EphesiansFour12 in Words

Who Is Speaking Into Your Life?

Coming home from an inspiring Men's Retreat gives you much to reflect upon after sitting under godly leadership and enjoying the fellowship of other like-minded men!

The theme of the retreat was "Only Men Aloud", a clever play on words that focused on men finding and using their voices to speak out as anointed men of God.  Guest leader Commissioner Floyd Tidd spoke from the book of Acts to draw on the lives of three men whose relationships with God and each other encourage us to find and nurture "solid brotherly relationships" that speak into our lives.

Based on the three men identified in Acts, we have a pattern for three key relationships we need in our lives...

1.  Paul is the one who is a couple of steps ahead of you - a MENTOR

2.  Barnabas is the one who walks alongside you - an ENCOURAGER

3.  Timothy is the one whose life you are investing into - a PROTEGE

After examining the influence of these three men, the questions were asked, "Who is your Paul?  Who is your Barnabas?  Who is your Timothy?

As I reflect on my spiritual and leadership journey, I am immensely grateful for the key people who have influenced my life, investing in my growth and development.  I am also humbled by the opportunity I have to influence the lives of others, investing into their journey.  Therefore, in the wake of the Men's Retreat I thought it appropriate to honour those who are a Paul to me, encourage those who are my Barnabas, and affirm my commitment to those who are a Timothy in my life today.

1.  Paul (Mentor/s)

There are people whom I consider to be a mentor from afar - Bill Hybels, Patrick Lencioni, John Maxwell, Wayne Cordeiro, Andy Stanley, Erwin McManus, among others, whose writing, speaking and example has provided me with a significant platform of learning for my development as a leader and maturity as a Christian.

Then there are people with whom I meet in person formally or informally from time to time - Pastor Danny Guglielmucci, Pastor Michael Grechko, Majors Len & Marney Turner, Major Sam Hancock.  Their godly and wise leadership teaches and challenges me to become a better leader.

2.  Barnabas (Encouragers)

The people who journey alongside me and I them are a few colleagues and friends with a shared vision and heart for mission and leadership - Major Andrew Craib, Major Gary Grant, Major Nyoman Timonuli, Loren Pratt.

The other people in my life who are very much encouragers for me and whose support and friendship I deeply value - Ian Abbott, Mark Creasey, Chris Garcia.

The person who has and continues to fulfill both roles of Paul and Barnabas for me is my dad - Robert Evans Snr.

And the most significant person in my life who is always alongside me is my wife and partner in ministry - Vanessa Evans.

3.  Timothy (Proteges)

Within my current ministry appointment I have responsibility for the discipleship and development of the next generation of leaders in our church through a program called Corps Cadets - Rebekah Evans, Adam Evans, Jessica Whittaker, Emily Simmonds, Cassie Simmonds, Luke Barratt, Caitlin Barratt, Danielle McMahon, Cassie Janssen, Michaela Dinas. I also fulfil my leadership mantle to "equip the people of God for the work of the ministry" by mentoring and coaching those on our current leadership and ministry teams.

There have been way too many others from previous appointments to name whom I have had the privilege to nurture in their faith journey and invest into their leadership and ministry development. It gives me incredible joy to play a small part in the growth and development of another person.

Such a reflection exercise is a strong reminder of how important godly relationships are in our journey of faith!  I am largely the person I am today because of the people who enlarge me, encourage me and entrust me with a part of their journey.

Who is speaking into your life?

Who is your Paul?  Who is your Barnabas?  Who is your Timothy?

Adopting A Posture Of Learning

After 17 years of full time ministry one of the things I still get excited about is the continual pathway of learning that is expanding my heart and mind with new paradigms of thinking while stretching me with new experiences as I integrate what I learn into my leadership and ministry.

In my current unit of study I read a quote, in the context of language and cross-cultural witness, that aptly describes Christian discipleship:

"Christianity is so well demonstrated by those who take a learning posture." - Charles H. Kraft

A disciple is postured as a life-long learner

A disciple is submitted to the teaching of Holy Spirit

A disciple is committed to becoming like Jesus Christ

A disciple is determined to pursue the will of God

By adopting a posture of learning we engage in a journey of transformation and growth that not only changes us, but changes others when our learning becomes a shared experience.  I had a leader from my previous church once say to me mid semester, "We get the best of both worlds.  We get to learn from what you are studying without having to do all the reading!"  This was a real time affirmation that my posture of learning is about way more than earning a degree, but about making disciples and developing leaders.  In fact, my posture of learning is putting skin on my leadership platform - "to equip the people of God to do the work of the ministry to build up the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12).

John Maxwell teaches why a posture of learning is so important, “Your leadership, if it is not continually growing, can be a lid to the potential of your people. Why? Because you teach what you know, but you reproduce what you are. You can’t give people what you do not have. If you want to increase the potential of your team, you need to keep growing yourself.”  

How much more is this true for making disciples and growing the church?!

Radical Discipleship

At our church we are currently exploring clearer discipleship pathways to effectively equip people on a faith journey to discover what it means to live as a Christ follower and how to fully engage in Christ's mission on earth as a part of His Church.

In our context of The Salvation Army, this discussion has an added dimension to explore, as we also evaluate the relationship between DISCIPLESHIP (a Biblical imperative) and SOLDIERSHIP (a Salvation Army distinctive).  Are they interchangeable terms in a Salvation Army context?  If so, does that mean soldiership is the primary pathway for discipleship?  If not, what's the difference and what are the options?  What makes this part of the discussion interesting is that there seems to be no uniform definition of what a Soldier is, nor a consistency in the preparation material used to prepare people for such a commitment.  

