ONE of the most disturbing statements I have ever heard was one spoken to me not long ago by a fellow worker. We were discussing evangelistic work, and he said, "As far as I am concerned, evangelism is dead, brother." Now if this were the opinion of one man it might be brushed aside lightly. But I fear that there are too many men who share this feeling.
Somehow, many workers have talked themselves into believing that evangelism is outmoded, a thing of the past. Oh, it was good, all right, way back there in Peter's day, in Paul's day, or even in the early days of the three angels' messages. But not TODAY! Today the emphasis is on everything else. Our time is more than consumed with campaigns and committees. We consume time and energy on counseling, marriage guidance, psychology of child training. There is no time left for evangelism among the public.
Besides, evangelism takes energy, patience, long hours of visitation, many new sermons, and it is difficult to get the right lay help. So, on and on, we rationalize away the greatest program of promotion and endeavor in the work of God. Now there is nothing wrong with promotion, committees, or campaigns. "These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other [evangelism] undone."
By special permission of Newsweek magazine and Quaker State Metals Company, I wish to share with you the following:
A Man Lived By the Side of the Road . . .
. . . and sold hot dogs.
He . . . had no radio
He had trouble with his eyes, so he had no
newspaper. But he sold good hot dogs.
He put up a sign on the highway, telling how good they were.
He stood by the side of the road and cried: "Buy a hot dog, mister." And people bought.
He increased his meat and bun orders, and he bought a bigger store to take care of his trade.
He got his son home from college to help him.But then something happened.
His son said: "Father, haven't you been listening to the radio? There's a big depression on. The international situation is terrible, and the domestic situation is even worse."
Whereupon his father thought: "Well, my son has been to college.
He listens to the radio and reads the papers, so he ought to know."
"You were right, son," the father said to the boy. "We are certainly in the middle of a great depression."
The application almost needs no mention. There are many workers who don't know that evangelism is impossible. Thank God! They have never heard that it is outmoded and old-fashioned. And they are winning lost men to Christ by the handfuls, by the scores, by the hundreds, and yes, by the thousands. Don't tell them that it is impossible, or that newer and softer methods have outmoded good old evangelism. Don't!
The servant of the Lord states, "Now is the time for the last warning to be given. There is a special power in the presentation of the truth at the present time."—Evangelism, pp. 16, 17. When? Now! "But how long will it continue?—Only a little while. If there was ever a crisis, it is now."—Ibid. Now, this year, is the time for warning and saving the countless thousands without Christ. We must not be content to sit idly by and let precious minutes and precious unwarned souls slip into eternity.
When criticized because of the evangelistic methods he used, Dwight L. Moody said: "I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it." Better it is to launch into evangelism and do something, even if it is mixed with a few mistakes, than to do nothing.
A might-have-been deep-sea fisherman stood in a museum one day and viewed with awe and open mouth the stuffed carcass of a huge fish. After a careful and somewhat prolonged inspection he was heard to exclaim as he walked away, "The man who caught that fish is a liar."
Many people by their attitude are saying, "The men who win large numbers through evangelism are exaggerating. It can't be done. It is impossible." But, brethren, it is being done. Yes, in the north, the south, the east, and west. And you can do it too.
No doubt there are certain places and conditions that make soul winning more difficult. But if it can't be done, then we must conclude that the Master asked us to do the impossible when He commissioned His followers to "go" and "teach." By our attitude we imply that we serve a God who cannot help us to fulfill this great commission. I do not believe this, and we must not allow ourselves even to consider it.
Standing today with our feet almost touching the shores of eternity, facing awful events, it is the time and the place to say, "Evangelism is possible, brother." It is possible for the pastor, the departmental secretary, the conference president, and the academy or college Bible teacher. It is time for us to encourage, uplift, energize, and vitalize every fellow worker for God. Let us, in concerted effort, give the trumpet that certain sound.
An old colored preacher expressed it this way, "My Lord's goin'-a stir this wicked world, and He's goin'-a use me for the spoon." God needs and wants consecrated spoons to stir this wretched, sin-soaked, disease-ridden, doom-threatened earth. He needs them in every world field, division, union, conference, church, and island of the sea.
