Overworked, weary ministers; idle, inactive church members; these are perennial problems of the Christian church today. Often a pastor is expected to do such things as fix the leak on the roof of the school, buy new chairs for the primary division, prepare the annual budget, and secure estimates on the cost of a new furnace. The conference looks to him to plan for and successfully conduct five or six annual campaigns, to promote the many special days and offerings, and to be alert and active in many other areas. With a concern for souls on his heart, the harrowed pastor takes time to give some Bible studies and make necessary sick calls. Too often the minister is almost a stranger at home. His children beg him to play with them, but there is no time; duty calls, so he drives away again with the disappointed look on the faces of his precious children to haunt him and add to his frustration. Overdrawn you say? Possibly so, but too often—too true.
Late at night after the family has retired, the minister muses over his day. He sadly recalls that book he was going to read. There was barely time for personal devotion, let alone the exegesis he wanted to do in the book of Hebrews. Gaines Dobbins says:
The temptation of the minister is to play the role of "star." He is the pitcher on the team, the player who carries the ball, the flying "ace," the general who plans the strategy and gives the commands. Spectacular "stars" may win applause, but victories are won by teams'
The servant of the Lord observes:
Sometimes ministers do too much; they seek to embrace the whole work in their arms. It absorbs and dwarfs them; yet they continue to grasp it all. They seem to think that they alone are to work in the cause of God, while the members of the church stand idle. This is not God's order at all?
This state of affairs is unfortunate for the pastor and his family, but it is nothing short of disastrous to the church. Our people have become spectators, "religious dwarfs." They dry up like leaves on a tree in the fall—ready to drop off at the slightest rustle of adverse breezes. Members who are inactive become wonderful culture for the virus of false doctrine—a prime target for offshoot movements.
The Peril of Idleness
The Word of God clearly sets forth the peril of uselessness. Among those on the left hand of the King, as recorded in Matthew 25, are religious people who are horrified to hear themselves denounced and rejected simply because they "did it not unto one of the least of these." The one-talent man, who hid his lord's goods, was stunned by the scathing rebuke and rejection of his lord. There is no charge of false doctrine, worldliness, or immorality. He is called "wicked," not because of what he did but because of what he failed to do—he was just lazy! In the parable of the two sons, the one representing the Jews, under the condemnation of God, "went not." Likewise, the curse of God rested on Meroz for what they had not done. "They had loved that work which would bring the greatest profit in this life; and opposite their names in the ledger devoted to good works there was a mournful blank."
The Lord's messenger asks the poignant question, "Where do we see travail of soul?
Where do we see the members of the church absorbed in religious themes . . . ? Where do we see Christians feeling their responsibility to make the church prosperous, a wide-awake, light-giving people?" To say that the majority of our members in most places are doing little or nothing by way of direct missionary endeavor is to state a fact that most of us recognize. Many of our members are inert, stagnating, and vegetating spiritually because they are doing nothing for Christ. In writing to the leaders of one of our large centers the servant of the Lord says, "Not one in a hundred among us is doing anything beyond engaging in common, worldly enterprises." 5Again she states: "With stealthy tread Satan is advancing to take those who are now asleep, as a wolf taking his prey." "He knows that if they sleep a little longer, he is sure of them, for their destruction is certain." The thought of thousands of our members, especially in our large centers, in this critical condition, should stab us wide awake, and bring deep concern to our hearts.
Busy Ministers—Idle People
Our problem comes into focus: Ministers are busy for God; the people are idle. We all have realized this; it grieves us. We go into our study, we get on our knees, and we prepare a message warm from God's throne. We arise to preach on Sabbath; we deliver our souls. We speak with conviction and earnestness; and the people are obviously moved by the Holy Spirit. They solemnly raise their hands, promising to go to work for God. We may organize a training class and a band for the distribution of literature. Then comes camp meeting, vacations, or Ingathering, and in a short while we recognize sadly that we are back in the same rut. And, as someone said, "The only difference between a rut and a grave is its dimensions."
There seems to be a defeatism and fatalism in the hearts of many pastors in regard to lay evangelism. Has God set before us an impossible task? Or are we to wait, as some have suggested, for persecution to waken our people? Or should we await the latter rain before we seriously seek to enlist our laymen? Divine counsel states: "The great outpouring of the Spirit of God . . . will not come until we have an enlightened people, that know by experience what it means to be laborers together with God. . . . God will recognize the fact by an outpouring of His Spirit without measure; but this will not be while the largest portion of the church are not laborers together with God." 8 Again, "I was shown God's people waiting for some change to take place, a compelling power to take hold of them. But they will be disappointed, for they are wrong. They must act." 9 How can we bridge this gap? How can we lead our people into a consistent, year-round involvement in soul winning?
The reasons for this inertia, this lack of missionary zeal on the part of our people, are many and complex. We recognize that the problem is basically a spiritual deterioration. Selfishness has seriously eroded our missionary spirit. Love has burned low on the altar of many hearts. We agree that a revival is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs. It is long overdue, And to seek it should be our first work.
