The evangelistic torch is now reaching the hands of its final heirs. Our responsibility is without precedent in church history. Our privilege as God's anchor men is exceeded only by our challenge to produce a burst of power and speed unknown even to the early church. Our work is to tell millions of God's last message for this hour before the plagues fall—before the judgments come. Our task is to tell the mes sage before doors now open, close; and be fore missiles now silent, scream. And we must do this work within the framework of available men and means.
But how do we go forward in evangelism, widening the circle of believers until the promise of the latter rain becomes an accomplished fact? How do we develop and execute an evangelistic program in our major cities that is continuous, contagious, and compelling? The answer is not found in human wisdom, but in the counsels of God. An immediate and determined effort must be made to take Spirit of Prophecy counsels on soul winning out of the show case of idealism and put them, into the go-place of evangelism. What were once passages we quoted, must hereafter become counsels we follow. This must be, because the servant of the Lord said:
We are far behind in following the light God has given regarding the working of our large cities.—Evangelism, p. 33.
The counsel is not that we are far behind in activity, but in "following the light God has given." To answer the question of how to evangelize major cities with limited means and manpower is to review what we already know from counsels already given in the Spirit of Prophecy. But it is also a rededication to those counsels. It is to believe that the plainest, simplest, most unsophisticated plan, divinely blueprinted, is worth more than the most elaborate, sparkling, publicized plan drawn up by any man. The scriptural accounts of Jesus' methods and Ellen G. White's counsels still constitute our only infallible guide to evangelistic know-how. Secondary materials, workers' experiences, and human expertise all have their proper place in at tacking the mammoth challenge of the cities; however, it is written:
At this time, the people of God need to turn their hearts fully to Him. . . . They need to humble their minds, . . . working with earnest desire to do that which God has shown must be done to warn cities of their impending doom.—Review and Herald, Jan. 25, 1912.
To evangelize the major cities an angel of the Lord said two themes must be stressed:
A. God's supreme rulership; and
B. The sacredness of God's law.
Counsel to us is that the following admonition must also be heeded:
1. Overcome the tendency to delay beginning in the cities and move quickly.
2. Planning is too narrow; try the untried, and go forward on every front.
3. Show up at the large conventions and assemblies and there strive to gain a hearing.
4. Utilize evangelistic committees to support presidents in the invasion plans of major cities.
5. Place only strong, capable evangelists in the major cities.
6. Labor longer in a given situation and do not close too soon.
7. Form evangelistic companies, employing the finest talent available.
But what about our limited manpower? What counsel have we been given? In the Seventh-day Adventist Church there is no limited manpower. We have twenty-two thousand ministers in the world field, and two million baptized believers. The question of worker shortage arises because we have failed to follow inspired counsel. Our paid ministerial staff is only 1 per cent of our total world constituency or working force and yet the ministers have always carried the major load.
Ministers Must Have Help
To evangelize the major cities we must first take from the deep-freeze certain hard, cold facts. This work cannot be done by ministers alone. They must be joined by ever}' available layman.
The work of God in this earth can never be finished until the men and women comprising our church membership rally to the work, and unite their efforts with those of ministers and church officers.—Gospel Workers, p. 352.
If the counsel says it cannot be done by ministers alone, we must believe it and reach out and bring in the two million members that make up the silent majority in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. We must bring them in and tell them—
That "The church ... is God's appointed agency for the salvation of men."
That "Every true disciple is born into the kingdom of God as a missionary."
That "All who are consecrated to God will be channels of light," through which the current of life is to flow to New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, Lon don, Paris, Tokyo, and thousands of other cities.
That Jesus was standing only a few steps from the throne when He said, "Go ye."
That the story of heavenly mansions, for all practical purposes, is a true story only to those who find a place of service on earth.
Of course effective pastors and evangelists are necessary. But when Jesus preached He always had church members with Him. In this way He showed us how to face a world population and do the job.
Again and again the question persists: How can twenty-two thousand ministers evangelize an exploding population of 3 billion, 500 million people—a situation that averages 159,000 people to each minister preaching? Can it be done? It cannot. But God never designed that ministers alone should do it. By following inspired counsel and using more than 2 million laymen, with ministers WORKING IN THE FIELD TOGETHER, then each worker would have to face instead of 159, 000 unbelievers, just 1,750 people to be warned and won. Then the $107 million per year paid to the twenty-two thousand workers would be supplemented by donated labor with an estimated value of between $5 million and $9 million per year. There is no limited manpower, only limited attention to inspired counsel. There is no limited economy, only limited concepts with regard to unmined rich resources that are almost untouched in our sleeping churches.
Is This Solution a Fantasy?
If this suggested solution to the problem of working major cities with limited budgets and means is fantasy, then so is the counsel given on page 21 of Christian Service: The dissemination of the truth of God is not confined to a few ordained ministers. ... It is a fatal mistake to suppose that the work of soul-saving depends alone upon the ministry.
The need is great for powerful evangelists who can command the attention and responses of the masses. The need is even greater for ministers who can effectively harness the almost untapped and limitless potential in our pews, and tie them into the Spirit-saturated power of the gospel ministry. The devil has a birth control pill to keep the church family of God small on this earth, and that pill is compounded of two ingredients: (1) The estrogen of sinning, and (2) the progesterone of sitting. The pill is effective but dangerous, with side effects that -will endure throughout eternity. The challenge of the cities will be met when we ban this pill.
The complaint against the Laodicean church was that while it had no heresy in its creed, it had no fire in its soul. The fire will fall on our work when we put the right fruit on the altar. The most common bush will be aflame and yet never burn up; the most humble talent, perhaps in a man like Peter, who Scriptures say was ignorant and unlearned, will start a Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit guides us into the truth involving our work in the cities.
FOLLOW HIM—and when time is short, our manpower will be extended and our means will be lengthened.
FOLLOW HIM—and in this moon-rocket age, we will not be grounded nor bound to a lameness, sameness, and nameless ministry.
While we look for better methods, God looks for better men. "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the be half of them whose heart is perfect toward him" (2 Chron. 16:9). When our lives are fully surrendered to His divine will, and when as ordinary men we have been filled with extraordinary power, the work will be finished and we will go home.
