Pointer's to Progress

Monthly pulpit pointer's by the Ministry staff.

By the Ministry staff. 

MONEY AND SOULS

To evaluate souls in terms of dollars spent to reach them is  as fatal as it is foolish. It is undeniable that the Lord's money must be judiciously distributed and jealously guarded. Nor can one with justice question the reluctance of the guardians of the storehouse to scatter the funds to the four winds. The evangelist needs to be both reasonable in his requests and cautious with his expenditures.

However, when the gospel has been proclaimed and souls have been won to the kingdom, is it not evidence of human carnality to give a positive or negative evaluation on the basis of dollars spent? It is not after God's order that public evangelism should go begging while millions are poured into institutions and related causes. The church cannot justify penurious appropriations to the chief purpose of its existence—the preaching of God's message. We are aware that in some areas the lack of money is a distressing problem. What is the solution? The obvious answer is an increased membership.

Evangelism, when properly conducted, has proved to be a wise investment, as well as a cure for church ills. When it is neither starved nor overfed, but given its proper latitude, it will make its own way. The true evangelist, who has put forth consecrated, sincere effort, deserves neither credit nor cruci­fixion whether he wins many or few. To evaluate the effort results on the per-dollar-spent basis is to measure a Christian undertaking by a pagan rule.

Many institutions that operate in the red year after year receive their thousands without hesita­tion, and doubtless rightly so, for the good they do cannot be measured in dollars and cents. Neither can a financial rule measure the value of evangelism. Surely, there should be no hesitation to invest in public evangelism with the same freedom. In no other area of church operation is our ability to whittle down more evident than in the field of evangelism. We need to give serious thought to our evangelistic appropriations as well as to their wise and not wasteful expenditure, ever keeping in mind that the value of the results cannot be measured by either the cost of the effort per convert or the initial financial returns of the new believers. Steady, progressive evangelism is the best possible paying investment no matter how you look at it. Unentered areas everywhere await our evangelistic conquests for the kingdom of God.               

E. E. C.

FIRST THINGS

The not-so-seldom-heard expression, "I am carrying such a heavy program that I cannot find time for evangelism" is less indicative of the perils of organization than of the minister's lack of forethought and wise planning. It is not often that the discharge of responsibility interferes with the exercise of one's calling. But when it does, the path of duty is clear. What minister would deny that he is first and fore­most a "preacher of the Word"—that evangelism IS his first work?

Could it be that this supposed conflict between evangelistic effort and administrative responsibility arises from the minister's own confusion over the matter of "doing it" all himself or "getting it done" with the help of others? The "do it all yourself" pas­tor will seldom have time to eat, let alone evangelize. The writer is well aware of the latter-day emphasis on the minister's "leading out" in all the various campaigns of the church. "The leader should lead" has become the popular slogan. "Set the pace" is the battle cry. However, early martyrdom awaits the man who tries to do it all himself. Ulcers, sleepless nights, and soul poverty are the sure consequence of attempting the impossible.

The counsel of Jethro to Moses would seem the better way. Are there not capable people in all of our churches who can bear responsibility? Until they are put to work, the end will never come. Wise organization, distribution of responsibility, will free the minister to do his "first work"—evangelism! "Year round evangelism" must now become our watchword. With "new blood" constantly flowing into the veins of the church, many problems that now plague our work would disappear—and the minister himself would exude new radiance and health.

Members can be trained to win souls, raise goals, and visit one another while their pastor seeks the lost. Congregations should be taught to stand on their own feet. They'll have to do so later on. They should be encouraged to "take their burdens to the Lord and leave them there," and not burden the man of God with trivial matters. He is a man with a mission—to "conquer his world for Christ." Nothing must keep him out of enemy territory—extending the cause of the kingdom. "Delocalize" the local leadership and concentrate more on first things.

E. E. C.

 

AN INTELLIGENT PREACHING MINISTRY

Before the delivery of his sermon the preacher should consider the effort and expense his parishioners put forth to go to church, and the hours spent listening to the preacher, and then ask himself: "Will my congregation be benefited and enriched by the ser­mon, or will they be wasting their time?"

Recently a good brother offered the following pathetic commentary on his pastor's preaching: "On Sabbath morning I get more blessings for my needy soul by staying at home and reading a good book, in preference to going to church and listening to the preacher. He speaks fluently but says nothing" This ought not to be.

Every sermon, be the occasion a prayer meeting, a Sabbath morning service, or a public address, ought to be of such a nature that every hearer deep down in his heart will recognize that he has been a recipient of great treasure, and that he would not have missed it under any circumstances.

Every sermon is an unwitting revelation of how much or how little a minister knows God, the measure of his sincerity and belief in the subject he delivers, and of how much or how little he knows about the real needs and longings of the people to whom he speaks.

