This atomic era is called by some writers on world conditions, the Apocalyptic Era. For the Bible student, in prophecy it is the imminent "time of the end," which will be terminated by the intervention of Christ's second coming. For the last church of prophetic origin this solemn time calls for a decided renaissance of evangelism. This will come to pass when the saving, sanctifying truth takes possession of every true disciple. The human heart in which the Holy Spirit lives cannot keep the saving truth to itself. It will spread the good news, winning souls to Christ.
The unerring prophetic mission for the church is in Revelation 14:6, 7: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."
The church is God's appointed agency for the salvation of men. It was organized for service, and its mission is to carry the gospel to the world.—The Acts of the Apostles, p. 9.
The great latent forces of manpower in our churches, under the able leadership of our pastors and district leaders, may harness, unify, and coordinate all activities into a unified whole. This must be done with patience and perseverance. Then all the different lines of missionary activities will be prepared for a powerful frontal attack against the forces of evil. There will be an earnest determination to rescue the captives of Satan for the kingdom of God.
Only a very few ministers now believe that their position excludes them from the responsibility of winning souls. However, some still consider that their only responsibility is to shepherd the flock. But what does shepherding the flock include? Primarily it includes leading the church in missionary and soul-winning endeavors, feeding them with the Word of God, and seeing to it that their pasture is always "beside the still waters" of security in Christ.
Creating Soul-winning Churches
In Gospel Workers, page 31, we read: "To win souls to the kingdom of God must be their [ministers] first consideration." On page 197 the assertion is made that the minister should be a foreman in soul-winning activities. And on page 198: "A working church is a growing church. The members find a stimulus and a tonic in helping others." That attitude toward the minister's work would solve many problems that undermine the church's stability. The pastor or district leader may not have the ability to draw a great audience for an evangelistic campaign, but he surely should and must be an expert in hunting for souls, one by one, in the neighborhood of his church. If he cannot do this, he is betraying his office, and setting a bad example for his church members. A soul-winning pastor seldom has difficulty in converting his flock into soul winners. The work of the pastor requires first, the tender loving care of a shepherd; second, the energetic leadership of a working foreman; and third, the ability of the quick-eyed hunter who searches for prey in the vastness of the wilderness.
In The Acts of the Apostles, page 371, there is a wonderful statement of a sincere pastor's yearning. "The heart of the true minister is filled with an intense longing to save souls. . . . He watches for souls as one that must give an account."
There are churches today that have extinguished their light. They do not let it shine for the Master. As a result the members stumble on in darkness, hurting themselves and becoming sick with worry. Furthermore, they make the pathway dark for those who are looking for the light. Thus membership decreases, and as a result those who are left in darkness begin to die. An unknown German author has spoken of a dying church in this way:
The Dying Church
A church that does nothing for the public is on the way to the cemetery.
All who are so occupied with their own affairs that they find no time for God's work are making a mourning wreath.
All members who do nothing are acting as pallbearers;
The brother who never says anything drives the hearse;
Those that always hold back, when steps are taken to advance, are scattering flowers on the grave. The brother who always speaks of difficulties in the church is giving the funeral oration! Thus the church lies buried, relieved of all cares—What role do YOU play?
Vigorous pastoral evangelism in all our churches, with the cooperation of the members in accordance with their ability, should be inaugurated immediately. It will bring a renaissance of evangelism as well as spiritual revival.
"It is in working to spread the good news of salvation that we are brought near to the Sayiour."—The Ministry of Healing, p. 103.
Local pastoral evangelistic meetings should be augmented with greater campaigns in the larger cities. God has given some men the special gift of holding large audiences. Each talented evangelist should be supported by a team of no less than seven colaborers. This is in harmony with the Spirit of prophecy instruction. There is also needed a good public relations man, one who knows the ins and outs of sound, compelling advertising. Again we stress that evangelism should be the paramount task of the church professing Christ's soon coming. Our main objective is to preach the saving truth to every country, city, town, and village in fulfillment of the prophecy in Revelation 18:1.
Current SDA Trends in Evangelism
Is evangelism only a side line? In many fields evangelistic activity, with a few exceptions, is carried on sporadically and in only a few localities. Perhaps unconsciously, it seems to be considered only a side line of church activity.
Is evangelism considered imperative? We wonder whether today evangelists have as high a standing and recognition in our ranks as in some other denominations. For example, some time ago I heard several ministers discussing a certain worker who happened to pass by. The drift of the conversation was this: "He just could not make it in pastoral or administrative work, so he is still in evangelism. We feel sorry for him." Isn't this a tragic situation?
