When the term “Christian” is used, it conjures up different images ranging from the shoeless, homeless man on the street holding a hand-made cardboard sign to the Mega-church preacher in his $3000 suit, driving around town in a Cadillac to Mother Theresa quietly serving in the streets of Calcutta to the loud and often obnoxious guy with the bullhorn loudly condemning everyone to hell on the streets of downtown on a Friday night.

As the word “Christian” brings many different images to mind, so does the term “Salvationist.”
Some think of the good old days, replete with brass bands, flags and open air meetings. Then there are the Primitive Salvationists, the Neo-Salvationists, the Liberal Salvationists, the Conservative Salvationists and the images of establishment and abundance at various Temples and Citadels and Tabernacles even juxtaposed with the contextual poverty of the 614’s and NEO’s.

Are such labels a bad thing? “Why can’t we just remove the adjective and call ourselves simply Salvationists?”, some say. But I’m not so sure we can. In a Movement (another label) as large as ours, in as many different countries and cultures, led by a new and different personality every three years or so, the word we place before the term “Salvationist” often helps more than it harms. In this case, the adjective is a good thing.

The adjective prefacing “Salvationist”, that I have been thinking about lately, is “Emergent.” Much is being said of late around the idea of the Emergent Church and Emergent Christians. Standard bearers such as Brian McClaren and Shane Claiborne and others seem to have started that conversation and many of the people in my life are involved in it.

What can be said of an Emerging Salvationism? Or of an Emergent Salvationist?
Do Primitive- or Neo- Salvationists get the last or, for that matter, the next word as it relates to the future of The Salvation Army?

Can a new movement of Salvationists rise up, take the wheel of the ship, and say, “We are not letting you steer us toward the iceberg any longer!”

But is there an iceberg? Is anybody even driving the ship?

It seems to me there are a lot of people jumping off into life rafts, and it is the thought of friends of mine jumping off that is keeping me awake at night. You know people like them - attracted to Jesus and to the Mission of the Army, but feel there is no room for them in what is commonly called ‘The Salvation Army’ unless they also swallow a lot of additional stuff they have no interest in or connection with. And I’m not even talking essential stuff here, but rather doctrinal and traditional distinctives, fine print added to the bottom of the contract of serving God through our mission.

Perhaps they simply need someone to say to them, “Don’t leave! Don’t give up! Don’t head to the nearest non-denominational church! There’s room for you at the Army!” But maybe I am wrong. Maybe I’m too idealistic. Maybe I am simply naïve. Maybe it is simply not true to tell my friends who are considering leaving the Army that there is room for them. The reality is that far too often, there is not.

The Salvation Army in my neck of the woods is often coolly unconcerned about people who are about to leave, or about newcomers and outsiders who feel unwelcome. Personally I have no desire to disturb that part of the Army in any way. But as someone once wrote: “One doesn’t want to disturb a hornet’s nest unless, say, it’s hanging right in front of your front door and the hornets keep stinging your kids and scaring away your guests.”

What would be said of an Emergent Salvationist who picks up a broom and knocks the nest down?

Cory Harrison

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