Spirit-filled sermons are the result of adherence to certain fundamental principles of preaching. In the first place the preacher must know God through constant study of His Word, and through much prayer and meditation. He must also know his people through personal visitation and counseling. Little or no personal work greatly handicaps his ministry. All worth-while preaching has come from the lips of men who have dedicated many hours to individual counseling. The successful preacher will study to know why people act as they do, and what ideas and motivations can lead them to the right decisions in life. Likewise the study of good books is indis­pensable to successful preaching, and, whenever possible, advanced studies, such as those offered by our Seminary, should be pursued.

Wholehearted effort is another secret of success. Elder James White emphasized this in his counsel to two young ministers whom he assisted in acquiring a library: "When you study, study with all your might, and when you visit, visit with all your might, and exercise briskly. Whatever you do, do it with all your might."

We must not make the mistake of assuming that because the Lord is coming soon, there is too little time to obtain an education. Elder White felt it was a great error to be content "to gather a little here and there" and to get along only half informed. He quoted Dr. Clarke as saying, "A Methodist minis­ter should know everything." How much more dili­gent should the Adventist ministry be in acquiring true knowledge, for as Elder White put it, "If any class of men can be strong in the word of God, . . . it is Seventh-day Adventists."

W. S.

RESENTMENT

One of the temptations of his office which a minister must invariably shun is the tendency to rationalize personal resentment as righteous indignation. This feel­ing of resentment seeks to express itself whenever the minister meets with misunderstanding, misrepre­sentation, unjustified criticism, or adamant oppo­sition to his plans. It may be an expression of his own immature, overwrought emotions.

Preachers of inner resentment preach scolding or whining sermons that are but an expression of their own personal dislikes or inner turmoil. The petu­lance of such verbalized smoldering resentment is a pitiful prostitution of the gospel ministry.

Every worker should make certain that his con­demnation of sin is not merely a condemnation of specific sinners seated in the congregation. He must be ever cognizant of the fact that everyone is fight­ing a hard battle against sin and evil and needs constantly the encouragement from the Lord and the inspiring messages of peace, and love, and sal­vation provided in God's Word.

A true minister must ever seek by prayer and fellowship to love and understand his people. Every Christian congregation has the God-given right to be freed from the preacher resentment. In his book The Minister Looks at Himself Dr. Wayne C. Clark refers to the frustration of the preacher who finds certain individuals in the congregation who disparage or slight his earnest pulpit efforts, and indicates that the reason behind this usually is "that the minister has equated self-aims with kingdom-aims. He seems unable to distinguish between the two. He assures himself, the congregation, and even the Lord that he is working and sacrificing solely for the benefit of the church, whereas he may be actually, though unconsciously, working and sacrificing chiefly for his own benefit. Thereby it becomes extremely diffi­cult for him to be objective when he encounters opposition."—Page 10. As Dr. Clark observes, "Every man of God must pass through his baptismal fire and drink his cup of bitterness. None is exempt from misunderstanding and misrepresentation."—Ibid., p. 12.

A preacher of resentment blinds himself to realities, sours his own disposition, alienates at least some of his parishioners, and perverts the administration of the church. He advances only his personal sup­porters, and his communicated ire destroys vital religion in others' lives as well as in himself. "The minister," says Wayne C. Clark. "must understand that a chronic state of resentment is an unhealthy frame of mind, one which is closely related to other forms of mental illness."—Ibid., p. 18.

The minister, above all men, should recognize that imperfection is the lot of human nature and that no redemption is achieved by way of denunciation or condemnation. Only by taking his people into his heart and loving them can he become an instru­ment in God's hands for their personal salvation. Christian love has healing power.                

J. A. B.

IMMATURITY

Immaturity of spiritual char­acter is probably the greatest hindrance to effective ministry. The pastor will doubtless deal with a number in his congregation ho, although they have reached physical maturity, have not attained to psychological maturity. They are both emotionally and spiritually immature. They have not learned the principle of Christ centeredness in their everyday activities. If their pastor is also immature in his spiritual attitudes and life, the situation for such members is tragic.

The daily prayer and effort of every minister should be to develop spiritual maturity. A spiritually mature pastor seeks to purge his motivations of all selfishness and to ever think in the terms of God's will rather than his own. His shepherd's heart yearns to serve his fellow men, and his self-exam­ination ever seeks to restrain and discipline any form of self-assertion within his own make-up. Only holy motives can survive a lengthy pastorate with a blessing to both congregation and minister.

