Who is the Salvation Army?
The Salvation Army is a worldwide organization that originated in London over 150 years ago with a very clear mission and vision. Their mission is to share the love of Jesus through four key points:
- Caring for people
- Creating faith pathways
- Building Healthy Communities
- Working for justice
This also reflects upon their vision being “wherever there is hardship or injustice Salvos will live, love and fight alongside others to transform Australia one life at a time, with the love of Jesus” meaning that wherever they see a problem surrounding injustice or hardship within the community they will come together and fight to help transform this problem into a positive experience and help put it to an end.
What are justice and compassion and how are they important to the Salvation Army?
The Salvation Army is primarily driven by two main characteristics, justice, and compassion. So what is justice and compassion?
Compassion is an emotional reaction and awareness when exposed to others' hardships, leading toward positive actions to address the problem and find a solution. It requires self-awareness, empathy, baring, and having a non-discriminative and non-judgemental persona.
Justice means loving our neighbor as we love ourselves and is rooted in the character and nature of God. As God is just and loving, so we are called to do justice and live in love.
How acts of justice and compassion are expressed throughout The Salvation Army
These characteristics are highly recognized and implemented into the core values of the Salvation Army as they work towards a more equal and non-discriminative world. Their focus is on those who have been marginalized and believe that everyone deserves to feel welcome regardless of their socio-economic state, background, or story. Not only do they support and organize events to raise money for these people, run op shops, donate to the impoverished and disadvantaged, help them find employment , and help in aged care they also ave a newly implemented program.
The Frontliners is a youth movement that aims to ‘build a generation of leaders who live for others, love community, and fight for justice’. It is a 12-month program that exposes high school and uni-aged students to volunteer, build upon and develop new skills, and be aan ambassadorfor the Salvation Army.
How can we use this oorganizationto become better Christians in today’s world?
I highly believe this program has helped me to better myself as a person not only working on myself and values but also by tapping into the community and working closely to thoroughly understand the hardships of others and assist those who need it most.
It encouraged me to be the eyes and words of those who need it most and encourage others to dive closer into the Christian faith and be the best person they can be.
Being able to live a life of justice and compassion to truly bring out your humility and integrity can be hard, However, volunteers and organizers working with the Salvation Army never fail to do so. While working alongside the Salvation Army as part of the Frontliners it has been clear that they empower these core values greatly.
Staring with Humility, Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less which ties in perfectly with compassion and justice. Being able to acknowledge the needs of others and bringing awareness of their problems, not belittling them, and putting yourself first to help them through it.
And integrity, being able to align your actions with your beliefs, works perfectly with both justices. Being able to find your beliefs and implementing action to support these beliefs as Jesus did.
One parable or scripture reference from the Bible that is linked to compassion and justice
When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back.
— Deuteronomy 30:1-4
The message behind the Scripture reference and how it relates to The Salvation Army
The message from this Scripture passage is telling us that if we show justice and compassion on others even when times are tough for us without expecting anything in return, then our time will come when God forgives us the times whether we might have been as compassionate and allow you to enter into his kingdom for infinite peace. This applies to The Salvation Army because they strive to create a generation of leaders who live for others, love the community, and fight for justice.
The Salvation Army being primarily voluntary work just goes to show that their core passion for this and their Christian faith is what strives them to do so as they do not receive or expect to receive anything in return other tthanthe pure joy it brings them to be able to be an active player of positive change within the community.
Scripture reference two, its message, and how it relates to the Salvation Army
“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow's cause,” (Isaiah 1:17).
This Scripture reference relates to learning to open your heart to not only think about yourself but allow humility and compassion to take over, seeking justice and doing right within the community to put an end to this oppression. The Salvation Army works greatly behind this reference ensuring that they do their best and push themselves to their limits to correct this uprising issue of oppression and aloneness within today's community.
Now that you've seen what The Salvation Army does, why not get on board and volunteer, bettering your understanding and sense of community today? It's never too late, no problem is too big or too small. Your actions do matter!