Others

The other weekend I was away at an annual Salvation Army conference (Roots). The theme for the weekend was "Others" - inspired by a telegram sent by the Army's founder, William Booth, urging the Church to be living for "the last, the lost and the least".

There was so much that challenged me over the weekend; how the term "neighbour" isn't selective; how the church should be more about joining in than joining up, and how it should be the only organisation to exist for the benefit of its non-members. Something that was spoken about a number of times was the need for us to be building quality, non-judgemental relationships within our community.

Recently I've really been struggling with my calling. I know that my call is to "the last, the lost and the least", and I'm fine with that...thats what my passion is. But I've been thinking about how much crap and politics there is within the Church today and that isn't my calling and I don't want to be remotely involved with it because it hinders the work of the gospel. And yet I'm reminded to think back to the Roots weekend...so called because it's a time to urge the Salvation Army to go back to its roots; of reaching out to the last/lost/least by any means possible and share with them the love and saving grace of God. Back in its early days, Salvationists faced massive opposition when going about their work, yet they pressed on. That must therefore also be part of my calling...regardless of whether the opposition is from outside or within the Church, to "press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me" (Philippians 3:12).

I'll write in more detail about some of the things we were challenged on once I've finished and handed in a big project I'm working on at the moment (on thursday). Until then...stay blessed...