book doesn’t champion The Salvation Army— overall, the impression is of a movement of which we can be immensely proud. Harold produces a respectful and thoughtful history, but a subtle honesty is ever the undercurrent.
Radical Thoughts Harold has been described as ‘one of the Army’s unique characters … a radical and a provoker,’ by long-time friend Seth Le Leu. When I ask Harold about this, he answers—again that wry smile—with a story from his youth: ‘My wife Pat was warned against marrying me by a senior leader in the Army, saying that I was a dangerous person because I had liberal ideas.’ What were your liberal ideas? ‘I have no idea!’ So, your wife didn’t take their advice? ‘No, thankfully.’ His reputation was, at least in part, established when he was a university student, studying history. Harold became a founder and the editor of the Salvation Army magazine Battlepoint—which quickly became the place where people talked about topics that were taboo within the wider Army. ‘There was nowhere Salvationists could talk and express opinions,’ explains Harold. ‘Some older officers found it very threatening that young people were having opinions about the Army, and not just saluting and going out and saving souls. ‘There was also a huge suspicion of students and it was thought they were having radical thoughts, and were dangerous and critical.’ This was the 1960s —when the rest of the Western World was living through the sexual revolution. In response, evangelical Christianity generally developed a suspicion of intellectualism and bohemian student life. If Harold was a ‘radical’, he was also very much a Salvation Army insider. Growing up as the child of officers, he always sensed that this would also be his path. Harold trained as a teacher, and Pat as a doctor. But by 1970, they felt that it was time to throw their hats (and bonnets) into the ring and become Salvation Army officers. 04 NOVEMBER 2017 WarCry 7
Battlepoint continued to run for 25 years, long after most other contemporary independent Salvation Army publications folded. It came out of the Army’s student fellowship—a lively gathering of Salvationist students. The forward-thinking Commissioner Alfred Gilliard refused to give the student body a constitution, sensing that would be its death knell. ‘But when a later commissioner arrived in 1971, he organised a constitution for the Student’s Fellowship, which then didn’t last much longer,’ Harold recalls. This tension between innovation and institutionalisation is one of the fascinating themes of Harold’s book.
‘MY WIFE PAT WAS WARNED AGAINST MARRYING ME ... I WAS A DANGEROUS PERSON BECAUSE I HAD LIBERAL IDEAS.’ Our people Of William Booth, George Scott Railton wrote, ‘he always advocated for an organisation so open to all, and a system so elastic, that zeal might never be repressed, but only made the most of.’ Harold describes the fledging Salvation Army as the ‘age of enthusiasm’. This was when open-air meetings were loud and outlandish, brass bands were introduced to drown out the noise of rabble rousers; the Army was made up of ‘inebriates’, ‘labouring people and roughs’; and ‘free and easy’ meetings followed the patterns of the music hall. In short, the early Army was uncouth. And as Booth famously said to his son, ‘These are our people!’ But by 1900, innovations were already becoming tradition. ‘The first generation had the miracle of changing beer into furniture,’ says Harold. But within a couple of generations they had changed furniture into middle-class respectability. This affected ‘what the gentrifying second generation Salvationists would tolerate among themselves’. Harold’s formative years were arguably at the epoch of Salvation Army institutionalism. At times, the Army was becoming the very thing it set out to reject. He says, ‘I recall a Salvationist expressing disquiet at the number of “social cases” beginning to attend her large, traditional corps, saying: “Why don’t these people go to the “goodwill corps” and leave the citadel to us?” ’ 8 WarCry 04 NOVEMBER 2017
Harold and Pat did just that, helping set up a youth service for inner-city kids who were not accepted within the traditional corps, attended by up to 80 young people. ‘For about seven years that was our church, and it was unrecognisable from The Salvation Army elsewhere,’ Harold says. On some occasions, traditionalism had become faintly ridiculous. Harold recalls that the early Salvation Army in New Zealand held open-air meetings in the slum of Jesse Street, Wellington. By the 1960s, the area had been converted into offices and work blocks, but the band continued to play there before congress witness marches. ‘The reason was that they knew how long it would take to march from there to the Town Hall, so that the various bands would pass the saluting base in correct sequence. And that is why we continued to witness to office buildings in Jesse Street, years after everyone had left’ (wry smile).
Recovering zeal Yet this is not the end of the story. Since the 1980s, The Salvation Army has renewed efforts to reconnect with its social services and allow for greater diversity. Recovery Churches, Community Ministries and world-class addictions services are stellar examples of The Salvation Army building on its original foundations. ‘We still have people working at the coalface with people who are in real trouble, so we still have the miracle of turning beer into furniture happening now,’ says Harold. ‘Transformations are still happening, and for me that is the justification for The Salvation Army still existing.’ What will it take to once again embrace Booth’s vision for an elastic and zealous movement? ‘The first part is being aware. What we were trying to do with Battlepoint was make people aware. The second thing would be to recover the reason why we were doing something in the first place, and the third thing would be to apply it to the context in which we now live,’ he sums up. As a passionate historian, Harold is in no way anti-tradition, but urges The Salvation Army to rediscover its true traditions. ‘There are some distinctives that are okay to carry forward,’ he says. ‘In dealing with [tradition] some have thought that our answer is to become like the Pentecostal church down the street, but that is somebody else’s tradition. The answer is not to copy anybody else—and there are parts of tradition that are worth maintaining —but to remember who we really are.’ So who are we, really? Harold sums up The Salvation Army simply as a faith community with a social service focus. ‘There
Book Review
Saved to Save and Saved to Serve: Perspectives on Salvation Army History by Major (Dr) Harold Hill (Wipf and Stock)
has been a deep divide between “church” and “social”. They were never meant to be driven apart, so that’s part of our DNA we’ve been recovering in recent years, because they belong together.’
Learning from history The words ‘radical’ and ‘historian’ are not natural bedfellows, but it would be quite accurate to say both of Harold. In summing up the importance of looking back at our past, he tells the story of an old friend who, as a child, was repeatedly getting lost in the New Zealand bush. Eventually he asked an accomplished bushman how to avoid getting lost. His answer: ‘ “Three things—1. Stop. 2. Look back. 3. Often.” In practical terms, when you look back you see it from a different angle, and it’s the angle you’ll see when you are returning. In general terms, if the church doesn’t want to get lost, it needs to look back often, know where it has come from, and know where it is the in world. ‘We need to look at what we’re doing in terms of what we set out do to. What were we trying to do? And should we be doing that now? Or should we be doing that, but in a different way? We don’t understand the present until we have looked at our past.’
