Reclaiming Backsliders

Why did these people leave the church?

FRANK H. YOST, Late Professor of Theology and Religion, La Sierra College

In any fruitful study of how to reclaim backsliders one naturally asks the question, "Why did these persons leave the church? Some of the following paragraphs deal largely with prevention, which is always better than cure.

The big question overshadowing all others in the minds of many pastors is essentially this: How can we bring it about that this particular group of believers shall be so full of brotherly kindness and charity, so fond of young people, so careful to follow high standards themselves, so lenient in judging others, so thoughtful of others' welfare, so self-forgetful, so friendly and sociable, that the whole church membership will seem like one big family, and everybody will feel at home with everybody else?

I. Need for fellowship in the church

  1. Blessings from community of worship (Heb. 10:25; Matt. 18:20).
  2. Necessity of uniting with the body of Christ (John 10:1-16; 1 Cor. 12 and 14; Eph. 2:14­22).
  3. Privilege of mutual and cooperative experi­ence and service (Matt. 11:28-30; 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:11-6:10; Phil. 3:7-11).

II. Need for discipline

  1. Method and application of discipline (Matt. 18:15-18; 1 Corinthians 5).
  2. Dangers to be avoided (Matt. 13:24-30;
        The Desire of Ages, chaps. 62, 71, 72;
        Christ's Object Lessons, section "Seed-sowing";
        Gospel Workers, "Church Discipline";
        Church Manual, chap. 13.
 
a. Unwise handling of a soul.
b. Undue haste.
c. Decisions on incomplete evidence.
d. Unethical and unconstitutional disposi­tion of cases

III. Need for improved spirituality in the church See item "Conversion" in Index to Writings of Ellen G. White,

1. Too many unconverted (Testimonies, vol. 5, pp. 217-235).

2. Definite conversions needed.

3. More care of the youth. Gospel Workers, chap. "Feed My Lambs."

a. Winning their loyalty to Christ and the church.
b. Substituting positive things for the items of negation and prohibition.
c. Using them in service.

IV. Need for training elders, deacons, and deacon­esses, Sabbath school officers, and other leaders so they can take an active part with the pastor

1.In fostering brotherly love and a real family feeling among church members, and

2.In putting forth patient, kindly, and tactful efforts to seek out lost and wandering sheep and bring them back to the fold.

V. Steps in gaining the backslider

1. Prerequisites

a. A sympathetic and understanding spirit.
b. Much secret prayer.
c. Firmness of character.

2. Steps

a. Securing all the facts in a case.

b. Faithful visitation and tactful personal interviews.

c. Meeting and removing from the congrega­tion any external cause of defection.

(1)    Cleansing the church.

(2)    Inspiriting the services.

(3)    Creating a strong social spirit in the church; helping the members to real­ize that the Christian religion is es­sentially social, and every member needs the prayers and cooperation of all the other members.

d. Meeting personal difficulties and aiding at the points of private causes of defec­tion.

e. Appeals to give up definite sins.

f. Inspiring to private devotion, prayer, and Bible study.

g. Enlisting the backslider as promptly as possible, and as far as personal life, char­acter, and experience warrant.

VI. Examples of work for backsliders

1. Brother S_____________ district pastor in the_______  Conference, doubled the attendance of a small congregation in his district through tactful visitation among lukewarm and backslidden members.  Evangelist C_________ , called to a large center  of Adventists of many years' standing, was advised to try winning backsliders before starting intensive series of meetings, and in a few months gained fifty members from among the backslidden.

VII.        Questions

1.Why do so large a percentage of our mem­bers backslide to the point of being disfel­lowshiped?

2.How can we be sure that our baptismal candidates are converted?

3.How can the pastor create a closer bond of confidence between himself and his people?

4.Is disfellowshiping the exclusive or the best form of church discipline?

5.How can the church services be made more deeply spiritual?

6.Is it better to sweep a large number into a congregation, and later disfellowship a num­ber of unconverted and uninstructed ones, or to harvest the fruitage of an evangelistic program very cautiously and selectively, and thus be able to retain a larger proportion of those baptized?.

7.Might it not be advisable to put all new members of a church into a class where they would be taught how to give short, simple Bible studies to their neighbors and friends, thus giving them at the outset some ele­mentary training in the fine art of soul winning?

The large losses in membership sustained by our churches have been the subject of serious discussion at various gatherings of the leaders


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FRANK H. YOST, Late Professor of Theology and Religion, La Sierra College

September 1959

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