If we represent God to the general public…

then are we portraying a God who can be regarded as quaint and therefore someone to be regarded with interest but not taken seriously?

At the recent Freedom Congress held in Dunedin we had a march of witness and everybody rejoiced that a couple of Japanese tourists (who knew nothing about Jesus) were spoken to.  However, my question is…  What impression do the general Kiwi public get of both God and The Salvation Army by displays such as this?

Let me explore my concerns a little more:

When The Salvation Army (TSA) started in London the concept of being part of an army was exciting and in vogue.  The “cause” was great and the “look” was modern and possibly even cutting edge.  The look was based on the military army of the time.

If we look at the “open air meeting” as being the equivalent of the Military Army’s (MA) advertising.  (Yes, that comment alone may cause consternation amongst many but surely “witnessing” for God is, as far as the public is concerned, about letting them know about him.  Isn’t that what advertising does too! – Even if you struggle with this, please bear with me.), then lets compare TSA with MA from the early 1900’s. (I’ve used a US recruiting poster because in Britain they didn’t have to push very hard for recruits)

Now lets jump to the present day and do the same (but with NZ recruiting this time)…

Now my contention is that the MA has modernised both how it approaches its mission and how it presents itself to the public.  I’m certainly not against taking God out of our buildings and to the people (I suspect he’s already there) but unfortunately TSA remains in a time warp, at least in how we present ourselves to the general public.  If you doubt it, ask some unchurched friends how they view such marches of witness.  Does watching us inspire them to join, or do they simply stare in disbelief at the quaint bunch of people in front of them…