"Little Foxes" of Evangelism

Evangelists may well give heed to the admonition of Solomon which reads: "Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes." So delicate is the vine of evangelism, and so pre­cious the fruit which the Husbandman rightfully expects, that every precau­tion should be taken against the in­roads of the "little foxes," or impro­prieties and mistakes which spoil that which has been divinely planted for fruitage in this life and in eternity.

While seeking for true success in evangelism, the evangelist must guard against the little common mistakes which imperceptibly lead to discour­agement and failure, and frequent re­view of our habits and methods is jus­tifiable. A few of the common danger points I venture to set forth, as fol­lows:

1. Fatal Substitution.—It is so easy to make the mistake of substituting theory of truth for actual repentance and living of the truth. Especially is this mistake liable to occur in con­nection with a long series of meetings. Let us ever bear in mind that the power of the third angel's message Iies in its call to repentance and re­generation. It is true that we are to inform people concerning the judgment hour and the soon appearing of our Saviour, and that this information can only be rightly imparted through wis­dom from above. But all this theoret­ically imparted information is for the one purpose of leading to true repent­ance. However thorough the evan­gelist may be in his work of teaching the theory of truth, he has not fulfilled his commission until he leads his hearers to genuine conformity to the truth presented, which is reached through the avenue of repentance and obedience. We are given specific warn­ing against this danger of fatal substitution, in the following words:

"The greatest deception of the hu­man mind in Christ's day was that a mere assent to the truth constitutes righteousness. . . . The same danger still exists. Many take it for granted that they are Christians simply be­cause they subscribe to certain the­ological tenets. But they have not brought the truth into practical life. They have not believed and loved it, therefore they have not received the power and grace that come through sanctification of the truth. Men may profess faith in the truth, but if it does not make them sincere, kind, patient, forbearing, heavenly minded, it is a curse to its possessors, and through their influence it is a curse to the world."—"The Desire of Ages," pp. 309, 310.

The true objective in preaching is not primarily to make members of the church, but to make disciples of Christ. It is possible to present information concerning truth in such a manner as to convince an honest-minded person, and lead him to accept our arguments and outwardly conform to the stand­ard, while at the same time he fails to repent and obtain victory over be­setting sins, and the end is discour­agement and possibly reproach upon the truth itself. Not merely educat­ing the people concerning truth, but calling them to repent and be con­verted, is the work to which God calls the evangelist.

2. Beginning at the Wrong End.—Another common but serious mistake in evangelism consists in putting off the call to decide for Christ until near the close of the series. The gospel, which is the power of God unto sal­vation, constitutes our message in en­tirety, and it is most inconsistent to delay in making this "power of God" available and effective in the lives of our hearers until after we have preached to them for many weeks and have fully presented the Sabbath ques­tion.

There may be some good reasons for preaching on general themes for a few evenings before calling the people to decide for Christ, but as I look back over my experience, I am convinced that I have made a mistake at this point. I was taught to present a con­vincing series of sermons on doctrinal points, leading up to the Sabbath truth as gently as possible; and then, on presenting the Sabbath, to ask the people to indicate in various ways their acknowledgment that the argu­ments presented were true and that they would be obedient. May God for­give me for such a perversion of the principles of the gospel! And then, after the Sabbath had been fully pre­sented, I would preach on tithing, health reform, the Spirit of prophecy, et cetera, but always with great fear and trembling, lest some of those who had accepted the Sabbath would reject these testing points of our faith.

Then, toe, I have given lectures on the return of Jesus, dealing with the fact of His coming and the signs of His coming, merely as beautiful truths which people must accept before I could invite them to become members of the church. I now see that the bet­ter plan is to take a night or two to present the fact of Christ's second com­ing, and then night by night, as the signs are explained, present such vital subjects as health reform,—embracing the use of tobacco, pork, intoxicating liquors, tea, coffee, et cetera,—all the way along weaving in the principles of conversion, faith, and victory over sin through Christ, making clear that the basis for teaching all these doctrinal truths is to prepare a people to be ready to meet the Saviour when He comes.

