What we have reached a transition hour fraught with utmost importance to the onward course of the advent movement, must be apparent to every thoughtful observer who has its welfare and triumph at heart. And it is not only the part of wisdom, but it is solemnly incumbent upon us to again take our bearings, to calculate our true position at this time. to note the distance we have journeyed, to see how far we have yet to go, t3 determine the precise direction we are to take for port, and then to address ourselves to the adjustments and the speed required for reaching the desired haven on schedule time.
The definite hastening or retarding of our journey's end rests, to no small degree, in the hands of the world leadership here in Conference assembled. Fidelity to the divine course marked out for us should, therefore, be our supreme burden and quest, and adherence to Heaven's appointed schedule our greatest concern at this serious time in human affairs, when bewildering storms and cross-currents, and adverse winds and waves, all conspire to veer us, if possible, from our true and alloted course.
At the very outset of our survey let us once more affirm allegiance to our inspired sailing orders, as found in Revelation 14:6-12. Happy the lot of this people! We are not left merely to grope our way in the general direction of the port. We are not limited simply to the general principles and objectives of the gospel, with emphasis and application as men may sense the need in the light of their understanding of the times.
That was what largely guided in Reformation days, when men of God's appointment recovered the lost and forgotten truths of salvation, and pressed them upon the conscience of mankind until the devastating power of the Papacy was broken and the church turned again toward the goal of God's choosing. But we have wondrously bequeathed to us, in the clear and comprehensive outline of this matchless Scriptural commission, the vital content of our message, and its specific emphasis for the world today, together with the infallible program scheduled by the God of heaven for its triumphant close.
While we today constitute a church,—God's remnant church in a world gone apostate, with all the organization, equipment, and facilities of a church,—yet we are infinitely more than a church; we constitute a movement. There is nothing comparable to it save the exodus movement in ancient times, the apostolic movement at the beginning of the Christian Era, and the Reformation movement of the sixteenth century.
Placed in the hour of God's fast-closing judgment, its divinely appointed emphasis and the startling import of its placement in time conspire to make this the most momentous message ever declared among men, leading directly into the final crisis in human affairs, in its relationship to the Ruler of the universe. But while this movement constitutes the last stand of divine truth on earth, it is infinitely more than a stand. It is preeminently a march, a spiritual crusade, a forward movement. Like the early church, it is to go conquering and to conquer. It involves the most pretentious program ever undertaken by a small people with limited human forces and resources. And the impending coalition of world forces against it would make the whole undertaking preposterous were it not for the divine commission that gives it authority, and makes the power requisite to its full accomplishment available.
Ours is preeminently a time movement, based on prophecy and authorized by prophecy. Heralding the coming King, and announcing the end of all things, it would be utterly pointless and profitless, were it to swerve from its designated witness. But, faithful to its trust, it is destined to become the center of world discussion, world decision, and concerted world attack. It is imperative, therefore, that we fully sense the issues, and periodically review our relation thereto.
We do not look forward to generations yet unborn for the hour of crisis and consummation. The years do not stretch out before us. The triumphant close is set by the God of heaven for our day. The task begun is to be completed in our time. The work initiated under Heaven's direction is to be finished, and finished in this remnant hour. Therefore, the most urgent, sobering question confronting this great Conference and this movement is the marshaling of all our forces and all our resources for the finishing of this work.
Let us define these terms. By "forces" we would understand the full possibilities of our man power—young and old, ministry and laity. By "resources" we would understand both the heavenly and the earthly,—the full power of the Holy Spirit, and the utilization of all material means, institutions, and agencies that, in the purpose of God, blend with the divine for the finishing of the work. And by the "finishing of the work" we mean the completion of Heaven's final warning and entreaty to men, given in these last days under the terms and provisions of the threefold message of Revelation 14.
But it will be largely futile simply to consider the forces and resources necessary to, and available for, the finishing of the work, without first considering candidly those hindering causes that already have successfully delayed its consummation for decades,—if we are to credit the solemn declarations of the Spirit of prophecy, which I, for one, accept without reservation as authoritative.
Fortunately, we are not left merely to our human observation and conclusions, biased or blinded as they often are on such matters. The closing chapters of "Early Writings," for example, constitute a prophetic outline of the great, final episodes clustering about the epochal close of this movement. Here, as well as in hundreds of other places, our problems, needs, and pitfalls, together with God's own plans and provisions for the great consummation, are all pointed out. Honesty and sincerity concur in declaring the truth and accuracy of the picture portrayed. We study these admonitions to our great advantage, and we neglect or reject them only at great peril and at risk of catastrophe. We must get back to a more serious study and implicit following of the divine blueprint given this people in the writings of the Spirit of prophecy, if we are to meet the mind of God for such an hour as this, and to receive the divine enabling essential to the completion of our task.
