The baptismal class is one of the most important features of the evangelistic campaign. When an interested person has been taken through the series of meetings and has finally made a decision for Christ, that is not the time for us to think that victory has been won, and that we can therefore relax. Victory in that stage can be turned into rapid defeat unless vigilant measures are applied at once.
The discrepancy between the number of people who take their stand in evangelistic meetings around the country and those who are baptized is often large. It should not be. There is an unnecessary loss here that should be corrected.
We must remember that there is a long step between the act of coming down the aisle as a token of surrender to Christ and of being ready for baptism. I didn't say "a long time." It must not be a long time. The more time taken in helping the candidates over that long step, the greater will be the number we will lose and fail to baptize.
Our doctors, through medical science, have done much to cut down the death rate of babies. It seems to me that we as ministers of the Word of God ought to be as vigilant and as skilled in our field as they are in theirs. Of all the times in our ministerial work when we need training and skill, I can think of none more important than this. Every minister should possess a know-how in helping souls over their first intricate steps of the new birth.
To lose a great number of the people who make a decision, and then try to excuse ourselves by declaring that they didn't really mean it when they took their stand, seems to me to be like a doctor who neglects a baby when it is first born. Then when the baby dies, he excuses himself by saying, "The little fellow wasn't really alive enough when he was born, or he would have made it." Such an attitude wouldn't appeal much to us if it were our baby. I don't think it appeals to the Lord either, when we're dealing with those newly born into His family.
These people do mean it when they come down the aisle. They mean it to the extent that many of them would be willing to die for the Lord right then and there. Strong men bury their head in their hands and weep. It is not a question of whether they mean it. They just need help, and they need it fast. It is our business as ministers to see that they get that help on time. If we fail to give them the help they need, and they die or go back to their sins, it is we who have bungled and failed.
The old maxim of striking while the iron is hot was never more true than in dealing with the people who come forward in a call. The sooner they can be led to give up their smoking, get their Sabbath work arranged, adjust their behavior and adornment, et cetera, the easier it is going to be for them. This is a job hard enough at best, but it becomes many times harder after the first ardor has cooled.
How long should it take to prepare them for baptism? Not long. We do it in one week. If someone feels he can't do it right in one week, then two weeks may be needed. However, if we haven't succeeded in solving the problems of Sabbathkeeping, smoking, drinking, adornment, et cetera, in two weeks' time, the chances are that we have lost them altogether.
When I describe here the method of handling the baptismal class that most of us use who conduct the three-week campaign, I am not suggesting that it is the only good method there is. Other men have methods that work very well. If your method satisfies you and, above all else, if it works, you should continue with it. However, if you have found that you are successful in your ministry only up to the point of leading the people through a call for surrender and after they have taken their stand you lose a large percentage of them, it would be well to re-examine the method you are using, because without question the fault is with the procedure rather than with the people.
We don't usually baptize as many people as come forward in the call. The reason for the loss may be that some are children too young for baptism. Sometimes church members come forward in rededication, and many of them do not want or need rebaptism. With these groups out we have left those that will comprise our battleground for the week.
Every one of these people becomes the special target of the devil that week. They will be besieged with doubts and will question the wisdom of their going ahead. Almost all of them will think it wiser to wait. But if they accept the instruction given on every point of truth, they ought not to wait. They need in their experience the strengthening influence that baptism will give them, and they should go forward at once.
Some may want to back out at the last minute, but don't give up a single one easily. Satan doesn't, and an Adventist preacher ought to be able to fight just as hard as the devil when a soul is at stake. Every one of these people is precious in God's sight. He has commissioned us to bring them into the fold. If we lose them we must certainly give an account.
We have found that the one-week class with a baptism at the end of the week works best. All who take their stand won't be ready for baptism at the end of that week. But we conduct the class and treat these people individually as though we expected everyone to be baptized. The question naturally comes up right here that if we're going to conduct the class so intensively, isn't there a danger of baptizing some who are not ready? We watch closely for that, but actually the danger is not so great as it might seem. The people divide themselves as the week progresses. Most of them are extremely conscientious and self-distrustful, and it becomes a matter of urging forward those who should be baptized more than of holding back those who should not.
In our campaign we have our first call for surrender the second Sabbath of the series. For those who come forward we conduct a class during the last week; it is held following the sermon and lasts about thirty or forty minutes.
