A few weeks ago an older friend of mine passed away suddenly. I'll miss him greatly. Charlie was 71. He had found Christ late into his adult life and, for the past year, he had been faithfully worshipping at The Salvation Army.
One memory of Charlie that I will always cherish happened just a few weeks ago. Charlie hadn't been to a service in a few weeks, which was unusual because he was so faithful. So I walked up to him before the service and asked him where he had been for the past few weeks. He told me he had recently travelled to Mexico with some friends and that he had had the time of his life.
He then showed me a church bulletin from a Vineyard church he had visited while on the trip. This was a church very much committed to helping the poor. Each week, following their worship service, members of the congregation would walk around some of the worst neighbourhoods in their city and feed and clothe those most in need.
As Charlie told me this story, he went on and on about how amazing he thought all of their ministries were. And when I say “he went on and on,” I mean it. He went on and on. He was so excited about how great this church was and about all the wonderful things these believers were doing for the people in their community.
I need to be honest that I was getting a little jealous. I shouldn't have. You would think I would be happy that another church was doing such great things but I couldn't help it. Here's one of my church members, going to another church and telling me what a great time he had. I wanted him to be excited about his own church!
I had obviously forgotten John the Baptist's lesson about rejoicing when others do work in Jesus' name (see John 3:25-30), but then Charlie said something to me that I will never forget. “Captain,” he said, “this was a church doing things right. They cared for those who nobody else would and that is why I'm coming here. That's what we do in The Salvation Army.”
I couldn't think of a better compliment to hear, nor could I think about a better way of understanding what it means to be a follower of Christ. There are many ways that people in this world view Christians, and there are many ways that we view ourselves, but I think we are exactly who we are supposed to be when our worship translates into care and concern for those most in need in our society. My friend Charlie understood this well and so must we.
Captain Bram Pearce is the corps officer of Drumheller Community Church in Alberta. He is married to Anita, and they have a son named Wesley.
One memory of Charlie that I will always cherish happened just a few weeks ago. Charlie hadn't been to a service in a few weeks, which was unusual because he was so faithful. So I walked up to him before the service and asked him where he had been for the past few weeks. He told me he had recently travelled to Mexico with some friends and that he had had the time of his life.
He then showed me a church bulletin from a Vineyard church he had visited while on the trip. This was a church very much committed to helping the poor. Each week, following their worship service, members of the congregation would walk around some of the worst neighbourhoods in their city and feed and clothe those most in need.
As Charlie told me this story, he went on and on about how amazing he thought all of their ministries were. And when I say “he went on and on,” I mean it. He went on and on. He was so excited about how great this church was and about all the wonderful things these believers were doing for the people in their community.
I had obviously forgotten John the Baptist's lesson about rejoicing when others do work in Jesus' name
I need to be honest that I was getting a little jealous. I shouldn't have. You would think I would be happy that another church was doing such great things but I couldn't help it. Here's one of my church members, going to another church and telling me what a great time he had. I wanted him to be excited about his own church!
I had obviously forgotten John the Baptist's lesson about rejoicing when others do work in Jesus' name (see John 3:25-30), but then Charlie said something to me that I will never forget. “Captain,” he said, “this was a church doing things right. They cared for those who nobody else would and that is why I'm coming here. That's what we do in The Salvation Army.”
I couldn't think of a better compliment to hear, nor could I think about a better way of understanding what it means to be a follower of Christ. There are many ways that people in this world view Christians, and there are many ways that we view ourselves, but I think we are exactly who we are supposed to be when our worship translates into care and concern for those most in need in our society. My friend Charlie understood this well and so must we.
Captain Bram Pearce is the corps officer of Drumheller Community Church in Alberta. He is married to Anita, and they have a son named Wesley.
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