The choicest privilege afforded any man in the work of the third angel's message is to be out before the public in direct, aggressive, spiritual evangelism. When a man is ordained to Preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, there is conferred upon him the highest honor that can ever be bestowed upon mortal man in this old world. Subsequent calls to head institutions, to act as chairman of boards, to take charge of departmental work, or to serve as president of a union or local conference, never supersedes the honor that was bestowed upon him at his ordination.
In the conduct of the work of God it is necessary to have governing boards. We need executives. We must have leadership who know how to meet and solve problems. But there is grave danger lest we lose sight of the most important work God has committed to us; namely, active soul winning, while we are pressed and perplexed almost beyond measure to know how to solve the many problems, financial and otherwise, arising in connection with God's work.
Unless we as leaders are very careful and guarded, we can easily permit our own Christian experience to shrivel and dry up while sitting in many committee meetings and serving on many boards. For the sake of our own souls, as well as for the sake of the souls that need to be won to this truth, the ideal plan is for all who occupy places of special responsibility in this movement so to arrange their work as to permit them to take an active part in direct evangelism for a period each year.
A union president can delegate many of the details of his financial problems to the treasurer, a/id-Thus maw MY. a stronger man. -We can follow the same procedure with his local presidents, as relates to another group of details. And these local executives can in turn place larger responsibility upon local church leaders, thus relieving themselves of many matters that can be cared for by others equally well.
When a union conference president succeeds in so arranging his work as to devote several weeks to aggressive field evangelism, he is accomplishing a number of very important things. In getting away from board and committee meetings, church problems, and letter writing long enough to come into personal touch with Door souls who are starving for the bread of life, he is giving his own soul an opportunity to keep warm, and his heart an opportunity to be kept tender and spiritual.
He is also keeping up to date in aggressive soul winning, and so is in a position to counsel his workers as to the best methods of evangelism. How can a union conference president successfully lead his union in soul-winning evangelism unless he himself has had a fresh and successful experience in doing the very thing he is urging others to do? His example in raising up new churches, or reviving old churches, will be a decided encouragement to all the workers throughout his union.
The writer knows by personal experience that the greatest encouragement and inspiration a union president can bring to his entire field is the stimulus that comes as a result of a knowledge that the leaders are leading in the most important work God has committed to the church. What an appalling calamity it would be if men called of God to the work of the gospel ministry should permit themselves to be tied down to office routine work and board meetings, to the exclusion of the very work that they were ordained of God to do! When a union president, fresh from evangelistic effort, goes out among the churches in his territory, he will find men and women everywhere eager for his visit because they are confident that he will bring real spiritual food to them from a heart that is warm toward God and alert with Christian sympathy, such as the heart of a growing Christian is expected to be.
Furthermore, the writer prefers to follow the plan of going into soul-winning efforts, not as a union conference president, but as an evangeTTsf, being ad-veftTORI—Just as an evangelist and conducting his effort as an evangelist, with no reference whatsoever to the official position he occupies. Thus he takes his place by the side of all the other evangelists in his union, and carries his effort forward in the very same way that he is urging the other workers of his territory to conduct their efforts.
When a conference executive returns from such an effort, after having set a wholesome example in raising up a new church, providing a place of worship for the new church, and providing a church school for the new church, he is in a far better position to bring the right spirit and devotion into all the committee meetings, board meetings, and office work that must of necessity have his attention during the major portion of his time in these days of stress and perplexity.
For the sake of his own soul, for the sake of the force of workers of which he stands as leader, for the sake of the spirituality of the union for which he is responsible, and for the sake of the souls that are awaiting his ministry, the union conference president should do everything within his power to make it possible to spend considerable time in aggressive, soul-winning evangelism. It pays ih every way, and eternity will prove that it pays.
Chattanooga, Tenn.