In the five sessions of that class we cover all the points that make us peculiar as a people—our doctrines, how to keep the Sabbath, dress, jewelry, unclean meats, tea, coffee, the Spirit of Prophecy (we spend a whole class period on the Spirit of Prophecy and give them a copy of The Desire of Ages as an introduction), tithing, the church, et cetera. We try to be thorough.
The first night of the class we attack the smoking problem, and have special prayer with those who have the habit. We urge them to take hold of the promise of God and give up the habit at once. Then, of course, we stay close with them, visiting them in their homes for the next few days, calling them on the telephone to let them know we are thinking of them and praying for them. Some have quite a struggle. But it is positively amazing how many heavy smokers lay down their tobacco that very night and never go back to it again.
Some people are a little slow in relinquishing their smoking. If they have not laid it down entirely, and have smoked even a tiny bit through Tuesday or Wednesday, we encourage them to wait for the next week's baptism. Then the following week we take them through the same class again. The class is not just a source of doctrinal instruction; it is a class in practical Christian living, and is designed to build faith in their hearts. If it means their going through the class four or five times, they should be kept in it without fail until they are baptized.
In spite of all we can do, some are not fully in the clear about Sabbath work by the end of that first week. Usually such people can have their work arranged by the following Sabbath. However, the fact that you have hit it hard that first week has kept them from procrastinating, and the wheels have been set in motion so that usually they are free by the following week.
It is fatal to let them continue to work two or three or four Sabbaths after they have taken their stand. The problem must be attacked at once.
Now let's take a look at those we think are ready for baptism at the end of that first week of the Bible class. Many of our members look askance at the practice of baptizing someone who has taken his stand only the week before. It is well to remember in this connection that the first baptism is made up largely of people who have had a background with us—children of Adventist parents, former members, and those who have studied the message for some time.
Some people who have had no previous contact with us at all will respond to a call to unite with the commandment-keeping church at the end of only two weeks of meetings. There are more who take their stand at the end of the three weeks, but regardless of when they do it, once they have decided, we have to face the question, "What are we going to do with them?" There they are in our Bible class. If we act afraid of them, they will get the idea they have done something wrong.
We treat these new people just the same as anyone else. We let them know how extremely pleased we are with the decision they have made and we take them through the Bible class with the others. If they lay down their smoking, accept the doctrines and standards of the New Testament as taught by. our church, accept the Spirit of Prophecy as revealed in the writings of Ellen G. White, and believe the Adventist Church is God's church, can you think of any valid reason why we should not baptize them? I cannot. I say to them as Philip did to the eunuch, "If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest." To refuse anyone baptism at that stage is to show distrust in his motives. It is a step backward, when all of our program up to that moment has been forward.
The question may be asked, "How do we know these new people will not backslide?" I can only ask in answering, "How do any of us know we will not backslide?" These people are as sincere as you or I. If in time to come any one of them does backslide, it could very well be due to an unfortunate experience on his part with one of our Laodicean members, or a failure on the part of the pastor or the church to recognize him for what he is—a babe in the faith. A baby generally isn't expected to chop wood or earn money to support himself during his first months in the family. He is lovingly cared for and the family is proud of his arrival.
Let me point out right here, however, that the speed I emphasize in preparing these people for baptism does not mean that we are in favor of a superficial preparation. Far from it! It simply means that we believe in making use of a simple principle —namely, that we can pour in more instruction and gain more victories in one hour with these minds that are warmed and pliable with love than it is possible to do in ten or twenty hours with those same minds after they have cooled off. It is absolutely imperative that we work fast. But while we work fast, we must also work thoroughly. We want to see these people in the kingdom, and to give them only a superficial preparation is only to encourage their failure, and there is, of course, no future in that kind of work.
After these people have gained their victories, have been instructed, and have given assent to the principles of the gospel, we think it is absolutely wrong to deny them the right of baptism. They need the strength that comes with baptism. It is a great mistake to delay it just to satisfy a church member who doesn't think you have done a faithful job in preparing them.
There is no doubt that these new people will have problems after their baptism, and it is inevitable that some of them will need a pastor's care. But, as Billy Graham has aptly pointed out, "After the obstetrician has helped a baby into the world, the child may still need a pediatrician from time to time to keep him in health."
