I came home from hospital visiting on Saturday afternoon to find my hubby watching Come Dine With Me on the tv. Nothing particularly noteworthy in that I hear you say. However hubby’s next statement, got my attention…he told me that the one guy in the programme was a Salvation Army person but that he was drinking wine and swearing!
My first thought when I was told this was maybe the guy attended the Army but was not a Salvationist (A salvationist is a member of the Salvation Army), so I said this to hubby, hoping he’d then tell me that was in fact the case. However, the answer I was given suggested I was far from right – apparently during the first of the four Come Dine With Me programmes, the guy had been pictured in Plymouth Salvation Army hall wearing a white shirt and a tie with the S.A. crest on it!
My horror and anger grew at this point, as I felt I could no longer defend this person, nor did I want to! Being married to someone who is not a Christian I have had all the discussions with my hubby regarding why, as a member of the Salvation Army, a Salvationist, I don’t drink alcohol, smoke or take illegal drugs, and nor do I condone anyone who does.
Since Saturday I have found myself thinking about this guy a lot – He appeared to be a salvationist but went against the vows and promises he had publicly made to God at some point. I am not naive, and I know that yes there are some Salvationists out there who regularly break their promises to God, by drinking alcohol, smoking, swearing or taking drugs, but I do know that for me and many other salvationists, we are appalled that they do so while still considering themselves to be true Christians serving in the Salvation Army as Salvationists. I think what got me most about all this was that this guys didn’t seem bothered about how publicly he was breaking his vows – To actually on national television and blatantly break his vows, in my opinion is one of the worst things he could do to portray an image contrary to what the Salvation Army stands for and believe in.
What an impression to give the nation of a Salvationist! And no that wasn’t a complement!
I am appalled that people willingly make vows and them break them but do not feel any remorse or regret for doing so. What do you think?
I must say one thing for the guy in the Come Dine With Me programme – The programme was recorded in 2008, so I do hope and pray that he has changed his ways, and now, if still a salvationist, is keeping all the vows/promises he made to God when he became a Salvationist.
For those of us who do take our vows to God seriously, we must act together to stop others from breaking their vows. After all they are promises we have made to God,we’ve not just said to God we’ll keep some of those promises when we feel like it!
Please, all you Salvationists out their, remember the vows you made to God when you signed your promise (your Articles of War), and renew your promise to God today to keep them…all of them. If you cannot keep all your promises you should not be wearing a salvation army uniform, as it is completely against all it stands for.
Here the International Songsters of the Salvation Army sing My Solemn Vow:
The Distinct Dot 
This is part of the reason why I left the army. I have the utmost respect for the army and the values. But going to work in America in a completely different enviroment made me realise that when it was realised (and it was) that they got to the person and got the problem sorted. But when I came home I found I was sitting looking round the meeting wondering who was sat there with a hangover. I should have gone to another Corps but I didn’t. I do regret that as the army gave me many avenues my children don’t have and they don’t have a religion as neither of us have one either now :-S
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So louise, you sound like you tard the everyone you knew in the SA with the same brush just because some don’t keep their vows. Remember there are loads of us who are completely against salvationist who drink, swear, smoke, take drugs etc.
You must not let the few who choose not to keep their vows, put you off the SA as we’re not all the same. In the same way there are plenty of non salvationists who do drink, smoke etc who act far more Christian than many Salvationist I know.
What we all must remember in this is, not of us are perfect, only God is!
I pray that though you guys may not attend a church anymore, you may be aware of God’s love in your life, and may at some point find a church that you feel at home in.
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Regardless of if this guy on CDWM was a Salvationist or not, I have to say I wholeheartedly agree with what you’re saying. I no longer wear the uniform or consider myself to be a Salvationist largely because I took the decision to walk away. Not because I particularly wanted to drink, smoke, swear, or whatever but because I could no longer say that it wasn’t something I’d do in the future. I was getting increasingly irritated by what I’ve come to call ‘Sunday Salvationists’ – the ‘holier than thou’ types who took their vows and their uniform very seriously, but only on a Sunday. The rest of the week the vows were irrelevant. For me personally, the uniform could be a sack, it’s the vows before God that were important – and when those vows are disregarded for the vast majority of the time, well, thats when you have a problem. I have huge respect for Salvationists who take their vows and uniform seriously but unfortunately they appear to be more rare.
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Completely agree with you Hannah, at the end of the day, it’s the folk who make their vows and do their utmost to keep them 24/7 that are the true salvationists, not the ones you’ve termed “Sunday Salvationists” – of which I also know a few!
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I been informed by several folk that the guy in Come Dine With Me is NOT a Salvationist. He in fact works in the social care area and wears an SA tie as part of that roll.
I still think the C4 editors have a lot to answer for as they gave a really bad impression of the SA because of the way this guy was portrayed in the programme.
There are still plenty of salvationist out there who do drink, smoke etc, so all I said about it iun my blog still applies, maybe just not to the guy in the programme, as I previously thought!
Dot
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