In the minds of some the word "evangelist" seems to have the connotation of an excitable, temperamental, effervescent personality. Others immediately think of a man who is an impressionist—one who by the force of his dominant personality creates an emotional atmosphere to convince men of his merchandise. Still others classify an evangelist as lacking poise and intellectual balance. Such thinking conceives of an evangelist as merely a person who accidentally has the gift of speech and keeps up a steady flow of chatter. Furthermore, there is a strong feeling that many people, under the teaching of such an evangelist, come into the church on a high wave of emotion, and that when the strong personality of the evangelist is withdrawn, these members will soon drop out of the church in discouragement.
Mechanical Soul Winning
There is a tendency to mechanize our various soul-saving activities in a manner somewhat comparable to the mechanization we find in industry. We are led to wonder whether we are catching the spirit of the times in automation. There is an inclination to do the work of soulsaving from a swivel chair and desk, in a heated den in the winter or an air-conditioned room in the summer But let us be factual and see how many of the results reported by our evangelistic efforts materialize either through the mail or by telephone. Is there such a thing as an armchair soul winner? Soulsaving always has needed and always will need the personal touch of men and women whose hearts overflow with the love of God. Emphatically, there is no substitute for personal work!
At times we are led to wonder whether our reluctance to launch out into public evangelism is because of fear that we might lose face in the eyes of the ministerial associations of other denominations. Will non-Adventist ministers think that we are proselytizing? But what about the thousands who belong to no church at all? These ministers will not charge us falsely if our evangelistic approach is right. It is tactics such as those used by the Shepherd's Rod that they object to. The solemn import of our message must ever impel us forward in evangelism —"Arise, ye men of God!"
H. W. Klaser, of our Statistical Department, assisted me in gathering some statistics of the North American Division. These factually reveal the trend of our soul-saving activities.
On January 1, 1956, the North American Division began with a membership of 293,448. During the year 17,742 were added by baptism and profession of faith. However, after all the figures were compiled, including deaths and apostasies, the membership stood at 299,984—a net gain of only 6,536 members. This gain was the result of the combined efforts of approximately 15,000 employed workers, representing all phases of our work in the North American Division, including the Voice of Prophecy, Faith for Today, public evangelism, home missionary activities, medical work, educational, et cetera. One union conference—and there may be a justified reason for it—showed a decrease of 21 members after this twelve-month period. Our problem, as is evident by these figures, shows twice as many members lost from the church as the net gain. No doubt the bigger percentage of this loss was through apostasy. Are we really shepherding our flock? [See chart below.]
Our world field looks to the North American Division for guidance and inspiration. In the light of these trends and statistics, should we not make an intelligent reappraisal of the whole trend of our church activities? We would do well to humbly turn back to the sound counsel of the Bible and the Spirit of prophecy—preaching the gospel to all the world by the living voice of the ministry, and adding to it even greater impact through the missionary activities of our consecrated laity.
Have we been delaying the coming of Christ by these halting attitudes that were formerly unknown in Adventism? Is it not high time to check and reverse the trends that indicate curtailment of our evangelistic work? This task does not center in any particular department of the General Conference, for all ministers are ordained of God to give priority to soul winning.
Method of Evangelism
It may be asked, "How can we reach the people in this scientific era that has brought about such changes in the philosophical and religious outlooks of the great masses? A solution must be found, because the Lord has commanded us: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them . . . : and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
In The Acts of the Apostles we read: "For the conversion of one sinner, the minister should tax his resources to the utmost."—Page 370. Although we have what might be thought insurmountable problems, if we would tax our resources to the utmost, with much prayer and meditation, we would find the divine solution. Other problems, undreamed of at present, will arise, but these also shall be solved by determined, consecrated, fearless men of God.
Teamwork and Various Methods to Be Used
This is a day of specialization. Television presents a great challenge, if not some handicaps to our evangelism. Various features for developing the interest in a campaign require more than one full-time worker. To have a successful campaign means that the evangelist must organize his work around a team of workers who are well qualified to lead out in their particular fields of activity.
To hold and gain the confidence of his audience the evangelist must present his message in a way that will convince his hearers that he is interested in their personal welfare, peace, and security. The great Baptist evangelist, Buckner Fanning, recently said: "I try to sell this truth as if I were an insurance salesman."