I do not believe that there is any antagonism between methods and the power of the Spirit. As Vernon Yearby says:
No attempt is made to press the Holy Spirit into a ready-made evangelistic method. "The wind bloweth where it will, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knoweth not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth, so is every one that is born of the spirit." No man or group of men can tell whence the wind cometh, or whither it goeth. No man, or group of men, or a denomination can foretell the line along which the Holy Spirit will operate toward the accomplishment of a divine purpose. No man will make the wind his servant except as he learns the true method of answering its law. The wind bloweth where it will, but if I want the wind to be my servant and propel my boat across the sea, I must know the method of constructing the boat and setting the sail to catch the wind. So, while the Holy Spirit is the one worker, without whom nothing can be done in evangelism, it is imperative to discover the methods by which He works, and in the proportion that is done, we will be able to cooperate with Him in all His great work and purpose?'
Methods, such as tithing, mint, anise and cumin, ought not to be left undone. The burden of this study is methodology.
Victories Won by Teams
In seeking a solution to this problem our concept of ministry must first undergo a radical change. We should recognize that not only were we commissioned to proclaim a saving gospel but we were given the oversight of the flock of God. We must see our role as a leader of a team, remembering that victories are won by teams, not "stars." Ellen G. White tells about the owner of a large mill who once found his superintendent in a wheel pit making some minor repairs while a half dozen workmen were standing idly by looking on. The foreman was fired, not because he was lazy but because he was teaching the six men to be idle while he did their work. " 'If pastors would give more attention to getting and keeping their flock actively engaged at work, they would accomplish more good, have more time for study and religious visiting, and also avoid many causes of friction.' " uA good foreman will spend time planning work for his men. He will organize them into teams and assign to each his task.
It is at this point that many Seventh-day Adventist ministers fail. Our concept of ministry is basically pulpit centered. To encourage our people to work we depend primarily on pulpit exhortation, not organization. We should know by now that our people are not going to work for souls simply because we tell them to do so, or because we read to them from the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy. Upon careful analysis it is apparent that we have no basic unit of organization responsible for winning souls and missionary tasks through the entire year. We have a wonderful organization at the top levels of our denomination; but most of our churches are sadly lacking in organization, as far as soul-winning activity is concerned.
The Red Cross does not depend upon admonition and inspiration alone in conducting its financial campaign. Successful drives are tightly organized with basic units of organization, manned by trained leaders who are responsible for assigned tasks. An army is broken down into manageable units, each with its leader, who is responsible to execute commands. The basic principle for our missionary organization is plainly set forth for us by one of unquestioned wisdom and authority. Here it is: "The formation of small companies as a basis of Christian effort has been presented to me by One who cannot err." (Italics supplied.) I have found it difficult to hold working bands together based on a specific kind of missionary work. I am suggesting that the Sabbath school class may logically be this "small company," the basic unit of organization.
Organize Into Small Companies
How many of us have our people organized into "small companies" at work to reach the lost all about us? "Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper" (2 Chron. 20:20). How can the work of God prosper when we are not obedient to the orders of our Captain? Let us confess that we have been busy here and there, but we have neglected some of those things we have been commanded to do. Let us ask the deacons to fix the leak on the roof of the school; let us trust the Sabbath school superintendent to purchase those chairs for the primary division; let us request the finance committee to prepare the annual budget; let us cease "majoring on minors," and let us set our hearts to the task of leading our entire church out into the ripening harvest field. Let us begin to tap the tremendous strength latent in our congregations. There is untold talent in our churches going to waste—rusting from inaction. Our members must participate or perish! It is our duty to train and inspire our members to join our soul-winning team. They will then become co-workmen instead of spectators—watching the pastor as he puts on his "effort." In view of the lateness of the hour it is incumbent upon us to bring about a total involvement of the entire church in preparation for revival. "The pull of the people" may, under God, become a gigantic force for the extension of His kingdom, and nothing can stop it. "The gates of hell cannot prevail against it."
How to implement this ready-made organization in a year-round program of evangelism will be the subject of subsequent articles in this series. Other vital aspects to be considered in this study will include training, assignment, records, and motivation.
(To be continued)
Notes:
1 Gaines S. Dobbins, Building Better Churches (Nashville: Broadman Press. 1947), p. 147.
2 Ellen G. White, Evangelism, p. 113.
3 ---, Christian Service, p. 88.
4__________ , Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 423.
5_____ , Christian Service, p. 81.
6 Ibid., p. 79.
7 White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 263.
8 White, Christian Service, p. 253.
9 Ibid., p. 82.
10 Vernon Yearby, Revival Plan Book, published by Southern Baptist Convention, p. 1.
11 White, Gospel Workers, ers, p. 198.
12_________ , Christian Service, p. 72.