Inā kei te mohio koe ko wai koe, I anga mai koe i hea, kei te mohio koe. Kei te anga atu ki hea. If you know who you are and where you are from, then you will know where you are going. Māori proverb
Salvation Army history, like all denominational history, can sometimes be biased and overly romanticised, especially when written by an insider. This is certainly not the case here. Harold has written a valuable and scholarly history that hits the right balance between objective analysis of evidence and the reflections of a critical yet appreciative insider. One of the great strengths of this book is its global perspective. Incidents drawn from Australian and New Zealand settings fill out the story so the reader is not given only Northern Hemisphere perspectives. Historians, even religious historians, are not always attuned to the theological complexities of their subject matter, but Harold has a sure grasp of the theology that has undergirded Salvationist activism. After a solid overview of Salvation Army history beginning in Victorian Britain, the author draws upon his earlier work on Salvation Army leadership to explore such questions as whether the Army should be seen as a sect or a church, whether its officers should be seen as ‘clergy’, and whether its commitment to ordain/commission women as officers means that it has no problem with gender equality. (On this last point there is the recognition that further progress needs to be made.) In each of these explorations easy answers are avoided and the complexity of the discussion is given due consideration. Three solid chapters on Salvationist theology cover its formal doctrinal statements, its theological diversity, and its worship practice. Soon after becoming an employee of The Salvation Army in 2009, I discovered somewhat to my surprise how diverse Salvationists were. I had expected a broadly evangelical church with a slightly Wesleyan flavour. While I found plenty of that, I also encountered a much wider range of perspectives, from the very conservative to the very progressive—Charismatic Salvationists, Social Gospel Salvationists, Catholic Salvationists, even Reformed Salvationists, all wearing the same uniform and gathering under the same flag. The book’s sixth chapter on ‘Diversity’ explains this in terms of a pragmatic commitment to a commonly held core mission of ‘getting people saved and sanctified, with as little impediment to those ends as possible’. There are two solid chapters on the Army’s social work and the book concludes with a global snapshot of the movement that takes into account its initial connection to British imperialism, the gradual indigenisation of leadership, and its ecumenical commitments. This is a very fine history that arises out of a lifetime of careful thinking about The Salvation Army. It exhibits the skills of a careful historian and an insightful theologian. It will serve as an excellent textbook, but will also appeal to the general reader wanting an up-to-date and authoritative source on global Salvation Army history. I recommend it wholeheartedly. Reviewed by Professor Glen O’Brien, Head of Theology, The Salvation Army Booth College, Sydney. Buy in paperback, hard copy or Kindle format from Amazon.
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Do I Have the Gift of Singleness? Singleness is often called a gift, but is it the gift that nobody wants? The concept of the ‘gift of singleness’ is often used as a reason for why some people stay single. The assumption seems to be that if you have this mystical spiritual gift, you will be happy and content in your singleness. Meanwhile, married people breathe a sigh of relief that they weren’t lumped with the gift that nobody wants. This concept of the ‘gift of singleness’ is actually a misquote from Scripture. What Paul actually says in 1 Corinthians 7:7 is, ‘But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.’ He is saying that being married is a gift, and being single is a gift. In other words, the ‘gift’ is simply the art of being content in whatever situation we find ourselves in. If we are single, we should find the gift that lies within our singleness. Equally, if we are married, we should find contentment in this situation—and as anyone that is married knows, that can be just as challenging as being single. However, single Christians have an extra challenge because —unlike the rest of the world—singles are a minority in churches. It’s refreshing to remind ourselves, then, that Paul is decidedly non-marriage centric. In fact, he is so enthusiastic about being single that he says, ‘I wish all of you were as I am’ (1 Corinthians 7:6). He sees singleness as a great blessing because it allows him an undivided devotion to Christ. Being single is in no way spiritually inferior—if anything, both Paul and Jesus hinted that singleness is the superior path. One of the teachings of Jesus that you will never hear talked about from the pulpit is that if we can accept becoming ‘eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven’ we should (Matthew 19:12). If singles feel inferior at times, it is because of our culture, not the Bible.
SEE CHALLENGES AS A THREAD THAT MAKES UP THE TAPESTRY OF YOUR LIFE, NOT THE WHOLE PICTURE.
Ultimately, the secret is not with our marital status, but in choosing contentment. The number one eroder of contentment is comparing ourselves to others. Our inner voice of comparison is usually inaccurate. Why is everyone married but me? Why is everyone’s marriage happier than mine? Comparison breeds discontent.
Contentment is not the same as complacency. It’s not an excuse to stay in bad situations—such as chronic loneliness or an abusive marriage. But contentment will help you to grow and develop the gifts that God has imbedded into your life.
But its antidote is gratitude. When you find yourself spiralling into comparison, stop and ask yourself, ‘What can I be grateful for today?’ See challenges as a thread that makes up the tapestry of your life, not the whole picture. Life is never all bad—or all good for that matter.
I’ve been single for a while now and I have to say it’s going very well. Like, it’s working out. I think I’m the one.
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Emily Heller
TESTIFY! Maureen Quennel of Mosgiel promised God she would give up smoking if he let her win the darts title. In the 1970s, in the days of smokefilled bars and bingo halls, nicotine addiction was the norm. And like most of my friends, I had a 20-cigarettes-aday habit. I’d won several national titles and was keen to add another. I was playing the first round and needed double 16 to win over my tough opponent. I was about to throw when I heard a voice say, ‘Pack up smoking and I’ll give you the title.’ I was an atheist and using my ‘lucky’ bingo counters was the closest I got to spirituality, but in that split second I had to make a decision. I badly wanted to win, so I said yes. The dart landed right in the middle of double 16. Amid the congratulations, the reality of the bargain I’d made dawned on me. I left the cigarettes and went home. I didn’t know whose voice I’d heard, but I was impressed enough to endure a week of agony without my nicotine fix. On the weekend, area finals were played. I easily won the singles and pairs events. Another three weeks to the South Island finals in Christchurch. The thought of winning kept me going and so I hung on, smokeless. I stayed in a motel with three nonsmokers (a miracle in the darts crowd in those days). In our room was a magazine with horrible pictures of mouth cancers and smokers’ lungs. It was enough to make me want to never smoke again. That magazine wasn’t there ‘by accident’; it was just what I needed—because we didn’t win that weekend, we were knocked out of every category. I arrived home disappointed at losing and puzzled why God didn’t keep our bargain. I didn’t talk about it to anyone,
THE REALITY OF THE BARGAIN I’D MADE DAWNED ON ME. but remembered someone had once given a Bible to my husband, George. I opened the Bible at random and read: ‘God always keeps his promises.’ This still didn’t make sense, since I’d lost, but the realisation dawned on me that if I had won, the first thing I would have done was light up a celebratory cigarette. And then I would have been back at square one with my addiction. I saw the logic of not smoking, but the cravings continued. My doctor gave me tablets to ease my withdrawal, but they only made me feel worse. I couldn’t concentrate at work and felt so strung out I knew I’d have to start smoking again. It was Saturday night and George was out. I was alone and miserable. I looked in the Bible again and became intrigued by the story of ‘the transfiguration of Jesus’, when a voice spoke from a cloud and Jesus’ appearance was transformed. This interested me enough to look for similar moments. I read about Jesus’
