Beware of Reversing God's Order

With increasing openings in heathen lands and many hitherto untouched places, we as Seventh-day Adventists need carefully to guard against prematurely introducing certain features of our work to the neglect of the evan­gelical.

By W. G. TURNER, Vice-President of the General Conference

With increasing openings in heathen lands and many hitherto untouched places, we as Seventh-day Adventists need carefully to guard against prematurely introducing certain features of our work, such as the educational—important and essential as this is in its place—to the neglect of the evan­gelical. We need to exercise the utmost care lest we unduly emphasize any one phase to the hurt of that main work to which we are called of God; that is, the preparation of a people for the coming of the Lord. "The message of present truth is to prepare a peo­ple for the coming of the Lord," we are clearly told in "Fundamentals of Christian Education," page 530.

We are called to evangelism and to the propagation , of the message in simplicity through the preaching of the Word. To the Lord, the salvation of a man's soul is primary. It was to save men from sin that Christ died. Salvation of the soul comes before the edu­cation of a man's mind, the development of a man's physique, or the growth of a man's social instincts.

Spiritual life is vital and fundamental in the development of Christian character. At­tempts to change man spiritually by the em­phasis of secular education, by the erection of dispensaries and hospitals, or by the estab­lishment of industrial plants, have generally failed. To change man spiritually, spiritual forces must predominate; and these forces are primarily introduced by the evangelist and the Word of the living God. These principles we should never forget.

When the Holy Spirit has access to human hearts, and when these hearts are yielded to the Lord, then there quickly follows a desire for education, a strong, clean body, and the ability to use one's hands in industry for him­self and in service for others. Then, Chris­tian men will naturally and harmoniously grow in these mental, physical, and social spheres that will make them full men in all things pertaining to this present life and to the life that is to come.

In parts of Africa which I have recently been privileged to visit,—and possibly in other lands as well,—thinking leaders of the people are becoming seriously alarmed as they wit­ness the rapid development of certain features of present-day civilization, without a corre­sponding development in the things of char­acter and of God. The education is fostered by the controlling governments, who are natu­rally interested in developing the citizenship in the territories under their jurisdiction. Education, likewise strongly promoted by mis­sion societies, is making rapid advancement in many parts of the continent. However, as one writer has stated, "The African without education was a problem to the missionary, but the African with education and without God is a still greater problem, if not a menace to the world."

That is true of all men everywhere. The world is education-minded today. Great in­stitutions of learning appear on every hand; but sad to say, the world is not spiritually-minded. Education frequently is begun upon a life that does not know God, and produces the finished product without Him. Thus we .now live in an age rapidly developing along lines that are dangerous and destructive.

Some mission leaders are deeply concerned over the methods now employed in their ranks —methods which are sadly failing to produce converted Christians. After one of the early missionary bishops of West Africa had reached his territory and had had time to look over his field, in organizing his work he said, "The missionaries are devoting too much time to matters of education, and neglecting the urgent duty of evangelism." Another leader said:

To the preaching of the gospel of a crucified Saviour, far more than to the introduction of a national system of education, was due the marvelous change which soon was visible in the lives and external circumstances of the former slaves. Spir­itual life was evident."

Education Overtowering Evangelism

The trend today in mission lands, as well as in the homeland, is decidedly educational, with the result that evangelism is losing much of its place in the program set out by the Lord for the purpose of finishing His work, that of preparing "a people for the coming of the Lord." And writers on mission prob­lems do not hesitate to state that the putting of education first and evangelism and con­version second, is definitely pulling downward rather than lifting upward.

It is interesting to note that one out of every four missionaries on the continent of Africa is wholly engaged in educational work. The reasons are possibly found in the fact that governments offer heavy subsidies to mission bodies who will conform with their educational program, accept their curriculums, and follow the direction of their educational officers. These bodies are now annually re­ceiving hundreds of thousands of dollars of government money—money which is proving strangely attractive to mission boards, and turning their workers from the purpose for which their missions were originally estab­lished.

The educational side of mission activity is becoming unduly prominent, and the primary work of the missionary—which we repeat is spiritual—has become in some instances al­most wholly and secularly educational. It is a most noteworthy fact that where education. as such, is most strongly developed, there the moral and spiritual problems are the greatest. Education has not helped solve these prob­lems, but by allying itself with the growing material prosperity, has rather aggravated them. With the many new avenues now opening before our workers today, we do need to be particularly careful lest we make the mistake so many mission bodies are making, that of emphasizing the need of education as primary, and overlooking the need of conver­sion.

For the missionary to make education the first and most important task, means the train­ing of unconverted men and women for worldly jobs rather than the fitting of con­verted men to be workers for Christ. Educa­tion need not of necessity be the work of the mission body, but evangelism and the organi­zation and building of churches unquestion­ably is. No amount of earnestness in educa­tional matters will, make up for weakness in these fundamental activities.

In making this statement, we do not in any sense decry the necessity for education. What we do aim to emphasize is that our educational work should be for the develop­ment of Christian young people in order that they may be workers for God, rather than for the instruction of non-Christians who at the end of their studies will usually prove to be workers in the world, without Christ.

President Coolidge once said : "It was not education that founded religion, but it was religion that founded education. It was be­side the place of worship that there grew up the school." Let us therefore make the "place of worship" first, and then, from the product of such, launch our educational work. There will then be found arising from the lands where workers are needed, a band of Chris­tian young people who, having first yielded their hearts to God, are ready to give their lives in service for others.


Ministry reserves the right to approve, disapprove, and delete comments at our discretion and will not be able to respond to inquiries about these comments. Please ensure that your words are respectful, courteous, and relevant.

comments powered by Disqus

By W. G. TURNER, Vice-President of the General Conference

July 1938

Download PDF
Ministry Cover

More Articles In This Issue

The Implications of Catholicity—No. 1

What does it mean to assert the catholicity of the church?

Principles of Administration—No. 5

Should the officers of a church attempt to instruct or control the votes of a church delegation?

Training an Indigenous Ministry

No greater task lies before our leaders in mission lands than the training of a strong, indigenous ministry, called of God to give the message to their own people in the land in which they were born.

Learning From Others

Would you like to glean the very best from the experience of other foreign mission societies, working by our side in every land?

Good Form in the Pulpit

The primary function of the serv­ices in the house of God is worship.

"Dress Reform" Counsels of 1865—No. 1

Now and then critics of the Spirit of prophecy have sought to represent that gift as leading our church sisters into something ridiculous in the way of dress in the early times.

The Ecumenical Movement—No. 2

What do we make of ecclesiastical universalism?

A More Effectual Ministry

Sound counsel from seasoned evangelists.

View All Issue Contents

Digital delivery

If you're a print subscriber, we'll complement your print copy of Ministry with an electronic version.

Sign up
Advertisement - RevivalandReformation 300x250

Recent issues

See All