It has been said that two out of every five who come in the front door to unite with the church, go out the back door and are lost to our cause. During the seven-year period, from 1931 to 1937, 90,388 new members were added to our churches in the North American Division, while 37,598 were dropped for apostasy or for some other reason. This would indicate that we are losing by apostasy 42 per cent of those brought into the church. Such an appalling situation not only calls for a careful study of the matter of conserving results, but demands an application of such appropriate action as will stop all preventable losses.
This matter of conservation of results in public evangelism consists of two definite factors: (I) thorough work by the evangelist and careful binding off of the interest ; (2) right follow-up after the regular meetings are closed. If these two elements are given their proper place in the evangelism of the advent movement, the two greatest sources of preventable losses among our members will be eliminated. True success in evangelism does not depend so much on the number of people baptized, as on the number who stick to the message and are faithful to the end. And the percentage of converts who remain faithful depends on how thoroughly they are prepared for baptism, and the carefulness exercised in binding off and following up the effort.
Until the sealing work is done, there will always be some who will fall away. There were many who started to follow Christ when He was here, and then fell away when the way became narrow and hard. There were many who fell away in the days of the apostles through sin and error in various forms. But the more thoroughly the minister does his work by the right kind of spiritual effort from the desk and from house to house, and the more thoroughly he establishes people in the message, the smaller will be the number who will fall away afterward.
Converts who are well grounded in the faith seldom leave the truth. When the evangelist does his work in the right way, not more than 10 to 15 per cent of the newly baptized converts will finally drop out from the advent movement. This has been demonstrated by accurate checkups on public efforts two or three years after the efforts were held, and the evangelist had passed on to other cities.
A Case in Point
Here are some actual figures. A city effort was held in 1932 on virgin soil, where people knew nothing about Seventh-day Adventists. There were only three white believers in the city at the time. After the effort, a new church was organized early in 1933, with eighty-three members. Five years later (1938) a checkup was made on every one of the eighty-three names. It was found that two out of the number had died in the faith, twenty had moved away and had been transferred to other Adventist churches or were attending services at other Adventist churches. Two were missing, and no one could tell where they were. Nine out of the original group had been disfellowshiped for apostasy.
Note that the number dropped for apostasy out of this group was less than two a year, or only "Io.8 per cent for the five-year period. This is surely an excellent showing, in view of the fact that there was no established organization into which these new converts could be taken, and that they had no church building until two years after the group had been organized into a church. It is always a distinct advantage in holding a group of new believers to be able to add them to an established church organization with a house of worship. It should be noted that the number who moved away to other churches amounted to 24 per cent for the five-year period. In making a checkup on how many converts remain faithful from a given effort, the figures must not be based only on those in that place who remain faithful, but due account must be taken of those who have moved to other places as well.
This example is only one of many that could be cited. Thank God, there is power in the third angel's message to hold those true who really accept it ! This is in accordance with the instruction from the Spirit of prophecy.
"God's work is not to be done in a bungling, slipshod manner. When a minister enters a field, he should work that field thoroughly. He should not be satisfied with his success until he can, through earnest labor and the blessing of Heaven, present to the Lord converts who have a true sense of their responsibility, and who will do their appointed work. If he has Properly instructed those under his care, when he leaves for other fields of labor the work will not ravel out ; it will be bound off so firmly as to be secure."—"Gospel Workers," p. 369.
This statement indicates very clearly wherein lies the fault when heavy losses follow an effort, and the work ravels out and vanishes away,—the evangelist did not do the work in the way God requires. The evangelist's work was of a shallow, superficial nature, and lacked the depth and thoroughness essential for permanent results. It is the will of the Master Workman that the fruit from the efforts of His underworkmen should remain. In John 15:16 He says: "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain."
The Acid Test of an Effort
The acid test, then, of a successful public effort is not merely how many were baptized, but how many are in the truth as faithful, consecrated members of the advent movement two or three years after the effort has been held. It is no credit to any evangelist to baptize people by the hundreds, then in a short time have from 50 to 75 percent fall away from the church. It is the quality of the members added to the church that really builds up the church, rather than mere initial numbers.
The story of Gideon's army suggests that God is more interested in quality than in quantity. Yes, it is not the number baptized that counts so much as the number that continue faithful. We are told through the Spirit of prophecy : "God would be better pleased to have six thoroughly converted to the truth than to have sixty make a profession and yet not be truly converted."—"Gospel Workers," p. 370.
There is an unfair tendency today to measure the success of public efforts and the ability of evangelists altogether by the number of baptisms reported. The number of baptisms must always be taken into account, of course, but the yardstick of successful evangelism reaches farther than the number of baptisms.
It takes into account the percentage that continue faithful after baptism. This feature needs to be emphasized. Let there be a checkup one or two years after the effort to see how many have continued faithful to the truth out of the number baptized. Then can the real success of the effort be measured, and the ability of the evangelist be rated. This would be one effective way of correcting the loose, slack, halfway manner of working which is seen in some efforts.
It is to be regretted that sometimes an unannounced race or rivalry between evangelists for the largest number of converts leads to baptizing people before they are thoroughly instructed. Competition or goal setting among workers is a good thing if it is not carried to the point where standards are lowered or the work is too hastily done. We should seek to win the largest possible number to Christ and His truth, but the work of bringing them into the truth must always be done with thoroughness. Men build a cathedral to stand for centuries, but a true evangelist must build for eternity. How carefully, then, should this work of adding members be done ! Whether a man brings in six, or sixty, or six hundred, he ought to follow methods by which every one, as far as possible, will be brought in to stay.
Some will attempt to justify the methods of an evangelist who suffers heavy losses among his converts, by reminding us that after all these losses are deducted, the number who still continue faithful exceeds what the majority of our mediocre workers can produce. But this does not justify the 'methods of that evangelist. His heavy losses will not occur, or continue, if right methods are followed. Whenever losses run above 20 per cent two years after the effort, the evangelist needs to revamp his methods in favor of a more thorough work.
Heavy losses are a reproach to the evangelist and an imposition upon the church. Efforts where from 50 to 75 per cent of the converts give up the faith and have to be disfellowshiped often bring the whole matter of public evangelism into disrepute in many minds. It leads men to wonder whether public evangelism really pays. Such efforts are really a disgrace to the high and holy calling of evangelism. It would be helpful to every evangelist to return a year or two afterward to the places where he has held efforts, and check up on how many of the converts have continued faithful.
This matter of thoroughness in evangelistic work must be important, in view of the emphasis placed upon it in the Spirit of prophecy. Every evangelist should make the principles there set forth the controlling features of his evangelistic work. Here is one statement: "Some ministers who engage in the work of saving souls fail to secure the best results, because they do not carry through with thoroughness the work that they commenced with so much enthusiasm."—"Testimonies," Vol. IV, p. 261. And the supreme importance of thoroughness is shown by the statement in "Gospel Workers," page 368, to the effect that a minister might better never engage in soul-winning work, unless he can bind it off thoroughly. Unless the evangelist brings in converts who will stick, then he might better never hold an effort.
