A Matter of Semantics?

Someone I ran in to recently expressed surprise that I was no longer a Salvation Army Officer. They asked, "When did you leave 'the work' ?" My response was simple..."I am no longer an officer, but I have never left the work !" So often people fail to understand that it is possible to leave ordination and commision behind, and yet still be very much 'in the work'. I still preach when I am invited, I still talk with others about the Lord, I still minister in a variety of different ways, I remain a Salvationist....just not with the official sanction that Officership brings.

As often as God brings my fellow 'formers' to mind, I pray for them: some by name and for others in general. I know something of the difficulty transitioning brings. I pray first that they may guard their salvation carefully. I pray that God will keep them in some form of Army service. I ask God to bless those who may have moved on to other denominations and/or forms of ministry. I pray, simply, that while they have left behind their service as Officers, that they not ever 'leave the work'! I pray that, if it is His will, that they might be repatriated (reinstated) so as to serve God in the Army for many years to come. The next time you greet a former officer, try not to ask them, "when did you leave the work?", for they may not have left at all!