General Cox reflects on five 'amazing' years as the Army's international leader
General Cox reflects on five 'amazing' years as the Army's international leader
30 July 2018
General André Cox reflects on his time as international leader of The Salvation Army in his final Facebook post as General.
So this is it; my final Sunday (29 July) post on Facebook at the conclusion of my five-year term of service as General of The Salvation Army. This time next week Commissioner Silvia and I will be in the process of relocating to our retirement quarters and a new regime will have commenced in leading the Army to new realms and heights.
May God bless the new General and World President of Women’s Ministries, along with the new Chief of the Staff and World Secretary of Women’s Ministries.
Someone commenting on my posting last week asked why I was not continuing in office. Allow me to elaborate. By British Act of Parliament, the term of service of a General is limited to five years, thus from the time I was elected on 3 August 2013 the date of my retirement from that responsibility had been cast in stone.
Last Sunday, in my penultimate Facebook message, I wrote about our observation that people are amazing – especially those who freely channel their passions and commitment to serving God. And today, following on that theme, my final message on this final Sunday is that – despite all its troubles, challenges and issues – the church is amazing.
During our visits to all the Army’s territories, commands and regions over the past five years we have been continually amazed at the way in which God has raised up and continues to sustain this part of his church universal.
Despite vastly varying circumstances, cultures and styles of worship, we are indeed One Army, with One Mission and One Message. Of course, there are considerable differences, and we are not as equal in many respects as I would wish, but in terms of our understanding of the Army’s global mission, the Articles of War all soldiers have entered into, the respect we all have for the position of General, the Army is truly amazing.
As Bishop Lesslie Newbigin, the British theologian, missionary and author, wrote – as quoted in Bible In One Year this past week – "the church has outlived great empires, philosophical systems and totalitarian regimes".
Perhaps we might be tempted to assume that the church will continue to be amazing because the God who sustains it is more amazing still.
However, I would wish to sound a note of caution. If the church is perceived purely as a dispenser of religious goods and services, if people go to church primarily to have their needs met, then as a consumer church it will never achieve its potential and – certainly in some parts of the world – it will be increasingly marginalised and irrelevant.
Alternatively, if the church is acknowledged as being a body of disciples focused on mission, who gather in community for prayer, worship, encouragement and teaching from the Word, then as a missional church it will continue to grow in effectiveness and relevance. Instead of people going to church, they will recognise that they are church.
As Lesslie Newbigin also wrote: "The church is not meant to call men and women out of the world into a safe religious enclave but to call them out in order to send them back as agents of God’s kingship".
Commissioner Silvia (pictured above with the General) joins me in our concluding prayer that we – ourselves included – will all continue to be church; called and sent as agents of God’s kingship.
May God richly bless you each.
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