crucifixion and burial, and how his friends went to complete his embalming and found his tomb empty. I read how Jesus appeared to people, alive again. It was like considering evidence at a trial. I said to myself, ‘I reckon that could have happened.’ Immediately I was washed in a warm flowing sensation of utter peace from above me. It washed me from head to toe, inside and out, and I heard a voice say: ‘Go to church.’ This time I knew it was Jesus. In an instant, he had changed me. Jesus had been preparing me for the moment when I would believe. Next morning, I told George I was going to church. He was astonished. I only knew the times of the Salvation Army meetings, so I went there, receiving Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. George eventually followed, making his own decision for Christ. I won the darts title the next year— but by then it paled to insignificance compared with living for God. Over the years, I’ve attended a number of churches, but last year I returned to The Salvation Army and was enrolled as a soldier. I’m so grateful to God for his kindness, faithfulness and patience in my life. 04 NOVEMBER 2017 WarCry 11
BY SHAR DAVIS
Fresh from surviving the overhyped Y2K bug—when the world didn’t know if technology could handle the date change from 1999 to 2000—some of us began watching 16 American strangers try and figure out what it took to win the title of sole survivor. The award-winning, American reality show Survivor has gone on to produce another 34 seasons, full of winners, losers, villains, heroes, a bunch of marriages, and at least 15 medical evacuations. Each season, contestants are divided into tribes according to a particular set of characteristics. Producers have played around with tribes according to gender, race, age, social class and even generation gaps—hello Millennials vs Generation X. The latest season, currently screening Saturday afternoons on Three, is Survivor: Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers. Usually the tribal lines are obvious or somewhat concrete by nature, but this season they’re not so easily understood. How does one decide the defining characteristics of a hero compared to a healer and what on earth is a hustler (cos I’m guessing they don’t mean drug dealers?) The show has created these labels, attached them to contestants … and now those people are meant to live up to these weird distinctions. Let’s face it—putting a sex doctor, a wilderness
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guide and a parole officer (who seems very much like he’s ready to hustle his way to the end) together in the Healers Tribe and suggesting they live by a common moral code feels a little forced. Is it a case of labels for labels’ sake? Exactly how much weight these will carry for the contestants is yet to be seen. LABELS DIVIDE AND DISTANCE What labels do you carry around? What labels do you place on others? How do you see people? People often use labels to describe those who are different to them. Labels divide, they distinguish and they distance people from each other. Schools are full of ‘tribes’ splintered off under labels, such as geeks, cool kids, jocks, etc. Labels can be a gendered weapon. The same behaviour gets labelled very differently depending on the person’s gender—‘she’s easy’ vs ‘he’s a player’; ‘she’s bossy’ vs ‘he’s a leader’; mothers ‘care’ for their children, with fathers only ‘babysitting’. If you’ve ever been labelled by someone, you know how hard it can be to shake that label from your own thinking. Sometimes people take until their adult years to realise that they are not a ‘dummy’ despite being put in the lowest class at school. If you’re told often enough that you’re dumb, lazy, annoying or overly emotional, you will not only believe that, you’ll begin to act that way too.
Genesis 1:26–27 tells us that God made humankind in his image. There’s a fancy Latin term, Imago Dei that’s translated as ‘Image of God’ and often used by people to talk about this uniquely human characteristic of being an image bearer of God. I wonder what might happen if we started seeing people through that filter? How differently would we treat people if we saw God in every one of them? It’s really easy to see the dirt in others. People’s flaws are often visible, but when we focus on those, we limit people to their worst day, their weakest moment, their biggest challenge. If we stopped for a moment and thought about how we would like to be treated, I’m pretty sure we would hate to be treated like that. LOOKING FOR GOLD Have you ever been panning for gold? You get a shallow pan, scoop up some gravel and water and sort of swirl your pan around separating the dirt and stone from any gold that is there. As followers of Jesus, we are to be ‘panners of people’—to look for the gold in others, separating the dirt and grit from what is most precious, of most value in their lives. Jesus did this time and again in the New Testament. If Survivor had been around then, Zacchaeus would have been put in the hustler tribe. Here was a guy, employed as the chief tax collector, swindling people out of money left, right and centre. He wasn’t popular. In fact, people had labelled him a ‘notorious sinner’ (Luke 19:7). Yet Jesus looked past the behaviour—past the labels others had attached—and invited himself for dinner at Zacchaeus’s house. Jesus went looking for the gold in this ‘notorious sinner’s’ life. He called out the Imago Dei in Zacchaeus, and Zacchaeus responded to that call by changing his behaviour, his values and his tribe. Throughout the Old Testament, lepers were considered unclean, and if you touched a leper you also became ‘unclean’. There were strict rules and processes around keeping yourself clean and what to do if the unthinkable happened and you became unclean yourself. All that was tipped on its head when Jesus came along. When Jesus touched a leper he didn’t change, the leper did—he became clean! He was no longer excluded or separated away from others. It was like Jesus came along and announced ‘drop your buffs, we’re merging’—an eagerly anticipated moment in every season of Survivor. The dividing lines were smashed as
Jesus ushered in a new kingdom, a new way. In the movie Risen, a story about Easter from the perspective of a Roman centurion, one of the most powerful moments is when Jesus sees a leper by himself on the outskirts of the community. Jesus walks over to him and embraces him. (Who knows how long it has been since the man experienced any form of physical touch.) Jesus is again tearing the labels off, including the normally excluded.
IF YOU’VE EVER BEEN LABELLED BY SOMEONE, YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT CAN BE TO SHAKE THAT LABEL … SEE THE PERSON At the recent Thought Matters conference, Aussie Marcus Hutchins challenged delegates about how the language we use to describe people often dehumanises them and stops us from seeing the individual person. ‘When we learn to see all people through the lens of Imago Dei we begin to develop a new language that seeks to recover the living, breathing person hidden behind labels. Changing the way we speak, changes the way we do,’ said Marcus. The problem with labels is we end up boxing people into a framework that works for us, while at the same time limiting others’ potential and worth. Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers has coloured the lens through which we view each Survivor player. Our expectations of their behaviour and game-play is influenced by their tribe. We expect peace and harmony from the healers, dirty tricks from the hustlers, and incredible feats of strength and honour from the heroes. These expectations are unrealistic but make for great TV. The lens God asks us to use is the same one he does, Imago Dei—the Image of God. That lens shows all the creativity, potential, beauty and intrinsic value that each one of us have—for no other reason than we are an image bearer of God himself. The challenge for each of us is to recognise the labels that exist, stop using, believing and judging by them—and begin to treat each other as members of the same tribe, in which no one is voted out.