In proclaiming the evidence of the soon coming of Christ, why should we not at the same time give our hearers the opportunity personally to accept Christ as the one through whom they may obtain victory over natural be­setments, and receive the robe of His righteousness which is so essential for everyone who is bidden to the mar­riage supper of the Lamb? Can I justly claim rightly to have presented the subject of the second coming of Christ unless my hearers show evi­dences of changed lives? The evan­gelist who truly fulfills his mission will establish the hope of soon seeing Christ "as He is," and "every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure." 1 John 3:3.

The proclamation of the judgment hour, which began in 1844, must not be a mere mathematical demonstra­tion, but a living reality which affects the life of each hearer, annihilating evil speaking, covetousness, deceit, hatred of the brethren, malice, and filthy mindedness. Is any evangelist justified in concluding that he has suc­cessfully handled this subject unless he sees that the truth, in all its solemn import, has taken possession of lives?

In presenting the Sabbath truth, we must ever keep in mind that no one can keep the Sabbath until he has be­lieved on, and has come to know by personal experience, the "Lord of the Sabbath," who sanctifies the life. When the Sabbath is presented, will not people accept it gladly, when Je­sus has been admitted to the heart and holds control there? And if they have tasted the joy of sins forgiven, will they not be more than glad to enter into His rest in the true sense of Sab­bath keeping?

I do not wish to be misunderstood as maintaining that it is not necessary to present Scriptural arguments for the prophecies, or the Sabbath, or any doctrinal truth. But I do mean that the arguments must be interwoven with Christ, and must lead to Christ. The only righteousness that Christ has to offer is Sabbath-keeping righteous­ness, and if people will only accept Christ, they will then either accept the Sabbath when it is rightly pre­sented to them, or by refusing to be obedient to the Sabbath truth, reject the Saviour, who had begun a good work in them. But those who really know Christ as their personal friend and Saviour are much less if .31y to reject the .Sabbath truth. Therefore, how essential that acceptance of Christ should be made the all-important pri­mary issue. Failure to present the claims of Christ until after doctrinal truths are taught in logical order, may lead people to conclude that surrender of the life to Christ is a matter of secondary importance, and that all that is really necessary is to under­stand and acknowledge the validity of the arguments in favor of Seventh-day Adventism.

In a series of evangelistic meetings, there should never be any hiding of the fact that we are Seventh-day Adventists, especially from the time that decisions to accept Christ are called for. And really, I doubt if it pays in any case to hide our identity. It is our privilege, as Seventh-day Adventist evangelists, to preach Christ as no other evangelists can; and if we perceive our opportunity and are true to our calling, we need not fear. It may not always be wise to make too promi­nent the name "Seventh-day Advent­ist," but I like to announce my church connection whenever it seems the natu­ral and appropriate thing to do, and I often make this announcement on the first or second night of the series. I have yet to learn that such announce­ment has ever militated against the interest and attendance.

If the preaching of the return. of Christ brought about a mighty revival in 1843, as we know it did, the same result may again be seen. If the preaching of the beginning of the hour of God's judgment stirred the world, as we know it did, then we certainly can depend on it that the preaching of the nearness of His coming at the present time, and the close of proba­tion, will be attended by no less power. The finishing of the gospel message will be attended by mighty power, such as has never been known in any previous age. But the messengers must be living receptacles of that power.

3. Dependence on Accessories.—An­other mistake common to all, is the improper use of accessories in a series. By accessories I refer to slides, moving pictures, special music, et cetera. In this age of great spiritual declension, we should be slow to criticize any legitimate method of attracting people to the meetings. But once they come, and become interested in the preaching of the word, then the very thing that may have been of value in bringing them to the meetings may become a hindrance to the acceptance of the gos­pel. The ideal might seem to be the acknowledgment of no need of any "ac­cessory" to attract the public attention; but until such time as the Lord can place the third angel's message in the limelight of public interest in a more definite way than at present, it may be necessary for the evangelist to employ suitable accessories. But when the people become interested in the message itself, then it is a sad mistake to give them the impression that our business is merely to educate or to entertain.