It may be unpleasant to face, but we cannot ignore the fact that, in spite of our best efforts, the general public is grossly ignorant of what Seventh-day Adventists believe and why. And yet our commission is to "preach the gospel to every creature."
It is distressing to most of us, given responsibility for the progress of the movement in an area, to realize that we are making almost no impression at all upon the multitudes in that territory. We may hire the largest auditorium in town, spend thousands of dollars and months of intensive labor, and perhaps have audiences numbering into the thousands, but when it is all said and done, those who come out to hear our message are but pitifully few compared with the teeming multitudes that do not.
The case is usually the same in large cities or small. In the comparatively small city of Chickasha, Oklahoma, we conducted a major evangelistic crusade. The newspapers were saturated with the usual advertising, attendance was average, and there were enough baptisms to establish a small church organization. But now whatever arousement there may have been is past, the little group of believers struggle bravely on, and the town itself continues on its undisturbed course. Hardly a ripple was created. Not three out of a hundred in that city have the slightest idea of what it was all about —nor do they care.
Perhaps four or five hundred individuals came out to the meetings at one time or other, and heard part of the message. But there are 16,000 people in that city! When will we ever tell the message to the other 15,500? Perhaps if time lasts twenty years, we shall have another crusade and tell the story to another four or five hundred. But does it sound like preaching the gospel to "every creature"?
It is a pity that we seem to feel we cannot bring our message of truth out into the open until we have hearers in the most favorable environment. We must arrange a personal Bible study, or we must bring them into a tabernacle or tent to arouse their enthusiasm with a "lively song service," and then, at the proper moment, dispense the seeds of truth.
All this is fine—it is even ideal. It is perhaps the most productive way to present the message. But we would be foolish to believe that we shall ever tell the gospel to every creature in this fashion. We shall never reach the multitudes if we wait for them to come into our churches and halls—because the multitudes simply do not come. We must get to them in some other way.
Our mission is to tell; and, if possible, to win. But win or not—we must tell the message! We spend many hundreds of dollars in the newspapers to advertise our meetings—but usually not a cent to tell the message itself in that same medium. We feel that in order to win some souls we must not reveal our message outright but must coax the public into our meetings so that we shall be able to present it to best advantage. But that very tactic inevitably shuts out the great multitudes from hearing even a smattering of the message.
Our mission to tell the truth to every creature will hardly be fulfilled from the lecture platform. If we would tell the message to multitudes, we must go to them. Obviously they do not come to us.
Shall we go to the masses of people personally —one at a time? The staggering nature of such a program can be understood when we calculate that ten to fifteen thousand calls would have to be made in North America by every Seventh-day Adventist to present a short series of studies to all the multitudes in this field. We are all aware that this figure would soar tremendously if we were to begin discounting those of our member ship who could not present such a series of studies.
Shall we mail out a series of tracts to the multitudes? It is possible, of course, but un likely. To send out a series of twelve tracts to every home in, say Oklahoma City (hardly a mammoth metropolis), would cost more than $15,000, including postage and other expenses. It is seriously to be doubted that Oklahoma City's active membership of about 300 would undertake the mailing—or distributing—of nearly 100,000 tracts a week!
Yet the multitudes can be reached easily and economically. The fundamentals of the last warning message, in a series of twelve paid, doctrinal articles, can be placed in virtually every home in Oklahoma City at a cost of less than $700—and no further expense or labor in distribution ! Those messages will go with a certain authority into 110,000 homes, not only in -Oklahoma City, but throughout the State as well, reaching into every "dark county"— truly taking truth to the multitudes. The same thing can be accomplished perhaps even more effectively in smaller cities.
There is no medium today that is more thoroughly absorbed by the masses than the local newspaper. Virtually every adult in every city, town, and hamlet is a reader of his local paper, according to University of Chicago researchers. But how much of the message are the multitudes reading in the newspapers of the nation?
We have a tremendously important and productive press relations program, of course. But while this builds prestige for the movement and perhaps hints at times at phases of our belief, free publicity certainly cannot adequately present the message itself. If it did, it would not long be free!
The Oklahoma Conference Press Bureau recently prepared just such a series of articles. These articles were written in casual, man- on-the-street language, and carefully checked by a special committee. A general heading, "What About the Future?" was used on each one, with the individual articles having specific subheading. The entire series was produced in mat form and distributed to the local churches, under the supervision of the district leaders.*
The churches in Oklahoma can insert this entire series of twelve attractive articles, together with an invitation to request further literature or to enroll in the correspondence course, in the local newspapers for an average cost of less than $100. Those articles will go into virtually every home in each of those cities as well as into surrounding rural territory, with an appeal and authority that only a newspaper affords.
The mat shown here is on the subject "End of the World." Other subjects used are as follows : "The World After Next," "How to Sur vive the End of the World," "A Noose on Your Neck ?" "Is Heaven a Humbug?" "How to Live Forever."
Oklahoma is not a populous State, and the conference is about average both in membership and in number of churches (46); yet with each church using just this one advertising series, nearly five million Seventh-day Adventist messages would be circulated through the State, or the equivalent of about eight for every home in Oklahoma. It is obvious that this plan has a tremendous potential.
A number of our churches are entering the dark counties with this program. Additional series are planned. It is anticipated that by using this inexpensive, yet effective, method of newspaper evangelism, with proper follow-up work, of course, it will not require too many years for the fundamentals of the message to be presented to the vast majority of people in the State.
Pope Pius XII recently told a group of American newsmen: "Truth needs a voice, and the most potent voice that we have for reaching the general public today is the press." Truth does need a voice, and is not our own objective to reach the "general public"? We shall do it more quickly and more economically by utilizing the "most potent voice," the press. It is a way of taking truth to the multitudes, and at a cost we can afford.
We must not slacken our efforts in public evangelism, literature circulation, personal work, or radio ministry, but if we would succeed in our mission to "preach the gospel to every creature," we must begin to take greater advantage of the most potent means we have for reaching the multitudes.
*Along with a set of mats for each church, a supply of promotional folders for distribution to the church members, as well as sheets of detailed instructions, were given to the workers.
