There is a thin line between cult and covenant says Joe Noland
I refer specifically to his July 5, 2009 post
and comment on George Scott Railton’s instruction over at ArmyBarmy Blog - www.armybarmy.com:
“I intend carefully to instruct my children that if at any
time they see The Salvation Army a wealthy, respectable concern, the majority
of whose “soldiers” simply go where they please to attend its’ “ministrations,”
leaving the godless undisturbed to perish; and if they see another set of
people, however they may be clothed or despised, who really give up all to go
and save the lost, then they must not for a moment hesitate to leave the concern
their poor old dad helped to make, and go out amongst those who most faithfully
carry out what the founder of the Army laid down in his writings and acts, may
God preserve them from such a day by keeping the Army free from the love of
money and ease” - George Scott Railton, An Autobiography, Full Salvation, Jan.
1, 1894.
I’m OK with Court’s comments up until he
writes, “Covenant demands it” (that they don’t leave). I’m not sure what
covenant he signed, but the one I signed at the altar, on my knees, June 1965,
had only one clause in it that concluded with the phrase, “all my days,” and
that was “to love and serve him supremely.” Mine did not say additionally, “as
a Salvation Army Officer.”
Now I made the choice “to love and serve him
supremely all my days” as a Salvation Army Officer. Technically, even in
retirement I am still an officer, even though I am now loving and serving him
through a non-Salvation Army medium - a faith-based Film Production Company: www.hallowedgroundproductions.com.
Another retired Army officer friend is pastoring a church in another
denomination, but technically he is still an officer. So the covenant line
blurs a little bit here, doesn’t it?
On the other hand, I have other former officer
friends who have left the Army, but are still “loving and serving him all my
days,” only in another evangelical venue. Honestly, have they really broken
their covenant?
Now, I am in agreement with Court’s statement,
“to stay in and fight and transform the movement so that God could optimise its
potential again.” I would have probably added the words, “where possible.” In
fact, I made that choice, even when there was reason and good opportunity
presented to do otherwise. Obviously, historically, if others had made this
same choice with their denominations, we wouldn’t have some of the great
evangelical movements available to us today, the Protestant Reformation and TSA
notwithstanding. Don’t bother to set me straight on this; I know all the
arguments, and would even be so bold to suggest that sometimes “Covenant
Demands It!”
I have written previously, “There is a thin
line between cult and covenant” and we should always carefully and prayerfully
divine the difference. For me, personally, my covenant is with God, contracted
to love and serve him supremely” through TSA…until, when and if he decides to
call me elsewhere. For the moment, with Steve, I prefer to stand fast, “fight
and transform the movement within.”
Writer:
Commissioner Joe Noland’s ministry can be summed up in three words: chaos,
creativity and controversy - three elements implicit in any successful innovative
endeavor. Cecil B. DeMille, renowned producer of Biblical epics, once wrote,
“Creativity is a drug I cannot live without.” Joe’s mantra reads, “Creativity
is my drug of choice.” Access Joe Noland’s complete bio, among other
things, by clicking into his website.