His public relations man, Earl Peed, said: "My only job is to offer Buckner to the people in the most up-to-date method there is—the same method I would use to sell coffee or beans."—Newsweek, Jan. 28, 1957.
Our message must be presented in such an appealing way that the people will be drawn to it as though by a magnet. To achieve this objective requires a great deal of hard work by the speaker.
In order to reach people in our public meetings the evangelist must study and experiment with the up-to-the-minute methods for presenting new truth. These appropriate suggestions are given in the book Evangelism:
You must vary your labor, and not have one way which you think must be followed at all times and in all places.—Page 126.
Let us not forget that different methods are to be employed to save different ones.—Page 106.
The classes of people you meet with decide for you the way in which the work should be handled. —Page 106.
God would have new and untried methods.—Page 125.
Some of the methods used in this work will be different from the methods used in the work in the past; but let no one, because of this, block the way by criticism—Page 105. (Italics supplied.)
Paul's Example
If we would adopt the principles of the apostle Paul, we would today witness a great revival in public evangelism.
For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some (1 Cor. 9:19-22).
Being crafty, I caught you with guile (2 Cor. 12: 16).
You need not feel that all the truth is to be spoken to unbelievers on any and every occasion. You should plan carefully what to say and what to leave unsaid. This is not practicing deception; it is to work as Paul worked. He says, "Being crafty, I caught you with guile." You must vary your labor, and not have one way which you think must be followed at all times and in all places. Your ways may seem to you a success, but if you used more tact, more of the wisdom of the serpent, you would have seen much more real results of your work.—Evangelism, pp. 125, 126.
We need to find workable methods of gaining the attention of atheists, agnostics, Catholics, and Jews. We should endeavor to find methods for holding large audiences.
Occasionally I have met conservative workers who were in a rut, afraid to tackle anything new or different. A rut has been described as a grave with the ends knocked out. Remember, a dying church is on its way to the cemetery. Do you know what a conservative is? Here is a definition: "A conservative is one who does not think that anything should be done for the first time." But what does the Lord say? "God would have new and untried methods followed."—Ibid., p. 125. The mind must be active to invent the best ways and means of reaching the people next to us. To understand human nature and to fitly enter- into another's religious views requires that the minister's mind must remain alert. He will have to take into account the likes and dislikes of those to be reached, and to deal sympathetically with mental barriers until the truth is seen in its full beauty, and then accepted.
Here is an inspired picture of how God sees our evangelism:
Had the believers in the truth purified their minds by obeying it, had they felt the importance of knowledge and refinement of manners in Christ's work, where one soul has been saved there might have been twenty.—Evangelism, p. 110. (Italics supplied.)
Time is short. Workers for Christ are needed everywhere. There should be one hundred earnest, faithful laborers in home and foreign mission fields where now there is one.—Ibid., p. 22. (Italics supplied.)
At the present time there is not a thousandth part being done in working the cities, that should be done, and that would be done if men and women would do their whole duty.--Ibid., p. 29. (Italics supplied.)
This instruction may suffice to show us as workers how the Lord considers our present soul-winning activities. Surely it is time to apply these Heaven-revealed principles in our evangelism.
A Program of Evangelistic Advance
The divine assignment is found on page 707 of Evangelism: "Advance; enter new territory. . . . There must be no delay in this work." This annexing of new territory must not stop somewhere along the line because, "The circle is to extend until it belts the world."—Ibid., p. 19.
Despite our labors we seem to see so few additions to our church. May this not be because we expect so little? Jesus once said to the father of a son with a dumb spirit: "All things are possible to him that believeth." We must also cry out like that father: "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief" (Mark 9:23, 24).
If the church would believe that each of us is saved to serve, to win the lost, and by faith would obey this injunction, we would soon witness the following prophetic picture: "God's word was obeyed, and as a result there were memorials [churches] for Him in every city and village."—Ibid., p. 699. Thanks to the Almighty, the church will be triumphant.
Some may argue that evangelism is difficult, and that it does not warrant the money, time, and energy required to gather a larger harvest. They say the people will not come out to hear the message. They claim that we are living in a TV age. But the Lord has commanded that the work must be done, notwithstanding the apparently insurmountable obstacles. So let all ministers and evangelists say as did Caleb, "We can do it." Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit the preaching of the message will triumph, and God's children will then possess the eternal Canaan. Evangelists and fellow workers, this is the golden hour of evangelism. Let us improve every opportunity to bring the message to a glorious triumph.