The call to soul winning has always embraced the highest qualifications. Together with the Spirit-filled life we define as consecration, there must be a culture of heart and mind which provides the proper capacity for growth. The Bible worker must be well read. She must know how to read. She must know how to cull from professional as well as current reading material the gist of information th4t will give her factual knowledge. Such reading must not be too laborious, for the time for reading is limited. A biographical background is inspiring, and gives reality to a message that is clothed in human interest.
In our work today the Bible worker has a broader sphere of influence than she had some years ago. Our expanding program of evangelism, the intensity of the task, and the shortness of time in which to perform it, suggest that we become experts in soul winning. There is still a true need for simplicity and humility, and yet an inferiority complex is not helpful to us personally, nor is it faith inspiring to others.
A life dedication which is born out of a conviction that we have "come to the kingdom for such a time as this," gives joy and poise. Human beings still need words of appreciation, but, nevertheless, a worker who constantly needs praise and humoring is blocking the wheels of progress. We must "know what Israel ought to do," and our satisfaction lies in the task well performed under the guiding hand of God.
Our present-day evangelism calls for workers with various talents. Our evangelists specialize in features which they have discovered will fit their approaches and methods of work. There are evangelists who have a talent and a burden to win youth to this message. Such need Bible workers with the ability and the preparation to direct child evangelism. Children's meetings may well be featured in their efforts.
Then there are evangelists whose natural bent toward music will make a varied musical program the strongest feature of their work. These evangelists find a definite need for chorus directors who can organize choirs and lead out in instrumental music. Some Bible workers are pianists or singers, while others are gifted in conducting junior choirs.
There are evangelists who emphasize the health work as the entering wedge for evangelism. They find the services of a nurse, who is also a Bible worker, of special help. There is also a place for the dietitian who can do Bible work. Evangelists must find workers whose talents and disposition blend with theirs. There is sound wisdom in the evangelistic company whose experience, as they Work together, builds for strength and proficiency.
This is the second of a series of outline studies planned to appear each month during 1941 in these columns of THE MINISTRY. They will deal with the call, qualifications, scope, and methods of the profession. While we can merely touch the high points, it is aimed that these studies will lead the Bible worker into a deeper appreciation of the sacred and important call to this gospel ministry.
Qualifications for Bible Work
I. Bible Work Embraces High Standards
1. Feeling a lack of one's ability. (Isa. 6:3-5; Ex. 4:10.)
2. Accepting the sufficiency of Christ. (2 COr. 2 :16 ; 35 ; 12:9.)
3. Meeting the qualifications for Bible work. (COL 336; MH 474, par. 2 ; AA 359.)
II. Natural Ability And Training
(GW 80, 334, 335, 118 ; AA 203, 204.)
I. Prerequisite, heart culture. (AA 332, 507.)
2. Mental ability and capacity for growth. (AA 235, 455)
3. Knowledge of our message and its methods. (2 Tim. 2:15.)
III. Personality Traits
(See "Art of Personal Evangelism," by A. J. Wearner, pp. 53-59.)
Love. Zeal. Dignity. Simplicity. Patience. Tact. Courage. Determination. Gentleness. Humility. Earnestness. Consecration. Self-sacrifice.
IV. Leadership Traits
1. Individuality. (AA 275, 276, 405, 402.)
2. Insight. (AA 234, 279, 307, 397; John 2:25; I Cor. 12 :I0 ; 2:11.)
3. Vision (MYP 24, 25).
4. Buoyancy and Pliability (AA 300, 301, 326, 344, 357, 363, 449, 452, 490, 491, 494, 500, 510, 9T 118)
5. Ability to plan and execute. (AA 353, 501.)
L. C. Kleuser
