When is an apple not an apple?

Regarding one of my previous posts about the Salvation Army, and also in reference to the posts of other bloggers. My current thought is 'Can The Salvation Army really be The Salvation Army if it doesn't have openness and honesty in it's dealings, in fact can the Salvation Army even be Church'.

As a West Wing fan I take great joy in quoting roughly a line from the show. "There are two thing you never want to let anyone see how you make, Laws and Sausages'. Mainly I guess because laws are sometimes made in corrupt ways, and sausages are sometimes full of rubbish. One of the main reasons people try and cover things up is to hide the real truth, maybe also so they can achieve their goals in dubious ways.

For me, two things are key in all Christian work, integrity and relationship. How can a Christian organisation call itself that if it doesn't have both characteristics from the top down. I think leadership really can have a positive and negative impact on those it leads simply by the way it goes about it's business. I think God honours integrity and relationship, and I wonder what he does with when he sees the opposite.

Let me know what you think