You know, I bet you’ve never really thought about this before: Where do Officers come from?
Do they grow on trees in an orchard somewhere? Can we go there to pluck a fresh Officer every time we need one? Or do they come pre-packaged with instructions, for sale at the BB Shop? Wouldn’t that be convenient? Who knows, they might even go on sale if there was an overstock:
If only it were that easy.
No matter how much we’d like that to happen, Officers don’t grow on trees and they are not conveniently sold at the BB shop. And yet, in a way, they are grown and they do come with a price.
You see, Officers are grown. They don’t pop up overnight. It takes many years for an Officer to reach maturity. It takes a lot of nurturing, encouragement, and even pruning for one good Officer. So realize this: every Member is learning from many years of collected experience. Even as teenagers, Members get to learn what Officers have taken years to discover.
Another thing to appreciate is that Officers come at a price, and it’s not cheap. Officers come at the price of several hours a Company meeting, more hours preparing for that meeting and even more hours invested in the personal lives of Members. The cost of an Officer is sleepless nights and long meetings over Company concerns. Their price tags include time, money and energy for prayer, love and concern over every Member and fellow Officer.
And you know, good Officers are very hard to come by. No, I don’t mean those people who wear white uniforms, the Glengarry and collar badges. Nor do I mean those who just stick around because they feel guilty and need to “give back” to the Company or Brigade. I certainly do not mean those people who have nothing better to do with their Saturdays.
Good Officers are those special individuals who really know the heart of the Boys’ Brigade ministry. He’s that ‘Sir’ that doesn’t just teach drill, but inspires discipline and espirit-de-corps. She’s that ‘Madam’ who helps you realize your self-respect because of who you are, and not just because you wear a uniform. They are the ones who don’t just “advance Christ’s Kingdom” but are the very reason why any Member would want to be a part of that Kingdom.
If you know such Officers take a moment to salute them, listen to them, and maybe even buy them lunch. Respect them and value them while they are still around because you won’t know what you’ve missed until it is taken away from you. Let them know how much you value them, because you may not realize just how powerful encouragement can be. But still, we have to realize that such Officers can’t always be there. It is unfortunate that time affects us all that way, but that’s reality. Officers come then, eventually, these Officers have to go.
Even so, there aren’t many who are ready, willing or able to take up the challenge of Collar Badges and Whites. It’s a tough call to answer. It demands time, effort and heart – things that many people aren’t willing to give up for others. Still, as any Officer will tell you, the rewards far exceed the costs.
Growing up in the Boys’ Brigade, I never really thought about where Officers came from. I always took it for granted that they will always be there – to teach me, to train me, to guide me and to even punish me, when necessary. I never realized just how few Officers were out there – and, sadly, their numbers are decreasing. Companies have closed down because they didn’t have enough Officers to run programmes. Young people have been lost because our Labourers were just too few.
So who will come after us? Who will step up to the challenge of Collar Badges and Whites after this generation of Officers have come and gone? Who will continue to carry our Banner into the generations after us?
Will you be the one?
Originally published: 8 June 2003
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