Aggressive Christianity

There are many beloved characters of the Salvation Army's historical narrative, renown for their bold witness and deeply rooted convictions. But among those who have most captivated me is the one whom they call "the Army Mother," Catherine Booth. She was a prolific writer and a compelling voice for the cause for women's rights and the condemnation of alcohol. Her fiery spirit revealed the depravity of men's souls and their desperate need for salvation through faith and obedience to Christ.

One of Catherine's most treasured works among the Salvation Army's collection of inspiring writings was titled, "Aggressive Christianity"; a composite of writings which confronted the pathetic nature of our human depravity, the notorious scheming of the devil and his fallen angels, as well as the unspeakable joy of deliverance that comes through the light of our salvation, Jesus Christ!

But I am afraid the Salvation Army has lost much of its understanding in what kind of holy fire it once possessed in tearing down the gates of hell stationed upon the earth in its day. In a certain light it has tragically become something of a passive remnant of its former glory under the guise of a materialistic charity. But I should like to share some of the words of the Army Mother as a hopeful reminder of our glorious beginnings in the march to make war against hell in the mission to rescue the perishing from eternal damnation.

This is what she said:

"Satan knew what was the secret of the great success of those early disciples. It was their whole-hearted devotion, their absorbing love to Christ, their utter abnegation of the world. It was their entire absorption in the salvation of their fellow men and the glory of their God. It was an enthusiastic religion that swallowed them up, and made them willing to become wanderers and vagabonds on the face of the earth--for His sake to dwell in dens and caves, to be torn asunder, and to be persecuted in every form.

It was this degree of devotion, before which Satan saw he had no chance. Such people as these, he knew, must ultimately subdue the world. It is not in human nature to stand before that kind of spirit, that amount of love and zeal, and if Christians had only gone on as they began long since, the glorious prophecy would have been fulfilled, "The kingdoms of this world" would have "become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ."

Therefore, the arch-enemy said, `What must I do? I shall be defeated after all. I shall lose my supremacy as the god of this world. What shall I do?' No use to bring in a gigantic system of error, which everybody will see to be error. Oh, dear no! That has never been Satan's way; but his plan has been to get hold of a good man here and there, who shall creep in, as the Apostle said, unawares, and preach another doctrine, and who shall deceive, if it were possible, the very elect. And he did it. He accomplished his design. He gradually lowered the standard of Christian life and character, and though, in every revival, God has raised it again to a certain extent, we have never got back thoroughly to the simplicity, purity, and devotion set before us in these Acts of the Apostles and in the Epistles. And just in the degree that it has approximated thereto, in every age, Satan has got somebody to oppose and to show that this was too high a standard for human nature, altogether beyond us, and that, therefore, Christians must sit down and just be content to be "Oh wretched man that I am" people to the end of their days. He has got the Church into a condition that makes one, sometimes, positively ashamed to hear professing Christians talk, and ashamed also, that the world should hear them talk. I do not wonder at thoughtful, intelligent men being driven from such Christianity as this. It would have driven me off, if I had not known the power of godliness. I believe
this kind of Christianity has made more infidels than all the infidel books ever written."

Satan has found the formula that works in driving men mad and sick with rebellion. With each generation that has managed to survive, he has tweaked his strategy and brought about the installation of a massive and powerful delivery system of godlessness through the modern convenience of our computer technology. Endless waves of evil are deposited through the convenient access of social media and entertainment across the globe. If ever there was a time mankind has been enslaved, he has become a slave today in his own lusts for pleasure and comfort.

But let us not lose hope. God is faithful and has called His children out from darkness. In these last days, God is raising up His messengers once again to sound the trumpet in Zion! He has called them to lay down their lives and put on His armor fitted with fearless resolve to charge into the battlefield with the Sword of the Spirit blazing with holy fire! The Word of the LORD is flawless and it cannot be ignored for long before His rebuke is found on the lips of His messengers - warning those who defy Him of His imminent wrath. God's children have been called out as the Light of the World to expose the deeds of darkness wherever they lie.

These are the days of great trial; both for the faithful and for the wicked. Those who ignore His Word will be given over to a hardened heart so they might do what ought not to be done, lest they turn and be forgiven. They have come to put their faith in a false gospel that will lead them to their damnation. They have become coals for the fires of hell that burn with a vengeance from the Eternal God.

Likewise, those who hold firm to the Word of the Lord will be tested by the wicked and their deceptive arts; lashing out in hatred, discord and jealousy because they will not put up with sound doctrine. The irons from the fire will test the hearts of God's children with firebrands of chastisement, hardship, lawsuits, seizures, slander, imprisonment, brutality, and even slaughter. Today is not a day for comfortable Christianity, for what era of human history was there ever a time for such nonsense? No - today is a day for Aggressive Christianity for we have no other option available for our survival! A spirit of revival that tears after the souls of men who wander down the path of destruction, compelling them to turn from sin and learn of the peace God offers only to the penitent heart. These are the days where the faithful will be equally tried by the fire of the Holy Spirit. The passivity of complacent Christianity has only added to the fires that should try the hearts of God's people. But to those who overcome, they will be given the crown of life. Make no mistake!