Let us therefore first note certain outstanding deterrents that must receive not only our attention, but our definite correction, else the best of efforts and the wisest of plans will be largely futile. Now, it is imperative at the outset, to recognize the sobering fact that our work will never be finished simply by putting on more pressure, and initiating a greater drive along the lines of the past, with its increasingly relentless pressure. ..What we need, my brethren, is not merely more push, but more power from above. We need to agonize, more than we need to organize. And this we should never forget.
This is, I understand, the time and the place for plain, fearless speaking. And this is the proper group—the duly constituted delegates to the highest body of the church on earth, here in conference assembled—to give most candid study to those factors that impede the great forward movement due at this hour, as well as to consider those plans, provisions, and readjustments necessary to that new impetus. I am persuaded that a survey of the things that hinder is fully as necessary as to enumerate those that must be utilized. And I would be recreant to my duty if, under the circumstances, and with such a topic, I did not speak out plainly and faithfully the convictions of my soul, born from study, prayer, and love of this message. I believe all heaven is watching to see our actions and reactions in this Conference concerning the finishing of the work committed to our trust. Let us first consider six major hindrances.
Six Hindering Factors Examined
1. One of the serious deterrents to the speedy finishing of the work is the growing spirit and practice of colonization, with its deadly congestion around our institutional centers. This centralization is really one of our greatest denominational perils. Again and again we are warned by the Spirit of prophecy that this practice is contrary to divine principle. Its disastrous results are all too clearly observable. Many of our laity, moving into these centers with their large, heavily officered churches, lose their spiritual experience through sheer inactivity, with resultant carelessness and the inevitable spirit of criticism that follows in its train. Thus they drift into the background, and frequently out of the movement.
The strictures given through the servant of the Lord concerning centralization and enlargement in Battle Creek in days of old—as they added building to building, with growing concentration of interests in one place—may well be pondered anew today. We face the same peril now in many centers, and those timeless principles apply whenever and wherever similar conditions exist. Every worker in this cause should study afresh the Solemn warnings on this point recorded in Volume VIII, for this condition profoundly affects the whole question of a great forward movement to finish the work. In fact, this problem cannot be- dissociated from that larger issue.
As truly as God has spoken to us, so truly must there come in among us a return to those apostolic methods and practices, wherein the early disciples "went everywhere preaching the word." Acts 8:4. Some, in apostolic days, took the command, "Tarry ye in . . . Jerusalem," very seriously. They held tenaciously to the word that the gospel was to be preached first in Jerusalem. It became the great center. Indeed, it took the dispersing force of persecution to scatter the large group that had congregated there, and send them forth everywhere preaching the word in harmony with the divine mandate. There must come with us a similar breaking loose from congested Jerusalem centers—and, if necessary, it will come through the same heavy hand of persecution. Adequate and faithful plans for the finishing of the work must take the correction of this wrong into the reckoning.
This centralization has made necessary an unusual pastoral care of these large churches, with their difficult financial and disciplinary problems, and their waning missionary zeal. Men of real strength are required for this work. Thus the emphasis has shifted, as concerns a large group of ministers, from direct evangelism to managing churches. The emphasis has also shifted from securing funds accruing through a membership increased by continuous evangelism, to obtaining all possible funds, for mission and homeland enterprise, from those already in the church under the pastor's or district superintendent's care. It is a sobering fact that, instead of growing in membership as all of our churches should, over 900 of the 2,413 churches in North America did not add a single member through baptism or profession of faith in 1935, and there has been a steady increase in this direction during the last several years.
And this growing centralization problem has necessitated the booster help of our departments and their secretaries, which has developed all out of proportion to the original intent, so that many of our committees are now heavily secretarial. Choice has constantly to be made between securing a secretary or an evangelist, the secretarial work often being considered indispensable under the present arrangement.
Furthermore, this colonization has fostered large and elaborate institutions, often ministering to pride or ambition, and involving such heavy investments as have frequently curtailed aggressive evangelism, because of the financial burden with its load of debt and interest. That this has a profound bearing on our plans for the finishing of the work cannot be gainsaid.
