Legacy Of A Leader

Today, as I gathered with a crowd of Salvationists at the Melbourne Town Hall to celebrate the life of General Eva Burrows, the following exhortation by the writer to the Hebrews who gave testimony to a long list of men and women of faith resonated deep within my spirit...

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith."

I was indeed among a "great cloud of witnesses" on this historic occasion giving testimony to a faithful woman of God and extraordinary world leader who "[ran] with perseverance the race marked out for [her], fixing [her] eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of [her] faith."

 

The Lord Mayor of Melbourne gave witness to a recipient of a Companion of the Order of Australia who loved and served the most vulnerable people of our city in her retirement.

The Corps Officer of Melbourne 614 gave witness to the then territorial leader of the Australia Southern Territory who spoke words of encouragement into his life as a young man.

The current Territorial Commander gave witness to a spiritual leader whose life conviction and theme was in everything for Christ to have supremacy.

The current General of The Salvation Army gave witness to a courageous and compassionate leader who was equally comfortable talking with world leaders and walking with common people, earning her the affectionate title 'the people's general'.

As one among many, I add my voice as a witness to the legacy of a leader who encouraged a 12 year old boy by signing my Bible while visiting my home Corps when she was a Commissioner and who believed in the vision of a Corps Officer by endorsing my book as a retired General.

“You must read this book. It is alive with the Spirit of God sweeping through a group of believers from many churches who united together in response to a vision of what God could accomplish through prayer. They discovered the mighty, transforming power of prayer for themselves and for others. It’s like a scene from the book of Acts, but set in a modern suburb in South Australia, and alight with the same fire-power and faith to achieve wonders in His name.” - General Eva Burrows AC (Rtd), Former International Leader of The Salvation Army

The years in between these two encounters have given me a vision of Salvation Army Officership that personified a shared covenant of those "Called by God to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ...to love, trust and serve Him supremely all my days; to live to win souls and make their salvation the first purpose of my life; to maintain the doctrines and principles of The Salvation Army and, by God's grace to prove myself a worthy officer."

 

Transformed Worldview

I read a statement this week that was a powerful reminder of why Christians are called to share the Gospel: "The Gospel is intended to influence and change people at the deepest possible level - the worldview level." 

Accompanied with a previous statement by the same author - "A people's worldview provides them with a lens, model, or map in terms of which reality is perceived and interpreted" - the mission of the Church is crystalised! 

We are called to share a message of good news that transforms the hearts and minds of people towards a kingdom worldview, whereby their reality is seen through the eyes of God who "so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).  Such a transformed worldview provides a vision of a redeemed reality where despair is turned to hope, sorrow to joy, oppression to freedom, death to life!

Therefore, "let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story..." (Psalm 107:2)

Quotes by Charles H. Kraft, Anthropology For Christian Witness, Orbis Books 2011

Testimony Of Faith

Tonight, I was granted the privilege of witnessing the testimony of faith of a very close friend who has recently committed his life to Christ.  Our lives intersected 16 years ago during my first appointment as a Salvation Army Officer.  We became good friends and developed a mutual respect for each other despite the differences between our faith perspectives and worldviews.  Through the years of our friendship I have unapologetically lived out my faith but have given Holy Spirit space to speak into the life of my friend through the integrity of our friendship.  This has been a shared journey of faith with other mutual friends who have also bore witness to the love of Christ and have equally invested into this friendship.  God's faithfulness, authentic relationships and consistent witness have played a significant role in this life submitting to Jesus Christ!

Words cannot adequately express the joy I felt tonight hearing this testimony of faith together with another couple who have shared a part of this journey!  My friend's new commitment to Jesus has reinforced what I consider to be fundamental elements in any faith journey:

Universality of the Spirit - Holy Spirit is already at work in the hearts and minds of unbelievers, leading them towards a revelation of Jesus Christ.

Authentic Relationships - Relationships must be real and not conditional upon a commitment of faith, nor should people be treated as an evangelical project.

Consistent Witness - It is true that actions speak louder than words.  There must be an alignment between the way we live and what we profess.

Persistent Prayer - Don't give up praying for those whom God has placed on your heart. God is faithful and it is His will that none be lost (John 6:39).

Shared Journey - Never underestimate the role you play in a person's faith journey!  You may not be the one to lead them across the line of salvation, but your influence may advance their journey toward that commitment.

Doing Church Or Being The Church?

The community I live in recently presented the local churches with an interesting challenge when the city council changed the day of the community Christmas pageant from a Saturday morning to a Sunday morning.  This clash with traditional Sunday worship times was further complicated because, for the past 6 years, the combined churches were the organisers of an after-pageant BBQ immediately following this community event.

What was interpreted as an afront to the Church, provoked passionate discussion at our Minister's Fellowship meeting where we debated the council's motive and the churches response.  Does the church close ranks and protect our worship time, protest the decision, boycott the event, come to some sort of compromise or maintain our involvement?  What reaction is the council expecting?  What will best glorify God? 

As you can imagine there was an equal tension between wanting to make a clear statement about the value of Sunday worship by not compromising the priority of "doing church" and wanting to maintain an active witness by keeping Christ in a community Christmas event by "being the church".  Some viewed this as a threat to the church, while others viewed it as an opportunity for the church. Who is right, who is wrong?

After much discussion and prayer between the churches and within our respective congregations, the outcome was that three churches chose to see this as an opportunity and take "church" to the streets and continue to serve our community.  We believed that God was best glorified not by retreating but by reaching out.  We felt it was more important to bless our community than our congregations.  We wanted to defy the religious expectations of Christians by giving a relational testimony to Christ.

In the context of this event, I don't think that it is any cooincidence that I read the following statement by Andy Stanley about the church this week: "If the church is God's primary vehicle for dispensing the message of grace, then the local church is clearly not for church people.  It's for everybody."  This ethos of the church is further supported by Erwin McManus, as quoted by Craig Groeschel, “When have we forgotten that the church doesn’t exist for us? We are the church and we exist for the world.”

While I still hold Sunday worship as a high value, I am more concerned about being the church than doing church!

Your Giving Will Be A Great Help And Encouragement To Others

40 Day Spiritual Journey to a More Generous Life
Day 30 - Your Giving Will Be A Great Help And Encouragement To Others
 

"You are the light of the world...let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."  (Matthew 5:14-16)    

As a leader, I am very aware that the way I live out my faith has an enormous influence on others.  This is also true for anyone who bears the name of Christ, as our lives are a testimony to God's goodness.  When we are generous, we testify to a generous God, which encourages others to see and respond to God's generosity also.