Derelict, defunct or just undevoted?

Most Christians don’t win. They might win occasionally but they don’t win consistently on a daily basis. In spite of a plethora of scriptural promises that ought to ensure that we are ‘more than conquerors’ we continue to experience the occasional lapse (some more than others).

This tendency towards ongoing defeat is true both on a personal basis and also on a corporate basis. Our Corps do not win battles consistently – we win the occasional skirmish – a soul here and a soul there – but as for revival…

The Salvation Army, together with the wider Church, is also prone to defeat, in fact as I consider the performance of individual Christians, Corps and Denominations the phrase ‘could do better’ seems like a massive understatement – at least it does if you make Acts 2 your benchmark.

A quick review of our personal and corporate performance as believers calls to mind the following words…

“We have not served Thee as we ought,
alas, the duties left undone,
the work with little fervor wrought,
the battles lost or scarcely won!”

This lack luster performance bothers me – in my own life it terrifies me. I have enough knowledge of revival and holiness to know that something is seriously out of kilter.

Why are we so familiar, both personally and corporately, with (at best) half hearted victory and (at worst) defeat? Why is it that we seem to have “been made liable to destruction”

In Joshua 7 we see a contest that ought to have been no contest. We see an Army of superior skill, experience and numbers defeated by a substantially inferior enemy. Had this been a game of football the Israelites would have been odds on to win (that is if you could have found a bookie that hadn’t closed his book). Yet the Israelites lost because they had “been made liable to destruction”. If God has made you “liable to destruction” then you are destined to defeat no matter how much the odds appear to be stacked in your favour.

I believe that the Israelites in Joshua 7 are a metaphor for the contemporary western Salvation Army and Achan is symbolic of many contemporary (western) Salvationists. We have “taken some of the devoted things; (we) have stolen, (we) have lied, (we) have put them with (our) own possessions. That is why (we) cannot stand against (our) enemies; (we) turn (our) backs and run because (we) have been made liable to destruction.” Consequently, God “will not be with (us) anymore unless (we) destroy whatever among (us) is devoted to destruction.”

The early Salvationists were very quick to point out that holiness was the secret to their success; they credited holiness as the source of their consistent victory.

Holiness requires a complete surrender of all we have to God. Those things which God has “devoted to destruction” we must give up – that means everything that is sinful and everything that is doubtful. Secondly, we must surrender all that is left to God. This means all our time, talents, money, passion, influence – even our families and personal relationships – everything we have must be fed into our love for God. We must ‘Love the LORD our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength” and the reality of our absolute commitment must be evident to “our children” we must “talk about it when we sit at home and when we walk along the road, when we lie down and when we get up.” They must see, our brothers and sisters in Christ must see and the lost must see that Jesus is not only first and last in our lives but also everything in between.

We must respond to the words of Paul, so ably paraphrased in ‘The Message’…

“So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.”

I have come to the realisation slowly and painfully that have (individually and collectively) been made ‘liable to destruction’. God will not give us victory until we have dealt with the consecrated things we have hidden away in our everyday lives. Perhaps, if you belong to a church other than the Salvation Army, you might need to prayerfully debate what those things are, however if you’re a Salvationist (especially if you’re an Officer) there is no need for a debate for our covenant demands an absolute surrender.

I've been content to dwell,
while multitudes are dying
and sinking into Hell.
I can no more be careless,
and say there's naught to do,
the fields are white to harvest
And labourers are few.

O hear, thou God of Heaven,
the vows that now I make!
to thee my life is given,
'tis for the lost world's sake.
to serve thee I am ready,
though friends and foes despise,
I now present my body
a living sacrifice.

I want this experience for myself, I fed up with occasional failure, fed up with a hit and miss Christianity that sometimes wins but too often loses.

There is obviously no other way to secure victory than to give God everything - so by his grace that is what I am going to do – no – that is what I am doing from this moment on. I give everything to God. I refuse to be held back any longer by those who say that such a commitment is unreasonable, old fashioned or no longer required. I want to see revival (both in me and around me) I want to see Dartford on fire, I want to see my Corps explode like a scatter bomb of fruitful evangelism – not only successful where it is but also planting cells and outposts in other places too!

I want this, God wants this and he has promised that I will be ‘more than conqueror’ – if I pay the price.

By his grace I will – God help me!

Hallelujah!