DNA is a fascinating thing. Today it is easier than ever before to learn about your personal DNA make-up. You can order a kit and send in a blood sample to find your ancestral history. The more access to information and the more that technology advances, the more people are taking the plunge to discover where they came from. Why do people find this so fascinating? It is not because they were incomplete before. It is because it allows them to see the connections with the world around them, the comradery with a people or culture, and it reminds them that they are not alone. They are here because of the people that came before them.

As The Salvation Army of today, we need to also study our DNA. For some, the discover begins and ends with fascination. We become excited about what brought The Salvation Army into existence in the first place. We love to hear and tell stories of the early days of The Army and the amazing breakthroughs that happened. We continue to rest our reputation on the officers and soldiers who came before us and paved the way in radical ways. The more we learn about our early days, the more connected we become to the story of The Army itself.

If I had to define myself in the scope of the Army, I would most identify as a Primitive Salvationist. It is not because I want to just live in nostalgia of the past and glory in the early days. It is actually because I believe that the best days of The Salvation Army are still yet to come. The more I discover about the birth of this movement, the more I buy into the shared calling we have to carry it through. Our past is not only something to be proud of; it is the very thing that should be shaping us in our future.

Back in 2010, I remember reading a book by General Shaw Clifton. In the opening pages he discussed the idea that The Salvation Army was in an identity crisis. I remember reading this and finding that he was articulating what I had been struggling with for so long. Everyone has a grand idea of what The Army should be today. We are becoming so confused in who we are meant to be that our identify is slipping away little by little. Ever since then, I have been wrestling with this question myself.  What is our identify as The Salvation Army? Why did God raise up The Salvation Army? Is it truly simply about meeting human needs? Or is it is about something more?

The early Army days are not just a sense of fascination for me but a launching point of understanding what God is still calling us to do today. I love the flag, the uniform, the covenants. I love that God raised us up for the most vulnerable and marginalized people. I love that The Army of our past is actually something that is still relevant today. Do methods change? Sure. But our DNA should not.  What I see in my fellow Primitive Salvationists are not people who just want to bring back stand up collars or bonnets (both of which I really dig). What I see in them are people who want to be true to the purposes for which God raised up The Salvation Army. They want to people who “are covenanted warriors exercising holy passion to win the world for Jesus”. There is an unwavering faith that if God called us to something, He will do it.  Identifying as a Primitive Salvationist is not about holding on to things and becoming legalist. It is actually the opposite. It is about peeling back the layers and getting back to our core DNA. It is getting back to our purpose and calling. It is about getting back to a shared idea. It is about The Salvation Army being a place where God can use anyone. It is truly about winning the world for Jesus. We are Saved to Save.

DNA is truly a fascinating thing. May we as Salvationist never lose sight of ours.

Lieutenant Christina Tamayo