The Salvation Army has 11 doctrines that are the basis, or summary, of its beliefs. For some, especially those outside the church, doctrines may seem to be nothing more than extremely conservative, harsh statements designed to accept some and bar others from being a part of their religious group. Don’t think of doctrine this way. That’s a ridiculously horrible way to think about it. Doctrines, being a vehicle for us to condense and densify (I just made that word up) our beliefs, are actually meant to be statements of Truth, Reality, Life as it really is.
One of the doctrines of the Army, number 6 to be exact, says “We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, has by His suffering and death, made an atonement for the whole world, so that whosoever will may be saved.”
If some of that seemed to be vaguely familiar, it’s because it’s partly based on one of the most quoted verses ever: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever (or ‘whosoever’) believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Camp out on that word ‘whoever’. It may be hard to really understand the depth of this, but realize that when Christ died, it was for everyone. I know I’ve said this a few months before, but I came to truly realize this when I was driving home on the highway through downtown Chicago. As I was passing all the buildings, the cars, and the hundreds of people all that represented, I was hit with the reality that Jesus died for all of them, not just some of them.
Just as 1 John 2:2 says: “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
The Army’s Handbook of Doctrine points out that because Jesus died for everyone, when need to keep that in mind when we evangelize (Handbook of Doctrine, page 112). In other words, just as Jesus said in Matthew 28, we must go out to the entire world to preach the news that God, through Jesus, has made a way for people to be in right relationship with Him, namely Jesus’ death and resurrection. Keep that in mind as you go and hang out with, well, whoever.