In order of date of publication, here are just some of the diverse definitions of soldiership and descriptions of being a "Salvationist" I found from various Salvation Army sources:

"To be effective, the warriors of the Cross must be more than saints; they must be soldier-saints!...We are a Salvation people - this is our speciality - getting saved and keeping saved and then getting somebody else saved." - William Booth, Salvationist, January & February 1879.  

"My comrades, you must answer in purpose and character to the name of the great Salvationist.  You must have the self-sacrificing soul-seeking spirit of Jesus Christ, or you are none of His...You are to be a redeemer, a saviour, a copy of Jesus Christ Himself.  So wake up all the powers of your being and consecrate every awakened power to the great end of saving your fellow-men.  Be a Salvationist!" - William Booth, 1879.

"The Salvationist is a soldier, an idea purely scriptural.  'Fight the good fight,' Paul commanded Timothy (1 Timothy 6:12) and congratulated himself on having 'fought a good fight' (2 Timothy 4:7).  We are soldiers in an Army committed to soul-winning.  Every soldier is , therefore, an evangelist at all times, in all places." - Preparation for Soldiership, 1956.

"A Soldier of The Salvation Army is a person who knows Christ as his/her personal Saviour; who believes in the Army's purposes, standards, and doctrines; who has signed the Articles of War, and who has then been duly and properly enrolled as a Soldier under the Flag." - Manual of Salvationism, 1968.

"No one is a full member of The Salvation Army who has not been enrolled and sworn-in as a soldier of a corps." - Chosen To Be A Soldier, 1977.

"Having accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord, and desiring to fulfil my membership of His Church on earth as a soldier of The Salvation Army, I now by God's grace enter into a sacred covenant." - Articles of War (A Soldier's Covenant), 1989.

"We call Salvationists worldwide to recognise that the swearing-in of soldiers is a public witness to Christ's command to make disciples and that soldiership demands ongoing radical obedience.  We affirm that Jesus Christ stills calls men and women to take up their cross and follow him.  This wholehearted and absolute acceptance of Christ as Lord is a costly discipleship.  We hear our Lord's command to make disciples, baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  We believe that soldiership is discipleship and that the public swearing-in of a soldier of The Salvation Army beneath the Army's Trinitarian flag fulfils this command.  It is a a public response and witness to the life-changing encounter with Christ which has already taken place, as is the believers' water baptism practiced by some other Christians." - Robert Street, Called To Be God's People, 1999. 

"Soldier preparation classes are our form of discipleship and the soldier's covenant is our form of baptism and membership." - Geoff Ryan, Sowing Dragons, 2001.

"Salvation Army church members are known as soldiers.  Soldiers worship at their local Corps (church) and may wear a uniform." - Adherent Membership Leader's Manual, 2007.

"Salvation Army soldiership is about developing warriors in the mode of Jesus Christ with the DNA of William & Catherine Booth; people converted, consecrated, and commissioned to declare war on the kingdom of darkness, wherever it may be found." - Salvationism 101, 2008.

"There is no question that one of the distinctives of the Army's identity is soldiership.  We are called to be "a good soldier of Jesus Christ," as the Apostle Paul put it to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:3.  This is a radical call to action against the enemy of our souls, not passive church membership.  We need soldiers of Jesus Christ fully engaged in the battle." - Lt Col James Condon, Pipeline, January 2009.

"Soldier:  A person who is 'converted', i.e. came to faith in Jesus Christ.  Soldiers must be at least 14 years of age and meet with the approval of the census board.  They are sworn-in after signing the articles of war." - http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/en/Who-We-Are/About-Us/glossary-of-terms/, 2012-2013.

"Soldiership in The Salvation Army is about choosing to make a covenant with God; a promise to fulfil God’s work without distraction, to live by the beliefs, values, and mission of The Salvation Army, and to live a life of personal holiness and devotion to God." - http://my.salvos.org.au/get-involved/membership/soldiership/, 2013.

Despite the diversity of thought among these individual descriptions, they collectively capture common themes that gives us some insight into the etymology of a soldier:  Conversion to Christian faith, focus on evangelism and salvation, a consecrated life of holiness and sacrifice, radical expression of discipleship, call to action, covenant relationship, fully engaged member, spiritual warrior.  

Scripture describes a disciple as a 'follower' (Matthew 16:24) and a 'student' (Philippians 4:9) whose purpose is to become like their 'teacher' (Luke 6:40) in thought, word and deed (John 13:13-17) and to fulfill His mission to reproduce 'disciples' (Matthew 28:19-20).  

When you bring these two descriptions together, you get a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ who is fully committed to Christ's mission and fully armed and engaged in the spiritual battle against the forces of darkness.  A soldier, therefore, is a disciple who enlists in The Salvation Army and embraces a covenant relationship to sacrificially engage in a radical mission for the salvation of the whole world!  Soldiership is a brand of discipleship that gives a unique expression to a common calling shared by all believers.  

While we continue to explore and discover effective discipleship pathways for our church, a redefinition of this unique expression of being a disciple in The Salvation Army challenges us to rediscover soldiership as a relevant and radical form of discipleship to advance our "saved to save" mission today.  The journey continues...


Published in February/March 2014 edition of JAC:  Journal of Aggressive Christianity
A modified version published in 26th July 2014 Onfire Magazine as - Who Wouldn't Be A Soldier?