A few weeks ago a Soldier from my corps went to the altar to pray. I consider this Soldier a friend, a true comrade in the fight. He has encouraged and sharpened me many times with his quiet testimony and faith. I was compelled to pray for him so I walked over and knelt and began to quietly solicit the Lord beside him. While I was praying I heard him whisper, “I’m sorry I put down your cross. Please put it back where it belongs. I will carry it again.”
Three years ago, on Easter, he stood before our congregation and publicly claimed Galatians 2:19-20 as his own:
For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
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A few Sunday’s ago we had the most impressive Senior Soldier Enrollment I have ever seen; four men and two women were enrolled underneath the Army flag. What was impressive about the group was the look on their face, a look that publicly proclaimed “I know what I’m getting myself into—and knowing—I make this covenant to seek souls and oppose Satan.” It was a great look. They stood, they smiled, they saluted, they prayed, they signed.
When the ceremony ended my Soldier-friend (who I had prayed with the week before) marched to the front of the chapel. The congregation was stirred with fluttering programs, head turns and whispers. I realized that this was an unexpected change to our usual Sunday worship. He had a golf bag slung around his shoulder.
He told us that he was not giving a testimony but rather sharing a confession. He leaned the golf bag against the altar and pulled out an oversized, aluminum driver. He stared at the club and shared his heart. He told us how much he loved golf, how he obsessed over the sport, how he would stay up until 1am to watch Tiger Woods finish a round somewhere in Asia. He looked at the crowd––as if looking in a mirror––and said that he loved golf more than Jesus. He said that he put down the cross that he publicly claimed three years ago and put a golf bag in its place.
He read 1 John 1:5-10:
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
Then he read the 9th Doctrine of The Salvation Army:
“We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ.”
He gave Glory to God for picking him up a third time and for putting His cross where it belonged.
He looked at the clubs and said, “I am dead to these.”
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This is Primitive Salvationism.
Youth Department