WHEN King Solomon was about to build the Temple in Jerusalem, he realized that this was a great and difficult under taking. He declared, as recorded in 2 Chronicles 2:5, "And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods." In facing so great a task the wise king realized that the services of an expert were required, a man with the preparation necessary for the direction of such an important undertaking, and so Solomon sent to Hiram, the king of Tyre, saying:
Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that can skill to grave with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide (2 Chron. 2:7).
The Spanish translation of the first phrase in verse 7 renders it thus, "Send me an able man."
God's cause today needs able men and women well qualified for their particular responsibilities. The work that God has confided to us as His representatives is a great and challenging task, a task which requires, in this climactic hour of the world's history, able workers in the various departments and sections of our worldwide organization. God needs able men and women upon whom He can depend to give wise direction and positive leadership, and at the same time, men and women who are teachable and who realize their dependence upon God.
Ellen G. White gave this counsel in The Desire of Ages:
Be careful lest self-sufficiency come in, and you work in your own strength, rather than in the spirit and strength of your Master. . . . While you look higher than yourself, you will have a continual sense of the weakness of humanity. --Page 493.
The apostle Paul gives this good admonition, "For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth" (2 Cor. 10:18).
The Seventh-day Adventist denomination has thousands of workers in the various departments of the work, and all have been chosen for a special purpose. God expects each one to make an important contribution toward the success of the program in general. A professing Christian who teaches in a college, or is a nurse in a hospital, or is a secretary in an office, or has an administrative position, whose life does not testify to the saving power of Christ may be part of the missionary program, so to speak, but as a true representative of God he or she has certainly missed the mark. The nature of the task is such as will admit no halfheartedness. The call of the hour is for total commitment.
Qualities of an Able Man or Woman
The question is asked, What constitutes an able man or woman for the work of God in these times? In the experience of Moses when he was carrying the burden of all the administrative decisions, his father-in-law, Jethro, gave him this very good counsel, as recorded in Exodus 18:21:
Moreover thou shall provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. (Italics supplied.)
The concepts expressed in this text are definitely apt today as we think of what God requires of His representatives. He needs men of truth, able men and women, well prepared, who fear God, who hate covetousness; men and women of consecrated talents and abilities. These, then, are the important criteria. We are talking about more than mere technical competence. Today great emphasis is placed upon degrees of academic achievement, but the degree in itself does not make a worker an able worker in God's sight.
Then there is the importance of getting the right man or woman in the right place and not putting square pegs in round holes, for this is detrimental to the work of God. As calls come in from the various parts of the world field, even though it may not be spelled out in just so many words, we know that they are saying, "Send us able men, send us well-qualified young women, workers who are mature in their spiritual and emotional development." The task of recruiting men and women to fill these calls is a formidable one, but as God led Samuel to choose David as king over His people from among the stalwart sons of Jesse, so today with prayer, with careful screening, and with advanced planning, God continues to provide able men and women to match the needs of the hour.
In the book of Acts there are listed some requirements for those who were to administer the business of the apostolic church:
Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business (Chapter 6:3).
Today in choosing men and women for the Lord's service emphasis should be placed on the same qualities. God needs men and women full of the Holy Spirit, controlled by principle, dedicated to Christ, and motivated by love for souls.
The principles that Ellen G. White out lined to guide the leaders of our work can apply to each of God's workers today. In a sermon presented at a general meeting in 188'3, she made the following statement concerning conference presidents in particular, but it can be applied to workers in general:
They should be men . . . who in character, in words, in deportment, will be an honor to the cause of Christ, teaching the truth, living the truth, growing up to the full stature in Christ Jesus. Gospel Workers, p. 413.
Then in the same volume, page 416, we read:
If the officers of the conference would bear successfully the burdens laid upon them, they must pray, they must believe, they must trust God to use them as His agents in keeping the churches of the conference in good working order. . . . There must be far more personal responsibility, far more thinking and planning, far more mental power brought into the labor put forth for the Master.
And one of the most outstanding references that we have in connection with the responsibilities carried by leaders of the work today, one of the most challenging, is also found in Gospel Workers, pages 424 and 425:
At this time God's cause is in need of men and women who possess rare qualifications and good administrative powers; men and women who will make patient, thorough investigation of the needs of the work in various fields; those who have a large capacity for work; those who possess warm, kind hearts, cool heads, sound sense, and unbiased judgment; those who are sanctified by the Spirit of God, and can fearlessly say No, or Yea and amen, to propositions; those who have strong convictions, clear understanding, and pure, sympathetic hearts; those who practice the words, 'All ye are brethren;' those who strive to uplift and restore fallen humanity.
Mrs. White and Today's Concepts
It is interesting to note that many of the administrative concepts that are being pro pounded today in the industrial world were put forth almost a century ago by Ellen G. White. Emphasis today is placed upon human relations, upon breadth in the exercise of thinking, good judgment, and ability to deal with people. It is found that ineffective managers who do not know how to treat people constitute the primary cause of the lack of efficiency in the business and industrial world.
As the large companies seek executives today, they look for men with ability to make good decisions, who understand people and know how to treat them, who face the problems of life with calmness, who have ability to plan and organize, who act with energy and enthusiasm, and know how to communicate with others efficiently.
Leaders and workers in the Seventh-day Adventist Church should be equipped with these same qualifications. There is a wealth of counsel in the Bible and in the Spirit of Prophecy, which if followed prayerfully, will indeed make each one of us able men and women in God's cause.