2. Another hindrance of major moment is the growing contentment with, and conformity to, this present world. A fatal complacency has taken possession of many, as concerns its creature comforts and prospects, chilling that ardent longing for the speedy coming of our Lord that underlies all fervent, effectual service and sacrifice to hasten His return. To a disturbing degree this has retarded that greatly increased, sacrificial flow of means called for in the finishing of the work. And that it has adversely affected the missionary labors of the church to hasten the great consummation day, may be seen on every hand,
The times of greatest peril in the history of the Christian church have ever been the periods of her peace, favor, and prosperity. In such times, the tendency has been to become established, and to plan on living the rest of life amid earth's enticing comforts and conveniences. In favored lands today, many of our people and not a few of our workers live at ease in Zion. They have grown careless with the money entrusted to their care. Some have become prodigal and indulgent in its use. Others are guilty of covetous hoarding, and so are withholding their means from God. It is this blighting spirit and practice of covetousness that so fatally dries up the spirituality of the church, and retards its great final work.
Never has the church been able to stand prosperity. She thrives best under hardship, persecution, pressure, and calamity. Then her affections are weaned away from the things of earth. The deceptiveness of riches has led men, in these last days, to put off the placing of the bulk of their means in the cause for the finishing of the work. They have procrastinated, purposing to turn it over a little later—shortly before the end. But hosts of such are destined to bitter disappointment and final loss, for when they are ready to act, it will be too late. National calamities, bank failures, commercial collapses, and oppressive restrictions will soon sweep away houses and lands or other possessions that seem so dear, and tragic will be the losses and regrets. Investments in souls will alone survive the impending calamities and persecutions of earth, and the desolating fires of the last day. Such will prove the only sound, satisfying, and abiding investments of earth.
We are but pilgrims and strangers in this world (Heb. 11:13-16). We are in temporary, not permanent, quarters. And the pilgrim character of our sojourn and our witness to the world is never to be forgotten. We are not to plan and build for the generations to come. We are not to entrench ourselves, and settle back on our lees. Moreover, unjustifiable amounts of money have, in instances, been put into elaborate, oversized institutions that have belied our profession, the specious plea being that such give "character" and the "appearance of stability" to our work. But this worldly-wise policy has reacted adversely, both in the gifts of our people, and upon those who rightly expect better of us. And what would this excess money have returned had it been invested in souls through direct evangelism? This covetous withholding and selfish indulgence profoundly affects the speedy finishing of the work.
3. The subtle spirit of uncertainty that has sought entrance into the minds of some, is another real obstacle to an effectual advance move. Yet it is self-evident that confidence in the certainties of the advent movement is foundational to any unusual sacrifice in its behalf, and that a profound belief in the fundamental positions of Seventh-day Adventism is indispensable to any effective propagation of the faith through our ministry. By confidence in the certainties of the advent faith, I mean in the surety of the near advent of Christ,—confidence in the threefold message outlined in Revelation 14 as God's final warning and appeal to men, for the giving of which we were called into existence as a people; confidence in the credibility of its historic beginnings; confidence in the veracity and authority of the Spirit of prophecy; confidence in the integrity of the sanctuary truth, the hub of the great wheel of last-day doctrine; and confidence in the verity of the great outline prophecies—all resting, of course, on the full saving provisions of the everlasting gospel.
These fundamentals lie at the foundation of any effectual forward move. We must have the certainty of sound, sincere, intelligent, flaming personal conviction, else we shall fail to convince others, and thus fail to advance. If these fundamentals of our faith be not sure and certain, then we are the most mistaken and deluded people on the face of the earth. Then we are a people without a message, and without a legitimate mission in the world. But to this I do not for a moment consent.
I wish, in passing, to go on record with this statement concerning the historic foundations of this movement: The unprecedented privilege of three and one-half years of the most extensive and intensive study of the background and foundations of this movement ever accorded any individual,—compassing not only North America, but this past winter the great libraries of Stockholm, London, Berlin, and Paris,—has resulted in the most complete assemblage of such historic source documents ever brought together. And the evidence thus gathered, which is overwhelming, has resulted in certain very definite conclusions. The deeper I have delved into these treasures, the greater has been my belief in the divine origin of this movement as God's final message of warning and entreaty to men, and the more impressive and invulnerable have appeared its far-flung principles and vital objectives. Its historic foundations command my confidence. This people have nothing to fear except as they may forget the past, and fail to go on under the manifest leadings of God. This much I felt bound to say in this connection.
But we must definitely recognize and remedy the leavening influence of skepticism, uncertainty, and worldly conformity that is neutralizing the witness of some, and hampering the reception of the Holy Spirit by the church.
* This address was presented at the regular Ministerial Association hour, May 29, at 5:15 in Polk Hall, and was followed in discussion by Elders J. L. Shuler and Glenn Calkins. The remainder of the presentation and the discussions will appear in succeeding issues.