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GETTING TO GRIPS WITH HOSPITALITY BY CHRISTINA TYSON
The annual Thought Matters conference, drawing 73 delegates from Australia and New Zealand, was held at New Zealand’s Booth College of Mission from 29 September to 1 October. Thought Matters is run by the Theological Forum of the two Australian territories and the New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga Territory to foster theological discussion that shapes how The Salvation Army carries out its mission. This year’s theme was ‘Hospitality: Engaging the Other’, aimed at exploring what the Army’s willingness (or unwillingness) to make space and offer kindness says about Salvationists as people of God. Close to 30 people submitted abstracts of proposed papers, with 12 papers selected to explore the application of hospitality across a range of contexts, including with Aboriginal peoples from the land now called Australia, among Pasifika peoples, in the online world, with LGBTI people, and in relation to known sexual offenders in a Salvation Army church setting. A better illustration of hospitality and the relationship between host and guest could not have come than in the Māori pōwhiri ceremony, in which Booth College of Mission staff and cadets welcomed delegates. Captain Hana Seddon, Divisional Secretary for Māori Ministry, Northern Division, explained the pōwhiri as ‘a welcome from people who love you and want to draw you in’. Hana touched on the pōwhiri process again on Sunday morning in her paper ‘Manaaki: An Indigenous Christian Perspective of Hospitality’. She explained that the Māori word ‘manaaki’ described the practice of giving hospitality. ‘Manaaki involves support and protection, as well as showing respect, generosity and care for others.’ In stark contrast to such hospitality, Hana argued that ‘the church has continued to give Māori the message that most of our cultural expressions are either inferior or evil’. This had caused many Māori to renounce their culture to receive a fuller welcome into the Christian church. Dr Andrew Shepherd, a Research Affiliate with the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at the University of Otago, presented a keynote address on ‘facing the Other in an age of terror’. Engaging with the cultural mediation of ‘mirrors, screens and photographs’, Andrew explored the concept of empathy and the premise that 14 WarCry 04 NOVEMBER 2017
‘the dimension of the divine opens forth from the human face’. In a world troubled by terrorism and ecological crisis, and with increasing levels of disparate poverty, ‘the metaphor of hospitality becomes crucial for the shaping of an ethical life and the shaping of peaceful and just human societies’, he said. Brisbane-based clinical psychologist Catherine Philpot presented an evaluation of psychological literature looking at how Christians treat those not like them. One of these findings was that ‘the niceness or nastiness of Christians depends a lot on what kind of Christian they are, and what kind of person you are’. She said Christians who developed ‘open, questing approaches to faith’ showed increased openness and less prejudice to others. ‘Whatever the future holds for those of Christian faith,’ she said, ‘there are no signs that people are going to stop watching and judging our faith through how it is expressed towards others. The challenge for us as Christians is that we continue to remain open—to God and those around us—as we pursue faith.’ Major Terry Grey explored ‘identity and belonging’ in the Hebrew Bible. He noted that Christians often read the Bible in a way that positioned them as ‘the belonging ones’, rather than seeing that their true identity was as the welcomed ‘stranger’. ‘In my view, at the heart of the gospel is radical inclusion,’ Terry said. ‘The dark side of belonging … is the power to exclude those who are not like us … When does the stranger become no longer strange? Most often, the response to that question is when they become like us. When they learn our language, embrace our culture, when they truly want to become an Australian, or a New Zealander, a Salvationist.’ Major Lynette Edge presented a paper asking if inclusion was possible for those who had breached the sacred trust to protect people from sexual abuse. She noted the Army’s tradition of working with those rejected and excluded from society—as sex offenders typically are—and advocated the ‘careful grace’ of ‘welcome with boundaries’.
The importance of giving proper attention to First Nations peoples was again emphasised in a moving paper by Major Sandra Crowden and Brooke Prentis. Australia was considered terra nullius (‘nobody’s land’) by Europeans when they began settling there in 1788. What followed was the taking of land, the attempted extermination of people and culture, and an ‘extinguishing of Aboriginal peoples as hosts’. Significantly, however, the Aboriginal peoples saw themselves as ‘the second hosts’, with Creator God the first host who entrusted the care of the land to the Aboriginal peoples. It was clear that for The Salvation Army, this journey of reconciliation still required a stronger conversation.
… there are no signs that people are going to stop watching and judging our faith through how it is expressed towards others. In a provocative paper centred on Bram Stoker’s 1897 book Dracula, Envoy Malcolm Irwin considered atheist philosopher Slovoj Žižek’s notion that while people may be open to Others, this was tempered by the central ‘human right’ of society—‘the right not to be harassed’. This led to the desire to remain at a ‘safe distance’ from others and a preference for ‘the Other to be Otherless’. An example was multiculturalism, which deprived people of their cultural identity by homogenising all cultures into something less than Other. Malcolm proposed that the way to counter the ‘hate of Others’ was not through a ‘pacifying, inclusive tolerance’, but with a ‘precise kind of hatred’—the ‘disruptive’ and ‘violent passion’ of Christian love. To love as Christ called Christians to love meant creating discontent with whatever excludes people, even if it meant ‘hating the beloved’ of established social hierarchies and familiar religious traditions. Saturday evening of Thought Matters featured the launch of Major Harold Hill’s new book Saved to Save and Saved to Serve: Perspectives on Salvation Army History. Retired General John Larsson has described the book as ‘prophetic’ and an ‘extraordinary treasure’. In the book’s Foreword, he writes: ‘There are official histories of The Salvation Army which describe its development—mostly in laudatory terms. There are interpretative histories, which seek to analyse and explain ... Saved to Save and Saved to Serve [is] so original that it creates a new genre. Here is a born teacher who presents his material in a fascinating way and then invites us to reflect.’ Conference convenor Coralie Bridle said, ‘Thought Matters was a reminder that people are always more than labels or categories. All of us are created in the image of God, so our commitment must be to offer everyone hospitality, welcome and respect. This cannot be merely an idea we think and talk about; it must be how Salvationists live every day.’
Thought Matters 2017 Papers ‘Beyond the Beatitudes: Hospitality as Peace-Making’ by Stephen Oliver ‘Defanging Dracula: How Not to be a Good Neighbour’ by Malcolm Irwin ‘Hello from the Other Side: a Psychological Evaluation of Christians’ Treatment of the Other’ by Catherine Philpot ‘Helpful and Unhelpful Understandings of the Other’ by Marcus Hutchins ‘Hospitality beyond the Church’ by Liam Glover ‘Learning to be Guests of Ancient Hosts on Ancient Lands’ by Brooke Prentis & Sandra Crowden ‘Limited Welcome: is Inclusion Possible for Sexual Offenders in Salvation Army Corps?’ by Lynette Edge ‘Manaaki: an Indigenous Theology of Hospitality’ by Hana Seddon ‘Mirrors, Screens and Photographs: Facing the “Other” in an ‘Age of Terror’ by Andrew Shepherd ‘Never Read the Comments: Christian Hospitality and the Online World’ by Caleb Smith ‘Solo on Sundays: a Pasifika Hospitality Journey’ by Fepulea’i Ulua’ipou-O-Malo Aiono & Ann-Rita Ngatae
FOR MORE INFORMATION | email: thought_matters@nzf.salvationarmy.org
‘Strangers and Foreigners in the Hebrew Bible: Obligation and Social Liminality’ by Terry Grey
Top left: Presenters from this year's Thought Matters conference. Photography: Shar Davis.
