The UK Salvation Army has gone "I'll Fight" crazy.
Excitement is stirring towards the I'll fight Congress next year.
Let's remind ourselves of the word that the founder William Booth delivered to salvationists in his last ever sermon at the Albert Hall London.
While women weep as they do now, i'll fight.
While children go hungry as they do now. i'll fight.
While men go to prison, in and out, in and out, i'll fight.
while there is a drunkard left, while there is a lost girl upon the streets, while there is one dark soul without the light of God, i'll fight. i'll fight to the very end.
So let's put this in perspective for a second.
This is absolutely no little Salvation Army ditty that sounds good in a song or some play on some platform somewhere.
This is massively prophetic.
It is a timeless word that deals directly with the end game, the reason, and the mission of the Salvation Army.
It is as fresh now as it was when it flowed from Booth's beard surrounded mouth.
And listen, he was the visioner, the initiator, the courageous freedom fighter, that started it all, as God worked his wonder working power right through his being.
Its a statement of justice for the poor, freedom for the captives, a communal ground for the lost and the lonely, it is a declaration of the will to succeed for the kingdoms sake.
It is an invitation for every salvationist that ever lived, or will live, to direct every ounce of energy to saving a dying world. To give everything to release those who are trapped, to bring liberation to the unfree, to bring the healing of Jesus to the sick. To befriend the friendless and the lonely, to stand alongside the poor and live out the power of the gospel.
It is a statement that says put every other thing aside that is useless to the kingdom and bring the amazing love of Jesus through the Holy Spirit to a world that desperately needs him.
While we are focussing on this statement it is a good time to take a long hard look at ourselves and give ourselves an honest answer. Is this the Army we belong to?
A few days ago I sat with the friend of a homeless guy who had just died alone in a bus shelter in the centre of the City. He is homeless himself, and on this day he was drunk. As we talked, lots of other homeless guys came in and I was amazed how they each brought him things. Food, clothes, books, chocolate. They hugged him and cried with him.
And I thought.
This was the most amazing demonstration of kingdom values being shared that I think I am ever likely to see.
They were fighting for their brother.
So here is the thing.
How prepared to fight are we?
I want to ask that again.
How prepared to fight are we?
As we gear up to expore the i'll fight word, let's check ourselves, are we really prepared to fight for the very lives that walk this broken earth?
If we are not, if excuses surface, if duty has to be done before the fight starts, if business and strategy and finance takes priority, if our doors are closed to the outcast, if prayer is way down the pecking order, if the prophetic are shut down, if risk takers are stifled?
Then we can say with honesty that we really are finished.
Lord bless us. Ignite our passion for the lost.
Put a fighting Spirit in our bellies.
So we can fight to the very end.
