Fighting for people to SHUT UP!!!

That's right...Jodi Hoffmann is writing an article to say SHUT UP!! Hard to believe isn't it??...coming from Miss Never-Shuts-Up!! But none the less...here it is!

Well, I've felt very challenged on this of late...since our newest Christian was chatting to me on MSN the other night and was getting fired up about the Army uniform. For you non Army people, we Salvos, as you've seen, wear a uniform...but alot of Salvos don't like the uniform so they sit around and debate about it till the cows come home...and let me tell you...I just wish the damn cows would come home already cause quite frankly Im getting jack of it!! I'm not holding back on this one cause I'm over it!

When I heard our new Christian speaking about these petty issues the other day I felt SO angry and sad at the same time! Now, just to clear this up, I do NOT blame him AT ALL!! He is only new to the Army and a brand new Christian! What saddens me is that of all the things that he needs to be hearing and learning right now, this is what people are sharing with him!! And that, quite frankly, really ticks me off!!!!! Here's a new Christian who's full of excitement and wanting to grow and learn and SO hungry and thirsty for the Word and what are people doing and sharing with him? They're getting him involved in arguments on the uniform and song book songs. RAAARRRR!! It makes me SO cranky!! Here's our chance to disciple him and instead he's being taught how to whinge and debate about STUPID things that have absolutely NO eternal relevance to him (or anyone for that matter) WHATSOEVER!!!!!!

So this is the story...I've grown up in The Salvation Army, and with that I have a certain appreciation, if you like, for the uniform and the song book. Now, just to set this straight, I am not saying that I am a uniform or song book advocate!! Not by any means. I don't think I look at all appealing in the uniform and not all of the Army song book songs appeal to my musical taste and in fact some of them I just don't understand! So I am not about to sit here and debate that Army uniforms and songs are the ONLY way to go! Obviously we are all going to have different tastes and opinions. What annoys me is that, although we are trying to be more relevant in the 21st Century and we are trying to figure out how that's going to happen, at the moment it's all just a big load of hot winded TALK!! Nothing more than just TALK!! I mean, sure, if we get enough people behind the cause and enough people want to change it then maybe there's a chance it will change, but all I see is a whole bunch of people talking and not one person acting!!! So what's the point! Just to sit around and debate menial issues that have no eternal relevance?

MEANWHILE...there's a WHOLE WORLD of lost people out there who need God and here we are all caught up in what we want to change and all caught up in stupid arguments that we're missing the point!! We're obviously missing the point with our new Christian, because he's already debating about these issues and he's been a Christian less than 2 months!! I mean, for real! For goodness sake people...GET OVER IT AND OPEN YOUR EYES!! You know, God is not impressed with our WORDS or our DEBATES...He's commissioned us to go out and make disciples of ALL nations and here we are in our little church circles deciding what to wear and what music to listen to!! I'm sure God is yelling in our ears SHUT UP DAMN IT!!!! (maybe without the damn it...but whatever equivelant He would use to let you know how serious He is!!)

Man, since when did we lose sight of what's really important?! At what point did we shut our ears and eyes to what's really going on in our world? And this is for old and young alike cause the debate stretches across all the ages. The young ones want their songs and their funky clothes and the oldies want to keep singing along to Champaign Charlie and I'm sure most of them would still be in bonnets if they could be. But you know what? WHO CARES!?!?! I can tell you one thing, God certainly doesn't! If He cared about the clothes we were wearing He would have made every church put on the same uniform (just to clear this up, obviously He cares about some clothes...like girls wearing hardly anything for example...let's not get side tracked and carried away with that one...just humour me and get my point!) Now, again, I am not an advocate for uniform...I do believe that we have the best opportunities in the Army to be wearing our uniform so that we're seen in the community. And let me tell you, I could tell you loads of stories to prove it works! The Salvation Army symbol is the 2nd most recognised symbol/icon in Australia! What a privilege!! If you wanna wear the uniform, good on you! I'm proud to wear mine for that EXACT reason! Whether it's appealing or not! If you don't want to wear it, that's fine too...I think the issue here is not what we're wearing...it's what we're doing!

My mate, Pauly, wrote a blog recently about how people are watching what we're doing! I'd be more challenged to think about how I'm behaving in or out of uniform that sets an example to the world. What kind of example are you setting? And if people like our new Christian are watching our example and hanging on what we say cause he's eager to learn and all we're teaching him is 'Hey, come join the church and get into a debate!' then what kind of example are we setting there?!! We're supposed to be set apart and setting an example for the world to follow! Jeremiah 1:5 says:

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart..

What are we doing people? God did NOT set us apart for this!! He set us apart to be an example to the world...1 Timothy 4:12 says:

...set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

And Titus 2:7-8 says this:

In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

What kind of example are we setting here?? Are we showing integrity, seriousness, soundness of speech that cannot be condemned? Are we giving people a reason to speak badly of us? I think we are! There's a whole world of people out there who won't step foot in a church because they've been burnt by the church and they're sick of having arguments. Heck, they can wait till their family Christmas dinner to have a disfunctional argument...why do they need to come to church every week and hear it? That's the message we're giving out! We're not setting an example for believers, let alone non believers, in speech, life, love, faith and purity! Come on, get real!!

Honestly, some of you might be sitting there with your knickers in a knot over this...if so...GOOD! Obviously you needed the challenge! I wasn't commissioned to only ever give you a warm fuzzy feeling...I was commissioned by Christ to make disciples of all nations...and that means CHALLENGING people! Rebuking, correcting...and I need it just as much as you...that's where the Word comes in!

SO...I say...and GOD says...ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Get OVER it and get ON with it!! Just SHUT UP and start WORKING! There's alot that needs to be done for the Kingdom! So get on with it!