Prayer and communion with God is the secret of spiritual maturity. Discipline of the mind is some­times easier than discipline of the emotions. A pastoral maturity that neither ignores life nor runs away from it, but comes to terms with reality, ever seeking in cooperation with the eternal God for the mastery of self and the mastery of life, be­comes a channel of continued blessing to all whom such a minister serves. Such maturity builds a heavenly harmony which no earthly exasperations can disturb. It is a mark of maturity to persevere in the cause of God in spite of frustrating experiences without losing heart, remembering that there is a loneliness which lies in the depths of every human life, for each individual must bear his own load before God, and particularly is this true of the minister.

The mature pastor will recognize that the con­gregation does not exist to serve the preacher but rather to serve the church of God by making itself a channel of the Spirit of heaven for the building and extension of God's redemptive community in all the world.

Spiritual maturity keeps itself free from cynicism, fatalism, and despair, and seeks ever to completely lose its selfishness in a selfless dedication to the great cause of God. When Dr. Albert Schweitzer made his decision to journey to a needy section of French Equatorial Africa he said, "It was my an­swer to Jesus' saying that whosoever would save his life would lose it, but whosoever would lose his life for the sake of the gospel would find it."

J. A. B.

A FOOLISH SACRIFICE

Volumes have been written about the minister's work program, and but little about his rest. The as­sumption is that this part of his program gets its share of his attention. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are men among us so con­scientious that they haven't had a vacation in years. Their application to duty is indeed praiseworthy, but their judgment is faulty. Jesus Christ called His disciples aside for a bit of rest, and there is none busier than He was.

Burning the candle at both ends shortens the life of the candle. Better to have a dim light for a long time than a flaming meteor for a short time and then utter darkness. Our busy brother should also think of his wife and children, who will soon be deprived of a husband and father. This just might serve to chill his zeal for early martyrdom.

"I study best between three and four o'clock in the morning," observed one preacher, to whom it apparently had not yet occurred that these hours were intended for sleep, not study. How many good ministers' wives endure the torture of watching their husbands waste away under the pressure of a back­breaking program and too constant mental appli­cation. Uneaten meals, hupried farewells, and a killing pace constitute the ulcer-producing formula that destroys its harried possessor. "I don't have time for a vacation," may sound like the plea of a valuable man, but is in truth the "sacrifice of fools."

Physical exercise, fresh air, and sunshine are the most neglected of our blessings. There is no sacri­fice of ministerial dignity in a moderate athletic program that exercises the muscles and vital organs. There has been so much emphasis on the "minis­terial look" that some men literally live in a strait jacket. Too often the result is a nervous, edgy, hard-to-please man, with a narrow-minded outlook, who insists, for example, that his boy regard clean sport such as a game of baseball as a sin. The preacher should recognize that a ministry more fit physically can produce better fruit spiritually. Trying to build Rome in a day will destroy the builder in a hurry and not produce a very stable foundation for Rome, either.

E. E. C.

 


Ministry reserves the right to approve, disapprove, and delete comments at our discretion and will not be able to respond to inquiries about these comments. Please ensure that your words are respectful, courteous, and relevant.

comments powered by Disqus

By the Ministry staff. 

October 1957

Download PDF
Ministry Cover

More Articles In This Issue

Spirit-directed Administrators

Seventh-day Adventist leaders must be spirit­ual men. No one can succeed or make a contribution of any value to the church who is not Spirit directed. Talents, expe­rience, enthusiasm, hard work, and even education are valueless unless through them all there is the breath of heaven.

Administrators of God's Cause

It is a commonplace to state the importance of the role administrators assume in our midst. These men are called to be leaders in the church, and the influence of leaders is extensive and decisive.

Glories of the Gospel and the Call to Benevolence

By a chain of cir­cumstances which would call forth God's chari­ties, He bestows upon man the best means of cultivating benevolence, and keeps him habitually giving to help the poor and to advance His cause.

History and Administration of Division Conferences

A look at our world structure and its historical development and growth.

Conference Finance—Everybody's Business

How a wise administrator taught me the lesson that conference finance is everybody's business!

Well-Balanced Administration

The apostle Paul's instruction on spirit­ual and administrative gifts for the church is an intriguing study. Let's take a closer look at Paul's counsel in 1 Corinthians 12.

Seven Types of Giving

What kind of giver are you?

The Bible Hour: The Farthing Evangelistic Group, Guntur, India

A report on overseas evangelism, with its peculiar challenges and opportunities.

Medical-Ministerial Evangelism

A report from a health evangelism effort held in Oregon.

B. R. Spears' Oakland, California, Evangelistic Crusade

How over 100 candidates were baptized as a follow-up to this campaign.

View All Issue Contents

Digital delivery

If you're a print subscriber, we'll complement your print copy of Ministry with an electronic version.

Sign up
Advertisement - RevivalandReformation 300x250

Recent issues

See All
Advertisement - SermonView - WideSkyscraper (160x600)