The business of the minister is to make saints out of sinners. Helping men into the kingdom is the most thrilling occupation in the world. It calls for all there is of us. We cannot be shams and do this work effectively. But it is more than preaching. Telling men what to do is not enough. We must take time to understand them individually. We must sit down with them long enough to grasp their problems. Once we understand a case, our real work begins. A physician cannot diagnose his case until he takes into account the report of every test and has evaluated every symptom. His work is individual. So is ours.
Method and machinery are poor substitutes for personal evangelism. We must do more than lecture about heaven. We are not merely human phonographs. A minister is a guide on the highway of life, not merely a guidepost to point the way. He must not only lead but persuade men to follow. Paul said that knowing the terror of the Lord, he persuaded men. Is that our method?
Having persuaded men to follow, do we lead them, or do we leave them? If a man is working on Sabbath, do we merely tell him what to do, or do we offer to help him? Nothing is more important to a new convert than the right kind of counsel and help at this crucial moment. For him to go to his employer is often fatal, for he is too inexperienced in the things of God to properly present his case. Here is where a minister can show himself a real leader. To merely suggest his willingness to help in case something goes wrong is not sufficient. In some places, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the new convert, not knowing how to approach an employer, will face dismissal and possible discouragement.
This can be avoided if the minister will gently insist (all things being equal) on seeing the employer on his behalf. The technique in such an interview is important, for the destiny of the man and perhaps his family is at stake. It is never wise to approach the employer with a direct request. He may, and probably will, refuse. Then the case is closed. Take the occasion of asking about the employee and his standing in the organization. This information will be of real value to you. Explain that your purpose is to get his evaluation of this man because he is intending to join your church.
Then approach the problem by saying that you are in some difficulty because this man has come under a real conviction concerning the Sabbath. To tell him to crush his conscience and live contrary to the Word of God, is something you cannot do. But to encourage him to keep the Sabbath creates a problem for the employer. Then quietly ask the executive whether he can suggest a way out for you. He will see at once that it is your problem as well as his employee's. Most men are happy if they can help somebody out of difficulty. Appeal to his sense of right and duty. Usually before you leave you will have the problem solved. In many cases you will have made a real friend of the employer, sometimes even having prayer for him and his business.
Recently, after I had thanked an executive in one of the largest department stores in America for his co-operation in giving the Sabbath to a department head in his store, he reached out his hand and said, "It has been a pleasure to help." And then with moist eyes he added, "Won't you say a little prayer for me, too?"
Who can tell the ultimate of such an interview! We have nothing to be ashamed of, except our poor blundering ways. These men, too, need the same gospel that saves their employees. Are we endeavoring to reach them, or do we pass them by as the untouchables? They may never come to us, but we can go to them. Interest in an employee can be, and has been, the occasion for leading some of these business and social aristocrats into a knowledge of the message for this hour. This is our work. To neglect it brings irreparable loss. Becoming "all things to all men," if by any means we can win some, brings a joy unequaled in any other service.
R. A. A.
