It was Whit Monday 1865. Sabine Baring-Gould had written a song for his Sunday School children to sing as they walked together in a procession to the next village. Onward, Christian soldiers, it started. It had been written in haste, and to a rather nondescript tune by Haydn. Six years later, Arthur Sullivan, of Gilbert and Sullivan fame, wrote another tune for it which caught people's imagination. The hymn became a favourite, and the words planted themselves in people's minds.
Nowadays the hymn sounds a bit too militaristic, but much of the New Testament uses images of war and conflict to picture God's struggle against sin, which is our own struggle too. This is one of the main themes of the last book in our Bible, with its apocalyptic vision of legions of angels, led by Michael and by Satan, fighting for control of creation. And it is one of Paul's themes. "The armour of light", "the whole armour of God", "the breastplate of righteousness" are the way the Christians in Rome, in Ephesus and in Thessalonia are to defend themselves, as they "fight the good fight" (1 Tim 6:12), in which they can be certain of victory.
Paul's audience would have included soldiers, just as it included building workers and traders, so it was natural for him to use images they knew. Jesus' listeners were largely village people in Galilee, and the Gospels seldom report him using military language. There was conflict, yes, even violent conflict, for "casting out devils" required authority and power, and especially when their name was "legion". There was victory, with "Satan falling like lightning from heaven" (Luke 10:18). But the idea of the Church as an army, marching forward irresistibly and overcoming all in its path, is a dangerous one, and one that the hymn itself does not support - the victory it mentions is against "Satan's host", and they flee not at the sight of the army, but through the power of the Cross.
When we say we believe in "one catholic and apostolic church" we should remember that an apostle is just another word for a messenger. We are all sent out to carry a message, the good news of salvation. To other people we are Salvation Messengers, rather than a Salvation Army!
But there is one interesting parallel between the Church and an army, which comes out in Baring-Gould's lines:
We are not divided, all one body we,
One in hope and doctrine, one in charity.
What a joke! Isn't the church more like our newspapers, all telling the same story, but with their own interpretation, their own emphasis? Or like our health system, with different styles of treatment, some working for some people, others for other people?
But the picture given in the New Testament is of diversity combined with unity. There is one body, says Paul. May they all be one, prays Jesus. Just as having more than one army in a country is a recipe for chaos and anarchy, so there cannot be more than one church, even if its organization and worship in one place is different from another. This is what we mean when we say we believe in the catholic Church, with a small "c"!
We Anglicans are often accused of sitting on the fence, not standing up against gay priests, women bishops, misuse of the environment, exploitation of poorly paid workers, military assaults on innocent people. But even Jesus warns us against rushing to judge others. Modern communications have set us in a global village, faced with an immense diversity of sincerely held views. We are called to listen before we reprove. We are called to challenge and to question before we condemn.
It is the Holy Spirit who leads us to the truth, and none of us can claim to see more than "darkly in a mirror". As we move on to share in God's victory over the powers of evil, let us share our insights into that truth, our experiences and our hopes, so that we may share in the song of triumph:
Glory, laud and honour
Unto Christ the King!
HD