‘The Art of Hospitality: a Critique of the Church Growth Movement’ by Andrew Wilson
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South Pacific Officers Fellowship Territorial leaders Commissioners Andrew and Yvonne Westrupp were guest leaders at the recent combined Fiji and Tonga Officers Fellowship, which was hosted by the Fiji Division in Nadi. Four officers from Papua New Guinea added an extra dimension of South Pacific flavour. The Westrupps spoke to the underlying theme of ‘Bringing Life’, which included a number of action and reflection points for all the officers present.
Prior to this, the territorial leaders had visited Taveuni Corps. As Fiji’s most remote corps expression, this was the cause of great celebration as no territorial commander had previously been to Taveuni. Under the simple ‘shed’ roof that constitutes the Taveuni Salvationists meeting place, Sunday morning unfolded with a traditional Fijian greeting and presentation of tabua (polished whale’s tooth), a challenging service and sumptuous feast.
Epsom Lodge Promotes Soldiership One man’s inquiry about joining The Salvation Army has sparked soldiership classes for 13 formerly-homeless people at Epsom Lodge in Auckland. Glen said he’d had dealings off and on with The Salvation Army for 20 years and earlier this year he came to live at Epsom Lodge, which offers housing and support to homeless individuals in Auckland. He was also volunteering at Royal Oak and said his time at Epsom Lodge and Royal Oak had inspired him to want to know more about joining the Army. ‘No one really talked about it—there was no drive to recruit people. I thought it would be interesting to find out what was involved.’ So he approached Epsom Lodge Director Auxiliary-Captain Eric Turner, who suggested soldiership classes. Eric said Glen’s query got him thinking. ‘We just thought, “Hey, let’s open it up and see what people think.” At first I had two people interested. We promoted it, said if you're interested in know what it means to be a soldier come along. We had 13 the first week and 16 the second week.’ Each member of the group had been on a journey that involved homelessness or addiction, Eric said. ‘A lot of them have had some sort of religious experience or understanding. The theology debates were very interesting.’ 16 WarCry 04 NOVEMBER 2017
Over four weeks the group went through classes covering the history and mission of The Salvation Army, the ‘I believe’ and ‘I will’ statements from The Salvation Army’s Soldier’s Covenant, and a session on ‘where to from here’. Glen has since moved on from Epsom Lodge and said the classes had helped him in his decision to become an adherent at his new corps. ‘I like the hands-on help for those in need and living out what you believe practically.’ Many of the others still at Epsom Lodge were part of a group trying to ‘demystify church’ by visiting different churches from The Salvation Army Recovery Church and Waitakere Faith Factory to an Open Brethren church near the lodge, Eric said. ‘A lot of them say, “I love the mission, I acknowledge God, but I don’t like church—I was brought up in church and someone in church abused me”, or “I wasn’t welcome”. So we go to church, we have lunch and talk about it.’ The potential of those at Epsom Lodge was huge, Eric said. ‘These are our fighters to change the world. Our testimony will reach people we can engage with, but these people have been in places I will never be able to speak into. While at my best I might be able to speak to 100 people, these guys have a testimony that could reach thousands.’
Hundreds Sleep Rough for the Homeless A service to remember some of those who have died on the streets this year was held as hundreds gathered to raise awareness and funds for the homeless. The fourth annual Salvation Army 14 Hours Homeless sleepout on 13 October saw more than 300 people sleeping out and raised more than $78,000 for programmes helping homeless people, with funds still coming in. The events in Auckland, Palmerston North, Tokoroa, Wellington and Invercargill were also about raising awareness about homelessness, with homeless and formerly-homeless people sharing their stories at each event. In Auckland, a service was held to remember five homeless men who had died in the past year. The men were part of a community supported by the Waitakere Community Ministries and the corps, with three other members of the homeless community taking part in the service. Corps Officer Captain Pauleen Richards said it was a good opportunity to remember and honour the men’s lives. ‘It hit home that this is a real issue that doesn’t always end well for people.’ The Wellington event saw five agencies working together, with eventgoers visiting the different charities or hearing from staff and clients, to see directly how the funds they raised would help provide shelter, food and warmth to homeless people in the city. The events saw good support from city councillors and MPs. Wellington City Mayor Justin Lester and Te Atatū MP Phil Twyford spoke at the Auckland and Wellington events. At the
Palmerston North event, a representative of the NZ Army’s 2nd Combat Service Support Battalion was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation for its support of 14 Hours Homeless. It was the first year the battalion wasn’t able to attend the event, but it held a street collection which raised over $6000. Along with the serious side, there was fun to be had as eventgoers in Palmerston North took part in a challenge to build the best cardboard structure, and a formerly-homeless man showed people in Invercargill how to make their own mats out of plastic bags. Invercargill eventgoers also got to revisit last year’s event, which was highlighted as part of a half-hour documentary on homelessness in Southland made by a Southern Institute of Technology student. Palmerston North Community Ministries Mission Coordinator Peter Barton said some early rain and the event’s central city location proved a challenge. ‘It was really, really busy and noisy. It brings it home, I guess; that’s how it is for a person living rough. That noise is constant, people talking, bottles being thrown, cars, sirens. We were lucky we can have a peaceful sleep the next night.’ The event attracted quite a few formerly-homeless people who wanted to give back or share their story. ‘We had one lady who came from Whanganui to take part because she had experienced homelessness and wanted to give back,’ Peter said.
A Palmerston North participant bunks down in a cardboard creation. Photography: David Smith.
A Wellington participant sends a message. Photography: AJ Johnston.
