Many thousands of those who are now most prominent in the ranks of the Army never knew what it was to pray before they attended its services;and large numbers of them had settled into a profound conviction that everything connected with religion was utterly false.It is out of such material that God has constructed what is admitted to be one of the most fervid bodies of believers ever seen on the face of the earth.
Many persons in looking at the progress of the Army have shown a strange want of discernment in talking and writing as though all this had been done in a most haphazard fashion,or as though an individual could by the mere effort of his will produce such changes in the lives of others as he chose.The slightest reflection will be sufficient we are sure to convince any impartial individual that the gigantic results attained by the Salvation Army could only be reached by steady unaltering processes adapted to this end.And what are the processes by which this great Army has been made?
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.
2.And step by step,along with this human contact goes unmistakably something that is not human.
The puzzlement and self-contradiction of most critics of the Army springs undoubtedly from the fact that they are bound to account for its success without admitting that any superhuman power attends its ministry,yet day after day,and night after night,the wonderful facts go on multiplying.The man who last night was drunk in a London slum,is to-night standing up for Christ on an Army platform.The clever sceptic,who a few weeks ago was interrupting the speakers in Berlin,and pouring contempt upon their claims to a personal knowledge of the unseen Saviour,is to-day as thorough a believer as any of them.
The poor girl,lost to shame and hope,who a month ago was an outcast of Paris,is to-day a modest devoted follower of Christ,working in a humble situation.To those who admit we are right in saying "this is the Lord's doing,"all is simple enough,and our certainty that the dregs of Society can become its ornaments requires no further explanation.
3.All these modern miracles would,however,have been comparatively useless but for the Army's system of utilising the gifts and energy of our converts to the uttermost.Suppose that without any claim to Divine power the Army had succeeded in raising up tens of thousands of persons,formerly unknown and unseen in the community,and made them into Singers,Speakers,Musicians,and Orderlies,that would surely in itself have been a remarkable fact.But not only have these engaged in various labours for the benefit of the community.They have been filled with a burning ambition to attain the highest possible degree of usefulness.No one can wonder that we expect to see the same process carried on successfully amongst our new friends of the Casual Ward and the Slum.And if the Army has been able to accomplish all this utilisation of human talents for the highest purposes,in spite of an almost universally prevailing contrary practice amongst the Churches,what may not its Social Wing be expected to do,with the example of the Army before it?
4.The maintenance of all this system has,of course,been largely due to the unqualified acceptance of military government and discipline.
But for this we cannot be blind to the fact that even in our own ranks difficulties would every day arise as to the exaltation to front seats of those who were formerly persecutors and injurious.The old feeling which would have kept Paul suspected,in the background,after his conversion is,unfortunately,a part of the conservative groundwork of human nature that continues to exist everywhere,and which has to be overcome by rigid discipline in order to secure that everywhere and always,the new convert should be made the most of for Christ.
But our Army system is a great indisputable fact,so much so that our enemies sometimes reproach us with it.That it should be possible to create an Army Organisation,and to secure faithful execution of duty daily is indeed a wonder,but a wonder accomplished,just as completely amongst the Republicans of America and France,as amongst the militarily trained Germans,or the subjects of the British monarchy.
It is notorious that we can send an officer from London,possessed of no extraordinary ability,to take command of any corps in the world,with a certainty that he will find soldiers eager to do his bidding,and without a thought of disputing his commands,so long as he continues faithful to the orders and regulations under which his men are enlisted.