"Give us men to match our mountains," the poet exclaims. It is my settled conviction that God has no finer, more capable men than can be found within the rank and file of the Seventh-day Adventist ministry. I believe, too, that there are no greater mountains of opportunity and service than those facing the bearer of the three angels' messages. Why, then, fellow worker, are we not warning more and winning more?
God designed that there be no greater, higher, or more satisfactory work in all the world than the labor of winning hearts for His heavenly kingdom. Yet, though we have been in the harness for years, so to speak, many have never experienced the thrill of evangelism, of catching human fish by the netful. "To win souls to the kingdom of God must be their [the workers'] first consideration."—Gospel Workers, p. 31.
From time to time we see a church with some internal stress and conflicts. And when one sees such a church he can mark it down that it has been a long, long time since the folks within were active at soul winning. Remember, "a mule that pulls cannot kick, and a mule that kicks cannot pull." Just get busy and get the church busy praying for, searching for, and working for, souls, and the stress and conflicts will disappear. It is a sure cure.
Evangelism is an insurance policy against "withering on the vine." It guarantees a growing acquaintance with Holy Scripture, a grounding in the doctrines of the Advent message, and a better understanding of the doctrines of other churches. With such a variety of blessings, every worker should take or make time for evangelism.
From the book Evangelism I quote the following, "Among earth's inhabitants, scattered in every land, there are those who have not bowed the knee to Baal. Like the stars of heaven, which appear only at night, these faithful ones will shine forth when darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people. In heathen Africa, in the Catholic lands of Europe and of South America, in China, in India, in the islands of the sea, and in all the dark corners of the earth, God has in reserve a firmament of chosen ones that will yet shine forth amidst the darkness, revealing clearly to an apostate world the transforming power of obedience to His law."—Pages 706, 707.
"The end is near, stealing upon us stealthily, imperceptibly, like the noiseless approach of a thief in the night. May the Lord grant that we shall no longer sleep as do others, but that we shall watch and be sober. The truth is soon to triumph gloriously, and all who now choose to be laborers together with God will triumph with it. The time is short; the night soon Cometh when no man can work."—-Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 135.
With you, I long to see the work finished. Together we must seek the outpouring of the latter rain. We have preached about it, prayed for it, sung of it, for so long. Brother, let us live more humbly, labor more conscientiously, and prepare more definitely so that God may know we are ready for it.
The promises of God to the stalwart worker in evangelism are many. It will be possible to mention only a few of them here.
1. The power of the 1844 movement repeated. "The third angel's message will go forth, not in whispered tones, but with a loud voice."—Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 252.
2. "Many who have strayed from the fold will come back to follow the great Shepherd."— Ibid., vol. 6, p. 401.
3. "God will soon do great things for us. . . . More than one thousand will soon be converted in one day."-—Evangelism, p. 693.
4. Pentecostal power will be repeated. (Evangelism, p. 692.)
During apostolic times men, shaken by God, shook the world with their message. What is it that is shaking our world today? Is it the three angels' messages? No, it is sputniks, missiles, and rockets.
In my medicine cabinet there is a bottle that bears this statement: SHAKE WELL. SETTLED INGREDIENTS ARE IMPORTANT. May God help us to shake ourselves well till all of our settled, sleepy, and unused ingredients get stirred up. Then by His grace let us start shaking the world in our corner right where we are.
"The time has come when through God's messengers the scroll is being unrolled to the world. The truth contained in the first, second, and third angels' messages must go to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people; it must lighten the darkness of every continent, and extend to the islands of the sea. There must be no delay in this work.
"Our watchword is to be, Onward, ever onward! Angels of heaven will go before us to prepare the way. Our burden for the regions beyond can never be laid down till the whole earth is lightened with the glory of the Lord." —Gospel Workers, p. 470.
May I join hands with you, my dear fellow workers in every part of God's vast harvest field, in a renewed dedication to finish the great unfinished task in this generation. Will you not say with me, "Brother, it is possible!"