The crew from the Invercargill event. Photography: Patrick Bray. 04 NOVEMBER 2017 WarCry 17
Salvation Army Denounces Racism General André Cox has approved a new International Positional Statement on Racism. Taking an uncompromising stand against racism, the Statement says: ‘The Salvation Army denounces racism in all forms. Racism is fundamentally incompatible with the Christian conviction that all people are made in the image of God and are equal in value. The Salvation Army believes that the world is enriched by a diversity of cultures and ethnicities.’ Sadly, the tendency for racism exists in all people and all societies, taking many forms. This includes tribalism (favouritism towards members of a particular tribe or other social group, with negative attitudes towards those outside that group), casteism (prejudice or discrimination on the grounds of caste, with origins in India) and ethnocentrism (belief in the intrinsic superiority of the nature, culture or group to which one belongs, accompanied by feelings of dislike for other groups). Such racism can be perpetuated by social structures and systems. Sometimes racism is overt and intentional, but often it is not. It can be seen in ‘the tendency to stereotype and marginalise whole segments of populations’ and may take many expressions, ‘including open hatred, indifference or lack of care’. A damaging consequence of racism is that people are denied opportunities for full participation and advancement. This can extend to being denied access to income, health care, justice, housing, education, employment, human rights and human security. Racist discrimination can become so entrenched that its devastating impact can be experienced across generations. Although many Salvationists ‘have acted firmly and courageously against racism’, The Salvation Army also ‘acknowledges with regret that Salvationists
GAZETTE Bereaved Mjr Steven Lim of his mother, Park Jung ah, on 11 Oct from South Korea. Steven has travelled to South Korea to be with his family. Please uphold Mjrs Steven and Grace Lim, and other family members in prayer. Appointments Effective 1 Dec: Mjr Sharlene Davis, Assistant Territorial Communications Secretary, Communications, Business Administration Section, THQ. This is additional to Mjr Shar Davis’s appointment as Book Publications Manager, which is effective 11 Jan 2018. Effective 11 Jan 2018: Mjrs Julie and Robert Cope, Chaplains, Blue Mountain Adventure Centre, Programme Section, Territorial Headquarters; Mjr Uraia Dravikula, Inter Church Liaison Officer, Fiji Division. Effective 1 March 2018: Mjr Clive Nicolson, Officer Support, South
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have sometimes shared in the sins of racism, and conformed to the economic, organisational and social pressures that perpetuate racism’. The new International Positional Statement on Racism suggests a range of practical responses to counter the wrong of racism at an organisational, individual and societal level. It says, ‘The Salvation Army is committed to fight against racism wherever it is experienced and will speak into societies around the world wherever we encounter it. As we pray for God’s will to be done on Earth as in Heaven, The Salvation Army will work towards a world where all people are accepted, loved and valued.’ The Salvation Army publishes International and Territorial Positional Statements that give its view on a range of moral and social issues. Such statements are prepared either by the International Moral and Social Issues Council or by local territorial Moral and Social Issues Councils, and must be approved by the General before publication. The statements are not binding on Salvationists, but are intended to guide their response to important issues, and also to give the general public an understanding of why The Salvation Army holds particular views. Whenever an International Positional Statement is released, the New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga Territory’s Moral and Social Issues Council reviews if there is still a need for a local statement. When a new International Positional Statement is more than adequate for local context then it is adopted, and the earlier Territorial Positional Statement is removed from circulation. READ THE FULL STATEMENT | go to salvationarmy.org.nz/PositionalStatement
Island (Appointment in Retirement); Mjr Lesley Nicolson, Officer Support, South Island. Clive and Lesley Nicolson will continue in their Central Divisional roles until 28 Feb 2018. Please pray for them as they prepare for their new appointments. Mjr Glenis Cross will conclude her Appointment in Retirement as South Island Support Officer, Officer Support Unit, on 28 Feb 2018. It is with sincere thanks and appreciation that we honour Glenis for her faithful service in this role since 10 Jan 2013 and pray God’s blessing on her. Resignation/Envoy Service The officership of Capt Christopher Collings will conclude on 5 Jan 2018. Following his marriage to Soora Lee on 6 Jan 2018, Chris will be warranted as an envoy and will continue providing leadership to Levin Corps in this capacity.
Vocational Mission A Way of Life War Cry first published this article by long-serving officer Lieut-Colonel Lyn Buttar in 2004. We’re reprinting it to offer the same challenge: is The Salvation Army doing all it can to promote mission as a way of life? A few years back, the Territorial Commander asked me to take the spiritual pulse of The Salvation Army in New Zealand. With consultant Graham Millar, I visited three divisions and conducted around 12 small-group meetings with representatives of the territory’s laity, Salvation Army members who were not officers (ministers). One of the questions we posed was, ‘Tell us about your personal sense of ministry and mission in your home, your workplace and your community.’ Some of the responses were alarming. The vast majority interviewed indicated they had always primarily associated the concepts of ‘mission’ and ‘ministry’ with involvement in Salvation Army groups such as bands or songster brigades, or with teaching in children’s programmes such as Sunday school. In other words, participation in Salvation
Army programmes was equated with mission and ministry. Very few of the Salvationists we talked with saw their home, workplace and community as their primary field of mission and ministry. It was the same with each group. One woman told us that while she considered her workplace to be her field of mission, she felt she had never received any sense of affirmation or support for that view from her corps officers throughout the years.
I believe ‘vocational mission’ is the primary and indispensable means of Christian mission. Vocational mission is a way of life. It is Christians living out their daily calling to be Christ’s in their daily life and work. This is not a lifestyle restricted to one segment of the church, such as clergy or elders; neither is it restricted to one arena of life, such as specific church activities.
Some Salvationists maintain that mission and ministry are the specific calling of clergy and not laity, but in the New Testament there is no such distinction. God’s ‘calling’ is for people to accept salvation and new life in Christ. This is the universal vocation for all Christians.
As author Martin Conway writes in The Undivided Vision, ‘Mission is not one task among others; you cannot assign it to a particular committee alongside others dealing with finance, pastoral care and worship, just as you cannot allot it a few hours a week along with others devoted to recreation. It is a dimension of all we are and do.’
As the helpful Salvation Army book Servants Together says: ‘Jesus called his own followers (Mark 1:16–20). He did not call them to any exclusive studies, but to a way of life and an attitude towards life that he demonstrated. Such calling likewise elevated all daily vocations to which people were called, because now there was a recognition that such vocations came from God and could be lived out to the glory of God.’
This is something the institutional church has not emphasised consistently throughout its history. Martin Luther sought to address this same issue when he reminded the Church that ‘all Christians are called first to God and then to daily means of living out one’s faith in the world, in response to God’s love and in service to God’. Luther referred to the distinction between the sacred and the secular in God’s world as ‘pure invention’,
A calling to a new way of life
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and said that ‘all vocations are equally worthy, and all vocations serve the ministry of the church’. Every believer is called to mission and ministry! And if we’re not affirming, reinforcing and supporting this sense of high calling, we are not only denying people a sound understanding of their inestimable privilege and responsibility to ‘be the church’, we’re also decreasing our opportunities for effectively reaching greater numbers for Christ.
EVERY BELIEVER IS CALLED TO MISSION AND MINISTRY! We recommend Christ by our living Christian mission must have at its heart the objective of communicating one central and essential truth: that Christ has come to save and bring everyone into a new relationship with God. God has spoken to this world through his son, Jesus, and we dare not minimise or distort that focus! Whatever our media or modes of mission, whatever trappings or attendant outcomes might quicken our pulse, the central objective of our mission must always be to commend Christ and the full life he offers. I’m not advocating an ‘in your face’ approach to speaking the name of Jesus. Nor should we be constantly straining to perceive and seize opportune moments to preach the Gospel as if this were an unnatural and forced occupation. Instead, our acute consciousness of Jesus as the source and centre of our life will naturally lead us to mention him in our interactions with others. We will speak as easily of Jesus as we do of our spouse, children or very best friend. When this is so, our mission has become vocational, an integral part of who we are as we go about our daily routines. Vocational mission is appropriate for a postmodern age in which there is much scepticism about claims to absolute and objective truth. In today’s society there is a resistance to traditional apologetics with its rational defence of Scripture and also to the instructive voice of logical reasoning. Personal influence and authentic experience of Jesus is therefore essential to connect people with Jesus. 20 WarCry 04 NOVEMBER 2017
When we build quality relationships with those around us we have the opportunity to proclaim the reality and grace of Christ through the credibility of our own lives. We fulfil the Church’s mission and our own vocational mission when our whole life advocates Christ to others.
