I say this simply because there is a strong emphasis on a form of outreach that is centred on 'Social Action' first and foremost, and I believe that many Salvationists focus on this and forget about the power of the gospel to change hearts, focusing on changing peoples' outward conditions.
The acid test:
The
supreme test of any scheme for benefiting humanity lies in the answer
to the question, What does it make of the individual? Does it quicken
his conscience, does it soften his heart, does it enlighten his mind,
does it, in short, make more of a true man of him, because only by
such influences can he be enabled to lead a human life? Among the
denizens of Darkest England there are many who have found their way
thither by defects of character which would under the most favourable
circumstances relegate them to the same position. Hence, unless you
can change their character your labour will be lost. You may clothe
the drunkard, fill his purse with gold, establish him in a
well-furnished home, and in three, or six, or twelve months he will
once more be on the Embankment, haunted by delirium tremens, dirty,
squalid, and ragged. Hence, in all cases where a man's own character
and defects constitute the reasons for his fall, that character must
be changed and that conduct altered if any permanent beneficial
results are to be attained. If he is a drunkard, he must be made
sober; if idle, he must be made industrious; if criminal, he must be
made honest; if impure, he must be made clean; and if he be so deep
down in vice, and has been there so long that he has lost all heart,
and hope, and power to help himself, and absolutely refuses to move,
he must be inspired with hope and have created within him the
ambition to rise; otherwise he will never get out of the horrible
pit.
Food banks, take note:
The
thing to be noted in all these cases is that it was not the mere
feeding which effected the result; it was the combination of the
feeding with the personal labour for the individual soul. Still, if
we had not fed them, we should never have come near enough to gain
any hold upon their hearts. If we had merely fed them, they would
have gone away next day to resume, with increased energy, the
predatory and vagrant life which they had been leading. But when our
feeding and Shelter Depots brought them to close quarters, our
officers were literally able to put their arms round their necks and
plead with them as brethren who had gone astray. We told them that
their sins and sorrows had not shut them out from the love of the
Everlasting Father, who had sent us to them to help them with all the
power of our strong Organisation, of the Divine authority of which we
never feel so sure as when it is going forth to seek and to save the
lost.
The work of the gospel:
1.
The foundation of all the Army's success, looked at apart from its
divine source of strength, is its continued direct attack upon those
whom it seeks to bring under the influence of the Gospel. The
Salvation Army Officer, instead of standing upon some dignified
pedestal, to describe the fallen condition of his fellow men, in the
hope that though far from him, they may thus, by some mysterious
process, come to a better life, goes down into the street, and from
door to door, and from room to room, lays his hands on those who are
spiritually sick, and leads them to the Almighty Healer. In its forms
of speech and writing the Army constantly exhibits this same
characteristic. Instead of propounding religious theories or
pretending to teach a system of theology, it speaks much after the
fashion of the old Prophet or Apostle, to each individual, about his
or her sin and duty, thus bringing to bear upon each heart and
conscience the light and power from heaven, by which alone the world
can be transformed.
