A "Harsh" Reality

A sister-in-Christ shared with me the following story about an officer in the Salvation Army who faces being let go because of his choice of fiance'.

"A Salvation Army review board will soon make a decision on the fate of suspended Oshkosh Salvation Army Captain Johnny Harsh. Today Harsh and his fiancee Cia are packing, knowing any day Harsh and his family could be forced to move out of their house. A home owned by the Salvation Army. Since his wife's death earlier this year Harsh wants to marry again, only his fiancee Cia is not an officer with the Salvation Army, which is against the rules. Harsh is now suspended and could lose his job as captain; a decision that has changed Harshes opinion about the organization he's served in Oshkosh for the past 3 years. "You wake up one day and a quarter of your family is gone. I expected more love and caring than what I have seen," says Harsh. Cia says she thinks the Salvation Army needs to put the Bible back into their policies. "I'm saddened that the Salvation Army which has such compassion for others, have not shown compassion for the Harsh family," Harsh says he expects a final decision to be made sometime in the next 30 days."

My friend said that reading this story brought back memories of the legalism she escaped from in her past. Is what we read hear any different than what goes on in many mainstream churches today? The controlling of the saints is severe. It is this "our way or the highway" mentality that drives many an individual out of fellowships and turns off unbelievers seeking for the Lord. One, can argue, as a friend of mine did, that Mr. Harsh doesn't have "a leg to stand on based on the fact he is obliged to be true to the rules he agreed to... I say he should step down and marry the women if she is in Christ and find himself another job, assuming she is more important to him than the job." I wonder how many Christians realize that the choice they are being forced to make is between their church and Christ?

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are." Matthew 23:13-15

It would seem that Mr. Harsh is the victim of a legalistic mindset within the structure of the Salvation Army. If a church had a rule that stated you could only marry someone from within its denomination would that be any different? Yes, scripture tells us to choose our spouses from within the Body of Christ, but not from a specific fellowship of believers. Furthermore, we even have the liberty to marry an unbeliever, although it is not wise to do so. If you did, you may have a difficult relationship, but you are still a member of Christ's Church. Funny, God will not leave you or forsake you, but certain groups claiming to be functioning in His name will leave you. It is a shame to see the extent to which organizations go to in order to control their members. Jesus had some harsh words for the Pharisees and their efforts to continually heap unbearable burdens on people. I think what is missed is that He called them hypocrites. This normally means that those in leadership are requiring their followers to be obedient to rules and regulations that they don't uphold themselves. If you are subjecting people to rules and regulations that Christ is not subjecting the Church to, are you in Christ?

"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ... Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence." Colossians 2:8, 20-23

In my opinion, it is stuff like what the Salvation Army is doing to Mr. Harsh that does more damage to the Christian faith than it does to advance the cause of the Salvation Army. To some believers, depending on their persuasion, it can be looked at as "standing for the faith." Thus, some might be encouraged by the Salvation Army's willingness to sacrifice a leader in order to maintain their standards. To me, and others, it is just one more black eye for the faith because of the perception it puts out there about Christians. While it is true that no man has an excuse for not accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior, it doesn't help our witness when His Name is sullied because of the actions of a few. Hanging on to manmade traditions, principles and philosophies is what leads to stories like this one. It doesn't help anybody when we cut off our nose to spite our face in matters of policy. This rule about marriage, within the Salvation Army, does not come from Scripture and has led to the loss of one of its leaders and to bad press. There is no value in this rule. It, obviously, did not keep Mr. Harsh from marrying someone from outside the organization. But, it may have made our testimony about Christ all the more difficult.