The Salvation Army In The 21st Century: Five Battlefronts We Face

God is on the move! As we rally in The Salvation Army to build our base of soldiers, to enlist troops to fight on the frontlines of the battlefields of this world, with the cross of Jesus Christ as our banner, we gather our troops, across the frontlines of the salvation war, gathered in foxholes and firing lines and strongholds, scouting out the battlefields in front of us. We fight many internal and external battles as salvationists. Let us consider how we march forward into this difficult world, that seems to be growing darker, more depraved, and more divided by the day. I see five key battlefronts for us in the salvation war. The first two issues are internal and the second two issues are external. The fifth issue is both internal and external.

The first issue we as Christian salvationists ought to address is gossip and social media use in The Salvation Army. Gossip is a danger for any church movement. It can be quite common, and difficult to deal with. It often means slander and hatred are able to spread and cause divisions. Gossip is clearly viewed as a sin in the word of God. Even if we don't like someone, or what someone stands for, we should never spread gossip or slander about that person. Even if we think we're "speaking the truth." Often times we think we're speaking the truth, but we're really simply spreading rumors and gossip. I myself have been the target of gossip and rumors, and slander, often by people I don't even know in The Salvation Army world. That's very disappointing.

And yes, I've at times spread gossip and rumors when I shouldn't have, about people I maybe didn't agree with about certain things. I may have comforted myself that I was standing up for biblical truth, or standing against hatred. But if I'm honest with myself, I was spreading slander about people I was angry with, because we have different opinions. I'm going to challenge myself to discontinue that sort of unhelpful gossip.

Additionally, are we obeying Romans chapter 13, to be submitting to our leaders? I had to challenge myself in that area, to make sure I'm appropriately submitting to my leaders, even if I may disagree with them on certain things. As long as it's not a gospel issue, I should lovingly submit to my leaders. If it is a gospel issue (biblical truth is at stake in a primary way) then I ought to kindly and lovingly raise my concerns with my leaders.

Social media has really been a great tool for spreading the gospel in the 21st century. It's absolutely essential that The Salvation Army continues to utilize social media to spread the word of God and the love of Christ! But we must be careful about how we go about doing that. We should always do that with love and gentleness, while also speaking plain biblical truth, without cowering to culture. That is a careful balance to walk.

Social media should never be used as a tool to bludgeon those we disagree with ideologically, religiously or politically. And if we find something objectionable posted by someone, we ought to practice the biblical pattern of conflict resolution found in Matthew chapter 18. We ought to contact that person directly, over phone or direct message, to deal with them directly. If we are unable to work things out that way, only then should we contact our leaders to bring our concerns to our leaders. And we should never gang up on a person, and create a sort of "cancel mob" to try to harm someone. That is not biblical Christianity. That is not Christ-like love. Go directly to the person. If that doesn't work, go to leadership. But don't generate a public scene. That only hurts people and hurts the organization as a whole. Speak truth in love on social media, it is a great tool, but be careful with it. I myself have in the past been too bold on social media, too intense, and I had to change my approach to social media use to make sure I was keeping a holy balance between grace and truth. There's nothing wrong with seeing a problem and making a change. We should all be lifelong learners.

The second issue we as salvationists should address is the growing ideological divide between urban corps and medium/small town corps. It's no secret that our country, in the USA, is more divided politically, ideologically, and culturally than ever before. Increasingly we see a divide in our society between the beliefs of urban big city areas and small and medium sized towns across the country, and of course in the Midwest. That divide found in society often replicates itself in the church. And we often see very different perspectives on life, culture, politics, ideology, and religion depending on our own viewpoints.