Christ at work in the world We must not think that we take Christ into the world—he is already there! He is in the church, but he is also in the world. Regardless of what the church is doing or not doing, Christ is already at work ‘out there’. The Great Commission to ‘go into all the world’ does not revolve around the idea of taking Christ to where he is not. It has to do with Christ calling or taking the church to where it is currently absent, or to where it is not already intentionally witnessing. In Yes to Mission by Douglas Webster, R.K. Orchard warns the church and others against seeing Christ as ‘the prisoner of his witnesses … they are witnesses to him, not proprietors of him’. The mission is Christ’s before it is ours, says Orchard. Christ is out there! Before we move into our street, schoolroom or office, he is there. He is already breaking up the fallow ground in human hearts, creating holy discontent and preparing the way for a reception of his truth through obedient Christian ambassadors. In this, we are Christ’s instruments. If more Salvationists could live from this awareness—with their whole lives lived with a sense of a vocational mission— how transforming this would be! And how empowering! I like to imagine us beginning each day and entering each new situation excitedly proclaiming, ‘I’m going into my mission field with Christ who is already there before me, and who will be there with me.’ I concur with author Douglas Webster that no longer can ‘mission’ be a department of the church’s life. Mission must be our ‘central and predominant
concern, every committed Christian seeking [their] own vocation and ministry within the one supreme calling of the church to make Christ fully known in all the world’.
Obstacles to overcome Of course, there are obstacles to mission. And, in my view, these have seriously contended against effective mission —particularly vocational mission—in The Salvation Army. 1. We need greater emphasis on the divine call to vocational mission. In the early Salvation Army, every new convert was briefed and charged to go back to his or her home, workplace and community and ‘proclaim’ by way of a changed or different life and a simple verbal witness that Christ had made a significant difference. Our early converts may not have received a theological exposition on the divine call to vocational mission, but they certainly got a biblical and Salvation Army injunction that was unmistakable. It was ‘saved to save’! This was not an instance of ‘dumbing down’ the Gospel message. The central objective of ‘saved to save’ is clearly to mediate Christ to others. I am not suggesting that Salvationists in general do not understand that they are Christ’s representatives within society. But the evidence indicates we are not sufficiently underscoring the divine call to vocational mission. This call must be set before every Salvationist and each new convert. It must direct our focus, our strategies, and our communications within our movement and without. 2. W e need the correct balance between mission and programme. In my years as a Salvationist, I’ve seen us increasingly move towards a far more programme-oriented mindset. This shift has been subtle and much of our programming has been well intentioned. Some of it has even been directly mission intentional, such as ‘points of entry’ programming, seeker-sensitive
WE WILL SPEAK AS EASILY OF JESUS AS WE DO OF OUR SPOUSE, CHILDREN OR VERY BEST FRIEND. WHEN THIS IS SO, OUR MISSION HAS BECOME VOCATIONAL …
services, Alpha courses, and so on. But my concern is an increasing emphasis on supporting programmes that will ‘do the trick’, rather than an understanding that only an emphasis on vocational mission will position the church at the cutting edge of effectiveness. This emphasis on programme insidiously encourages people to think, ‘All I have to do is invite someone along to Alpha or some other special event’; instead of reinforcing the truth that the primary work of mission is vocational mission. We are to personally assist Christ to influence and change people and institutions ‘out there’ in the world. A programme emphasis leads us to believe our primary purpose is building up corps strength. It is not. 3. We need to be focused on individual worth, not just numerical growth. In these days of challenge to the church, we can fall into the trap of placing undue emphasis on numerical growth as an end in itself, rather than as the means by which people come into relationship with God. I don’t believe God wants us to be continually highlighting the numerical growth or lack of growth of The Salvation Army, or to be unduly concerned about its future security and standing. I believe God wants our primary concern to be for his world and the incomparable worth of each individual in it. Naturally, we cannot be complacent about our lack of converts or spiritual growth. An alive church should be a growing church; if there is no growth we must discover why. But God wants to see our passion, energy and resources focused on our collective and individual mission to the world and its people for their sake, not ours. That’s God’s focus! And when we are committed to vocational mission it is our focus too! What is ‘The Salvation Army’, after all? The Salvation Army is its heart, its spirit, its mission; not its statistical strength or material stature. The Salvation Army’s purpose—its mission to people and society—that’s what we must be concerned about. And if we’re concerned about that, we’re showing concern for the real Salvation Army God raised up. The dynamic of mission can never be strong and pure in the minds and hearts of our soldiery if it comes
from a ‘preservation’ mind-set, rather than from a divine call to ‘rescue the perishing’ for their sake. 4. We need to guard our militant spirit of mission. Both the high regard many have for The Salvation Army and the increasing secularisation of society are a challenge to our militant spirit of mission. The Salvation Army evolved from an apologetically evangelical sect (or order), to a relatively sophisticated denomination now widely accepted and lauded in society. Along the way, a certain cautiousness about bearing Christian witness has gradually developed. Understandably, we don’t want to do or say anything that will negatively impact public regard and support. Consequently, there’s been a strong leaning towards caution and even accommodation over the years. It must be noted that the process of increasing secularisation refers not only to a secularising influence coming from the world to the church, but also from the church to the world. This is driven by a subtle but very real desire to maintain our sophistication and acceptance through an unspoken policy of caution and accommodation. This sociological reality has blunted the edge of dynamic mission throughout The Salvation Army as a whole.
A PROGRAMME EMPHASIS LEADS US TO BELIEVE OUR PRIMARY PURPOSE IS BUILDING UP CORPS STRENGTH. IT IS NOT. Maximise your opportunities! I recall a past territorial commander, Commissioner Alfred J. Gilliard, who came to New Zealand in 1960. He was a studious man and reserved in nature. This, combined with the many responsibilities of his role, could easily have justified his spending much time in his office. Yet the Commissioner was a man who regarded his foremost vocation as a Christian was to be Christ’s ambassador in the world.
