I believe in Sabbath school evangelism; I believe in Dorcas evangelism; I believe in lay evangelism; and I certainly believe there is still a place for public evangelism in this movement.
Today we have discussions pro and con for the three-week effort, the three-month effort, the six-month effort, the Sunday night meeting, the theater effort, the hall effort, and the church effort. Paul Campbell and I held ten efforts in central California some years ago. Nine of these were held in Adventist churches, some very small, and we baptized 235 people with scarcely any cost to the conference. So we know that these work.
The merit of any one method over another should not concern us so much as the fact that we should choose some method and do some evangelism each year. Having been a pastor, I know pastors are kept busy marrying people, burying people, straightening out people, et cetera, until the devil assures us we have no time for public meetings. Besides, we may say, suppose we try and then fail? Frankly, the greatest reason among us for not doing some evangelistic work is the disease I shall call pernicious inertia, and I fear all of us at one time or another have been afflicted with this malady. When we have it we find the weather is too hot or too cold; or we do not have enough help; or we have no beautiful theater or hall in which to hold meetings. By the time caroling and In-gathering is over, the Signs campaign is upon us, then comes camp meeting and JMV summer camp. Ah, yes, pernicious inertia is a disease that can affect both mind and body.
A young man comes out of the Seminary and is assigned a district. Immediately his friends from the same class feel they are failures unless they too are assigned districts immediately. Another promising young man becomes departmental secretary, and his fellows become envious and think they too should get a department. Brethren, I pray that God will lay upon our hearts the joyful realization that the greatest work in the world is that of soul saving, being out in the firing line for God. And so I say, may God bless the men who are endeavoring to win souls, whether it is by the three-day, three-week, or three-month effort.
When asked to speak on evangelistic methods today, I felt like the dear old mother who was guest of honor at a banquet. After the meal the master of ceremonies arose and said: "Now we are greatly pleased and honored to have Mrs. _______ with us tonight. She will give us a speech on the rearing of children." Mrs. _________ arose and said: "I have only had eleven children. I know nothing about it," and sat down. After some fifty efforts, ranging from three weeks to six months in length, I honestly feel I know very little about how to win souls. One thing I am sure of, however, is the fact that it is becoming more difficult in many areas, and this is one reason why we should have more men doing evangelistic work. Then we could expect better results than we have had in the past.
It was suggested that I also say something about the extended effort, either a three-month campaign or a six-month winter effort, with perhaps time out around the holidays and with the second half of the campaign beginning in early February. I want to go on record as favoring this type of effort for several reasons.
- It strengthens our own members in the faith.
- It builds solid, well-grounded members.
- Many of our best people decide to join us during the second half. It takes some good Christian folks a long time to decide to make such an important change.
- The second half of the evangelistic series strengthens those who came in during the first half.
One of the best ways to accomplish this, I believe, is the Sabbath morning Bible class. After we have presented the Sabbath message at our meetings we invite the interested folks to attend our Prophetic Bible Class at 9:30 A.M. the following Sabbath. This class continues for twenty to twenty-five consecutive weeks with excellent results. We use a large room containing a piano and a blackboard and always have a song service. Then we have prayer, special music, roll call, mission story, mission offering, more special music, and then the lesson study. The first assignment given to the members of the class is that they learn the books of the Bible. Then we give out slips of paper with Bible texts and begin a friendly contest between the men and the women to see who can find the text first. Everyone usually brings a Bible, but we are prepared to lend three or four if needed. All our fundamental doctrines and beliefs are presented during the weeks the class is held, and texts are placed on the blackboard for the members to copy if they so desire. Those we baptize from the class have heard the message not only in the evening meetings but in the Sabbath morning Bible class, and most of them stay for the eleven o'clock service also. Therefore they are well informed regarding the Bible and its message for these times.
I believe that if as evangelists and pastors we follow some such procedure as this, we will not only win people to Christ but we will make Sabbathkeeping Seventh-day Adventists out of them as well.
We use plenty of music in 'our meetings, also moving pictures and some slides—the best we can obtain. But our Sabbath morning Bible class is perhaps the most effective evangelistic plan as an all-round soul-winning agency.
In closing, I repeat: Let us all plan to do some kind of evangelism this year and every year until the Lord comes. Forget the devil's excuses—the multiplicity of details that seem to smother us at times. Forget our pernicious inertia and hold three-week, six-week, ten-week, twelve-week, or six-month efforts—do something! You say, "I've been aiming to do it for a long time." Dwight L. Moody was at a Sunday school convention one time when a particularly good idea was presented. He turned to the superintendent and said, "Isn't that a fine idea? What do you think of it?" The superintendent replied, "We've been aiming to do that very thing for about two years now." Mr. Moody exclaimed, "Aiming? For two years? Don't you think it is about time you fired?" Perhaps this apt illustration will inspire hesitating workers to launch ahead with some soul-saving effort despite the many obstacles in modern evangelism.
