The Uniform

God has been really showing me that the old style uniform is cool and works. I was looking at some facebook photos and I really believe that people look their best when they wear their uniform. That is if they aren't dishevelled. Okay so it looks good not really a good point to be wearing it out much.

Here's a story from my past:

I was mad at hypocrisy in The Salvation Army and wanted to separate myself from empty religion as much as possible. So, I stopped wearing my uniform. Then the voice of the Lord came to me at church when I was looking at my wedding ring. He said, "Jonathan, why do you wear that ring?"
"Cause I love Carla, it is my symbol with her." I said.
"Why would you not wear your uniform then? Many people are unfaithful to their wedding vows and wear their wedding bands. That doesn't mean that you should get rid of your ring."
It hit me. Wearing the uniform is up to me and what I make it into. Where I wear it and how I use it as a witness. It isn't about misuse or lack of use. It was about me expressing my covenant with every other soldier and God.

So I started wearing it again, even when my friends took theirs off to go to Swiss Chalet after the meeting, mine would stay on. I loved how good of a witness it was.

Now, you might be of the group of people who hate how the uniform looks and wow, you're still reading! It is funny that the uniform can stir up such emotion with people in The Salvation Army. That is almost a point in itself. It shows we belong to each other and that their is meaning in donning the navy blue.

Some might say it is outdated. It doesn't work. It makes you look like a goof and people won't talk to you. My experience is the opposite. I also find that those people actually don't wear the uniform and thus, their experiment lacks sufficient sample sizes, controlled variables etc to make those statements valid.

Here is a story from an accepted Incendiary Sessions Tunic Tuesday [wear your Tunic today, even if it is just out to Tim Hortons... see what happens].

Wearing my tunic to school on Tuesday was amazing. Like, it kinda changes your demeanor, wearing something like that to a high school. It's not like wearing a cross necklace, or getting a fish tattooed to your forearm, it's definitely a lot more aggressive. I was blessed by it a lot. Just little comments throughout the day. From Nick Paisley asking me the difference between a soldiers uniform and a captains (and then defending me to his friends) to Mr. Poppy telling me stories about his father and grandfather, who were officers in the Army in Scotland and part of the Citadel band. The best part of the day was the last 3 hours of school. We had this huge grad assembly about drinking and driving, and a lady whose daughter had been killed in a car accident on prom night told her story of loss and mourning. Afterwards I thanked her and hugged her. She recognized the tunic and asked me to pray with her and begged me to keep my friends safe on prom night. She was crying while she was hugging me and she apologized for getting tears on my jacket. I said "No, it's okay. I'm fairly sure there's no article of clothing more suitable for tears to fall on."
Pretty much just incredible.
And though it still makes me kind of uncomfortable to be wearing a piece of uniform that displays a title that I do not have (last time I checked, I should definitely have blue epaulets with no stars, not red ones with 2) it was still a blessing to me and the people around me, and gave me several chances to share my faith and the SA's Doctrine with several people.

WOW!!! Now, don't tell me we shouldn't wear uniforms. When someone wears it equipped with The Holy Spirit God acts!