Rather than drive to work, he chose to take public transport. This was not time effective, but it was certainly mission effective. He would speak with people that he met each day, forging friendships with them. Commissioner Gilliard’s purpose was to relate to people on the widest scale possible in order to develop relationships that might become bridges to Christ. He chose to extend his boundaries beyond his ‘official’ place of ministry to maximise his opportunities for mission. Taking public transport illustrated his acute awareness that every Christian is called by God to a 24/7 dedication to vocational mission. When we live as the Commissioner did, as called people who have grasped their vocational mission, God will communicate and confirm his reality to those we live and work amongst. We will be salt and light in the world—as Christ intended his church to be!
Mission is not one task among others; you cannot assign it to a particular committee alongside others dealing with finance, pastoral care and worship, just as you cannot allot it a few hours a week along with others devoted to recreation. It is a dimension of all we are and do. Martin Conway, The Undivided Vision
04 NOVEMBER 2017 WarCry 21
OFFICIAL ENGAGEMENTS Commissioners Andy (Territorial Commander) and Yvonne Westrupp (Territorial President of Women’s Ministries) 4–11 November: International Leaders Conference, Pasadena, USA 26–27 November: Fiji Divisional Governance visit 6 December: Territorial Executive Council, Wellington 7 December: Covenant Day, Booth College of Mission 8 December: Territorial Executive Council, Wellington 8 December: Booth College of Mission Graduation, Hutt City Corps 9–10 December: Commissioning Meetings, Wellington City Corps Colonel Suzanne Fincham (Chief Secretary) 19 November: Palmerston North Corps 6 December: Territorial Executive Council, Wellington 7 December: Covenant Day, Booth College of Mission 8 December: Territorial Executive Council, Wellington 8 December: Booth College of Mission Graduation, Hutt City Corps 9–10 December: Commissioning Meetings, Wellington City Corps
PRAY
Tauranga, Taveuni, Tavua, Tawa and Thames Corps; Midland Division; The Salvation Army in Finland and Estonia.
Job Vacancy: Ecumenical Chaplain, Otago Polytechnic The Otago Tertiary Chaplaincy Trust Board is seeking to appoint a full-time ecumenical chaplain based primarily at Otago Polytechnic, Dunedin. The position is open to men and women of Christian faith, lay or ordained. A preference for those working in a tertiary chaplaincy context. Closing date: 10 November. Find out more | www.otago.ac.nz/chaplain, or email David Ojala, Secretary, Otago Tertiary Chaplaincy Trust Board: dojala@xtra.co.nz
Advancing Christ’s Mission in Today’s World Study Full-time or Part-time at Booth College of Mission The Salvation Army’s Booth College of Mission in Upper Hutt helps men and women develop the knowledge, skills, spirit and character to advance the mission of Christ in today’s world.
personal growth and skills for ministries, pastoral care, worship and preaching, spiritual formation and mission.
Study with us to achieve a Diploma of Biblical Studies (DipBS)—a one-year programme (or equivalent part-time) of 120 credits at Level 5 in partnership with Laidlaw College.
Contact Academic Registrar Jehan Fitisemanu: e jehan_fitisemanu@nzf.salvationarmy.org.nz, or p (04) 528 8628.
Talk to us about study options for 2018
www.salvationarmy.org.nz/boothcollege
Select papers from the following fields: biblical studies, Christian thought and history,
Want to Know More? I would like: to learn about who Jesus is information about The Salvation Army The Salvation Army to contact me prayer for the following needs:
Email Address Phone Send to: warcry@nzf.salvationarmy.org or War Cry, PO Box 6015, Marion Square, Wellington 6141
22 WarCry 04 NOVEMBER 2017
With a regular commitment of $30 a month, The Salvation Army can help care for children in need. salvationarmy.org.nz/childsponsorship e: childsponsorship@nzf.salvationarmy.org p: (04) 802 6269
Quiz Answers: 1 Christian Cullen, 2 Sir Topham Hatt, 3 Kāpiti Coast, 4 Sand Cats, 5 Frogs (Exodus 8:5–7).
Name
Cooking with a Tongan Umu
Tonga Kids Camp: God Knows and Loves Us! Our September kids camp in Tonga was all about how God knows everything about us and loves us.
1 Dig a hole in the ground. 2 Build a fire with hot wood and coconut husks—usually men do this while women make the food inside.
Our camp was at a school. Kids and leaders slept on the floor in classrooms and we had a huge field to play sports and games on. In sessions, kids and leaders sang loudly and beautifully about their love for God and about encouraging other followers of God. One day we had a delicious umu for lunch—our food was cooked in an earth oven, like a New Zealand hangi or a Fijian lovo. Yum! We enjoyed a ‘Glorifying Talent’ show, where kids performed, using their gifts and talents to glorify God. We crafted some little books about ourselves and how God knows everything about us—including what makes us happy, worried and scared, and what we love. We loved taking instant photos of ourselves and adding them to the books.
3 Once the fire is burning, add stones and leave to get really hot for 30 to 45 minutes.
THE BEST WAY TO LIVE IS WITH JESUS AT THE CENTRE OF OUR LIVES!
All of us learnt that the best way to live is with Jesus at the centre of our lives. Lots of children prayed and decided to follow God and make Jesus the most important thing in their lives. Awesome! By Hannah Medland (Territorial Children’s Mission Director)
The capital city is Nuk u'al the largest island of To ofa, on ngatapu
Tonga has 170 islands. People live on 36 of these islands.
rmy The Salvation A started work in Tonga in 1986
4 While the fire is burning, cut down banana leaves and put them in the fire to soften. 5 Prepare the lu (umu food). Get taro leaves, top with onion, chopped-up meat, coconut milk and salt, then wrap in the softened banana leaves (or if doing this modern style, use tinfoil). 6 When the fire is ready, remove the burnt wood and put the food in to cook. Start with the slow-cooking food like taro, cassava and yams. Then add fish, Tongan chicken and lu. 7 Cover the umu with large banana leaves, lepo’umu (old rags) and soil so that the food stays hot and steams. 8 When cooked (after an hour or so), remove the soil, rags and banana leaves and share your food with family, neighbours and visitors. 9 Say a prayer before eating to thank God for the delicious food.
n called e t f o is a Tong Islands’ y l d n e i r F ‘The
King Tonga is ruled by Tupou VI
By Filipe Saafi (Youth & Children’s Worker, Tonga)
Ton ga’s is 10 popula 7,12 tion 2
04 NOVEMBER 2017 WarCry 23
Friday 8 December, 7pm
Saturday 9 December, 2.30pm
Sunday 10 December, 10am
BOOTH COLLEGE OF MISSION GRADUATION
COMMISSIONING & ORDINATION SERVICE
Hutt City Corps
Wellington City Corps
Wellington City Corps
Cnr Cornwall St & Kings Cres, Lower Hutt
CELEBRATION SERVICE* 92 Vivian St, Wellington
92 Vivian St, Wellington
*CELEBRATION SERVICE will also include the Territorial Welcome to Colonel Suzanne Fincham (Chief Secretary), Colonel Heather Rodwell (Territorial Secretary for Women's Ministries) and Colonel Melvin Fincham (Territorial Secretary for Programme).