One of the heaviest items of evangelistic expense is advertising. It should, therefore, contribute largely to the success of evangelistic endeavor. If it does not make this contribution, we should set ourselves at once to learn the reason. We are not justified in spending the Lord's money on anything which does not bring satisfactory returns to the Lord's cause.
Seventh-day Adventist evangelists are not, by virtue of their calling, advertising experts; therefore it will not do any of us harm to give a considerable amount of study to this supremely important matter. We need to learn how to use the advertising medium to far better advantage than we have been using it. Such a study will yield profitable returns to the cause, and accomplish much-to-be-desired results in gaining a larger hearing for this message.
The need of a thoughtful study of sane, effective advertising methods is emphasized constantly as examples of evangelistic advertising come into headquarters from every part of the country. Some of this is fine, strong, dignified, and effective. Some is weak and futile,--a waste of money and of words. Some is cheap, tawdry, repellant, altogether misrepresenting this cause. Some is blatant and sensational, making extravagant claims for speaker or singer. A little of it is downright disgraceful and disgusting, creating the question as to why conference committees will allow any man to use conference funds to bring positive discredit on this cause. Much of it can be improved and made more effective. This we should at once set ourselves to accomplish.
All advertising is employed for a purpose. There may be subordinate aims which must be reached in order that the great object may be realized. But everything should be made to contribute to the chief end.
As evangelists we shall do well to go into counsel with ourselves, and consider seriously the chief purpose of our evangelistic advertising. Why do we buy space in newspapers? Why do we print circulars, cards, leaflets, placards, tickets? We must, of course, direct attention to the place where our meetings are to be held. We must say something about the time of the meet-
lags. It may help to speak of the adjuncts to the meetings, the special features of singing or other music, the choir, the stereopticon, the equipment. The names of those associated with the effort may be properly announced, particularly that of the evangelist. But all of these together, or any of them separately, are not the chief purpose of advertising.
In examining a large amount of evangelistic advertising, this question is forced to the front: Is the chief purpose of our advertising to direct attention to the truth or to the preacher of the truth? Which are we to study to make important, message or messenger? If this can be settled, we shall have gone a long way in the direction of determining what we are to build our advertisements around, what we are to make prominent, what we are to use as the drawing power to bring people to our meetings.
And, of course, theoretically we are all clear on this. We would all give the same reply. The message is the important thing. The truth is more important than the preacher. But the difficulty is that while we may all hold this as a theory, many of us do not practice our theory.
An examination of this past summer's evangelistic advertising matter discloses that in the majority of cases it is the preacher., who obtains the largest place in his own advertising.
He does not give first place to the truth he is to preach. He does not use the message as the great drawing feature, but himself.
And looking over such advertising matter it is difficult to escape the impression that a very large amount of sacred money is being used to exalt the human rather than the divine; to magnify human ability rather than the Bible; to create reputations for men instead of directing attention to the message for today.
One element in this tendency to exalt the human, to call attention to self, is apparent in the eagerness to acquire and use some title or degree, or to use these without acquiring them. The impression seems to prevail that just the plain, unadorned name of the preacher is not enough. It must be embellished with some important-looking, high-sounding title.
In the past we leaned pretty hard in the direction of "Evangelist," fearful that we should never be recognized as such unless we so tagged ourselves. We turned away from "Elder" because it meant nothing, or something wrong, to the general public.
Then the fashion changed, and "Professor" came in, and before long we had a considerable number of self-appointed "Professors." It should have been stopped at the beginning with a stern rebuke from conference committees, who should have pointed out that the employment of pretense, humbuggery, and chicanery by the public representatives of this message would inevitably classify us with the quacks, charlatans, and mountebanks of the circus and fairgrounds, and other self-styled "Professors," and so bring our work into disrepute.
Others, observing that it was merely a matter of appropriating a title, reached out for "Doctor," and drew that to themselves. It cost no more than "Professor," and somehow seemed to increase the importance of the misguided individual who took it, even though he must have looked at himself shamefacedly in the glass.
Others thought some letters after their names looked more important than the titles before them. So they went in for degrees.
When shall we learn, brethren, that these things, either titles or degrees, whether ours by right or simply by "appropriation," add exactly nothing at all to our advertising, and have no influence on the decision of people to come to our meetings? All they do is to minister to human pride. Let us discard them all (in our public announcements, I mean), and concentrate our energies on making the message itself the thing of chief importance, the drawing influence, in our advertising matter.
In concentrating on. the message, it will be profitable for us to study how to make our subject announcements clear and illuminating rather than confusing. There is nothing that serious-minded people are more interested in today than the great truths regarding human destiny which are wrapped up in this message of ours. These should not be covered up in our announcements by any lack of clarity, by any unfortunate wording, but made as plain and simple as possible. Let us make our subjects revealing rather than concealing. Let the people know when they come to meeting what is to be presented.
As suggestive illustrations of what I mean, not as models to follow, I would say that when I come to such a subject as the Lord's return, or the signs of it, instead of announcing some such subject as "The Coming Man of Destiny," which conveys very little of what we have to give to the world, I like to put it:
"Unmistakable Bible proof that the Messiah will appear to the world, and that within the present generation.
The changes He will make in the world."
When I reach the Sabbath question, instead of concealing what I am to preach about by some such announcement as "Creation's Memorial," which means nothing to the general public, I like to announce:
"Sunday is not the Sabbath. The seventh day is the Sabbath, not alone for the Jews, but for Christians as well, being a sign of their redemption. There is no Bible Sabbath but the seventh day."
Similarly, when the time comes for a presentation of the Sabbath in the New Testament, I like to make it all plain, thus:
"Sunday observance is not taught in the New Testament. Sunday was not kept by Jesus and His apostles, and ought not to be observed now by any one who believes the Bible."
And when the change of the Sabbath is to be set forth, something like the following is clear:
"Sunday observance, instead of being introduced into Christianity in the days of the apostles to commemorate the resurrection of Christ, was unknown in the days of the apostles, was not introduced for two hundred years after Christ, and is a mark of apostasy, being entirely a human ordinance. It is pagan in its origin, belongs to antichrist, but not to Christ, and should be discarded by every believer in the Bible. How, when, why, and by whom it was brought into the church."
It cannot be urged too strongly that we give more attention to studying the matter of effective advertising, making diligent effort to eliminate from our announcements everything that exalts the human, everything cheap, common, coarse, sensational, blatant; and to bringing this important feature of our work up to a higher plane of dignity, strength, and true effectiveness.
Battle Creek, Mich
