The Challenge of Absenteeism

Am I My Brother's Keeper?

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." If this axiom is true, and we are sure it is, then the best way to reclaim a back­slider is to prevent him from be­coming one. One of the most ef­fective ways to prevent backslid­ing is to watch for absentees from the Sabbath school. When one be­comes indifferent with reference to Sabbath school attendance and loses his hunger and thirst for the study of the Holy Scriptures, he is a likely apostate.

It would seem that the secret to our problem of apostasy is to be found in help­ing the absentees. The best way to help one who is growing cold and becoming a backslider is to visit with him and en­courage him spiritually at the very first sign of his losing interest. Is it possible that the Sabbath school leadership has grown indifferent toward absent members? We all live and work under great pressures. Could it be that while the Sabbath school and church go forward to finish the work, en­deavoring to search out the lost and bring them in at the front door of the church, that the spiritually weak and the discour­aged are slipping out the back door un­noticed?

Needed: a Kindly Word

Perhaps in the hearts of those who are slipping away from us is a longing for a friendly handshake or a kindly word. Per­haps all that is needed is a warm invita­tion from a burdened heart for them to return to the Sabbath school. However, marry times we are too busy to miss the ab­sentees and may actually forget them.

We are reminded of the pastor of a large Western church who in a Sabbath school council responded to the question of a visiting General Conference Sabbath school secre­tary with the affirmation that there was no absentee problem in his church. The local elder did not want to contradict his pas­tor, so asked the question, "Are you really sure that there are not a few absentees each week?" "Oh," he replied, "there may be a very few who live too far away to at­tend, but on the whole they are all present each week." The minister wanted to prove his point, so a survey was made by checking the church membership against the Sab­bath school attendance. It was found that 31 per cent of the church membership were absentees as far as Sabbath school and church attendance were concerned. Do you miss the absentees in your Sabbath school?

Are They Just Statistics?

Our consciousness is far too often merely statistical. We miss 13 per cent or 23 per cent or 33 per cent of our church member­ship from the Sabbath school; we may even be startled by the revelation that in 1963 in the North American Division we added 52,176 new church members, but at the same time dropped 41,346 church mem­bers from our records; we may be con­cerned that the relation of Sabbath school attendance to church membership stands at 81 per cent when we know that the total Sabbath school membership should far ex­ceed the church membership. But our con­cern is too often simply statistical, and we do not miss the individual absentee.

We miss 33 percent, but do we miss souls? The story is told of six small children that were playing in a rowboat tied up on one of the rivers in Maine. Somehow the boat was loosened, and the children drifted down the river. By the time the children were missed, darkness had fallen. The chil­dren were swept away to sea. Great anx­iety filled the hearts of the members of the entire community. The thought of the chil­dren drifting on the cruel sea was horri­fying. No one slept during the entire night. Agonizing prayers were heard in many sections of the village. The next day a fisher­man discovered and rescued the children. When word reached the people, there was a united cry of rejoicing. Are we as anxious about the missing members in our Sabbath school?

If we were as indifferent to the dangers and loss of physical life as we are at times to the loss of spiritual life, we would be considered barbarians and probably would be ostracized from good society. "Brethren and sisters in the faith, does the question arise in your hearts, 'Am I my brother's keeper?' If you claim to be children of God, you are your brother's keeper. The Lord holds the church responsible for the souls of those whom they might be the means of saving."—ELLEN G. WHITE in Historical Sketches, p. 291. We are the fam­ily of God, but too often the absentees of the family are treated with unconcern. Some say, "They just don't seem to be in­terested, so what can we do?" Any mother or father that would disregard the dangers to a drowning child would be charged with legal homicide and sentenced to imprison­ment. Can we be less guilty when those about us are losing their spiritual lives and drowning in a miasma of sin?

God calls for an alarm to be sounded in His holy temple. The deep concern of His heart is indicated by His outstretched hands to those who once knew Him, whose love has diminished, and whose ardor has cooled off! Where can one find a more heart-stirring appeal than that voiced through Jeremiah: "Return, O backslid­ing children, saith the Lord; for I am a lord unto you, and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion; and I will give you shepherds ac­cording to My heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding" (Ter. 3:14, 15, according to the Masoretic text).

The Spirit of Moses Must Possess Us Sabbath School Advisory Committee resolutions on this matter are ineffective. Something more personal is needed. We must respond to the impressions of the Holy Spirit and endeavor to reclaim these absentees and apostates. The spirit of Moses must take possession of us. He was willing to forfeit admittance into the king­dom if God would not redeem His back­slidden people.

Some may think that a new program will bring the answer to this perplexing prob­lem. It will not. A passion for the lost is the only possible remedy. We must miss the absentees and feel in their absence a great sense of personal loss. That sense of loss will result in a special Sabbath school coun­cil or a special prayer meeting for the miss­ing. There is no substitute for earnest prayer—personal prayer and class prayer bands—in winning the absent members back to fellowship in the Sabbath school. Likewise, there is no substitute for visita­tion. When the burden of the lost rests upon us as it should, ministers will weep be­tween the porch and the altar, and the laity and leadership will unite in manifest­ing the spirit of the Master, who left the ninety and nine to search for the one miss­ing sheep.

Labor for the Absentees, One by One

It is because of our failure to miss the absentees that we are led to put forth effort toward corrective measures. These may prove helpful, but often are ineffective. Sometimes they may even become a substi­tute for the only effective means of reclaim­ing absentees—namely, a spiritual concern and personal labor for the absentees, one by one.

The absentees cannot be resolved back into the Sabbath school or church. They must be rescued by active participation of those who see this danger. They must be found and reclaimed by fellow members whose hearts are aflame with the love of God. Soul saving by proxy has never been very successful.

The first step back into Sabbath school and church fellowship results from the as­surance of having been missed. How many there are, even of those backslidden ones we may regard as almost hopeless cases, who in their aloneness sigh as did David: "I look to the right and watch, but there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me, no man cares for me" (Ps. 142:4, R.S.V.).

Step 1. Each Sabbath school council and every church board should take as an assignment from Heaven the finding of the absentees and the reclaiming of the back­slider.

Step 2. The leaders should put forth every effort to make each member in the Sabbath school and church conscious of the personal loss in all absentees.

Step 3. Sabbath school leaders should keep before the Sabbath school and church the spiritual loss of being absent from Sab­bath school. This matter should be a sub­ject of continuous prayer by all.

Step 4. The Sabbath school leaders and members should let all absentees know that they are sincerely loved and missed.

Step 5. Every effort should be put forth to ascertain the cause for absence. The re­moval of the cause should challenge all. Attendance cannot be forced. Attendance rests upon a voluntary basis and the love of the truth. The appeal to our people for faithfulness in attendance cannot be that of loyalty alone. The Sabbath school pro­grams we conduct must also attract. Surely it is a truism that "A better Sabbath school means an increased attendance." People will attend if they feel they are getting something worth while.

Step 6. Last, but far from being least, we should take as our over-all goal for each Sabbath school session "to strengthen the personal relationship with Christ Jesus." This, and this alone, can hold our people in these trying days when it is so easy to lose faith in God and go the way of the world.