THE primitive church in the days of Christ and the apostles was organized for service. Without impressive structures, either in buildings or organization, it carried on a tremendous daily missionary contact program that effectively carried the gospel to an indifferent world.
Today it is the church that seems indifferent. Writing in 1897, the servant of God lamented that "most of those who compose our congregations are spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. They come and go like the door upon its hinges. For years they have complacently listened to the most solemn, soul-stirring truths, but they have not practised them." --Lay Activities Leaflet, No. 9. (Italics supplied.) Isn't it evident that too many Adventists still continue this practice of coming and going "like the door upon its hinges" rather than settling down to accomplish the work God has given?
Later, in this same message entitled "An Appeal to Our Churches on Behalf of Missionary Work," Sister White begins to tell us what God expects this church to do. "God has given to every man a work to do in connection with His kingdom. Each one professing the name of Christ is to be an interested worker, ready to defend the principles of righteousness. The work of the gospel is not to depend solely upon the minister; every soul should take an active part in advancing the cause of God." Again the statement is made, "But, instead of this, how many of our large churches come and go like a door upon its hinges, feeling no responsibility for the progress of the work."
What can be done about it? How can the church be organized for missionary service? The responsibility rests first of all upon the ministry. "The people have listened to too much sermonizing; but have they been instructed as to how to labor for those for whom Christ died? Has there been a line of work devised and laid out before the people in such a way that each one saw the necessity of taking part in the work?"
Our "Great Sin"
There follows one of the strongest denunciations in the Spirit of Prophecy. She points out that the great sin of the church is its neglect to follow God's plan as outlined above. "God has given his messengers the truth to proclaim. Then the churches are to voice the truth from the lips of the messengers, and use their talents in every way possible to make the ministry a power to communicate truth by their catching the first rays of light, and diffusing the same. Here is our great sin. We are years behind. The ministers have been seeking the hidden treasures, and have been opening up the casket, and letting the jewels of truth shine forth, but not one one-hundreth part has been done or is being done by the members of the church, that God requires of them."
Sister White next gives some very practical suggestions on how the church can remedy this situation. Not all of them can be outlined here, but the following are representative:
1. "Let the missionary meeting be turned to account in teaching the people how to do missionary work."
2. "There are scores who have real ability, who are rusting from inaction, and yet many of these do not know how to set themselves at work for the Master. But let some one who has ability to devise ways whereby this talent may be utilized, lay out before these inactive ones the line of work that they could do, and let them understand that this is expected of them, and many who are now unemployed will be come true laborers."
3. "Do not pass by the little things and look for a large work. You might do successfully the small work, but fail utterly in attempting a large work, and fall into discouragement. Take hold wherever you see that there is work to be done. Whether you are rich or poor, great or humble, God calls you into active service for Him."
4. "In every church the members should be trained so that they will devote time to the work, and win souls to Christ. How can it be said of the church, 'Ye are the light of the world,' uncless the members of the church actually impart light to others? In seeking to point sinners to the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world, their own love will be kindled, and by beholding Him they, too, will become changed into His likeness."
Clearly, the minister will not accomplish his most effective work for the church by sermonizing but will do so by training the church to minister to others. The instruction given in this message is strong and startling in the light of present practice.
"Because of the lack of proper instruction among the church members by those whom God has placed as overseers, there is not one merely, but scores, who are slothful, and who are hiding their talents in the earth, and still complaining of the Lord's dealings toward them. They need to be tended as do sick children. This condition of weakness must not continue. Well-organized work must be done in the church, that its members may understand the manner in which they may impart life to others, and thus strengthen their own faith and increase their knowledge."
But there is a remedy. Another passage portrays the church as becoming the living, dynamic, thriving, vibrant, growing organization that He intends it to become, and then adds:
"The monotony of our service for God needs to be broken up. Every church member should be engaged in some line of service for the Mas ter. Some cannot do so much as others, but everyone should do his utmost to roll back the tide of disease and distress that is sweeping over our world. Many would be willing to work if they were taught how to begin. They need to be instructed and encouraged.
"Every church should be a training school for Christian workers. Its members should be taught how to give Bible readings, how to conduct and teach Sabbath-school classes, how best to help the poor and to care for the sick, how to work for the unconverted. There should be schools of health, cooking schools, and classes in various lines of Christian help work. There should not only be teaching, but actual work under experienced instructors. Let the teachers lead the way in working among the people, and others, uniting with them, will learn from their example. One example is worth more than many precepts." --The Ministry of Healing, p. 149.
The Adventist ministry is often intellectually titillated when men such as D. James Kennedy discover some of the precepts God gave us long ago and demonstrate their effectiveness by putting them into practice. Sometimes we react with a sour grapes attitude and remark, "Oh, that's nothing new. We were told that a long time ago!" Why, then, don't we begin to take ad vantage of the tremendous potential we have in following the total plan outlined for us by God himself?
The Most Expensive Structures
National magazines have recently pointed out that churches are the most expensive structures in the world, in terms of time of use compared to cost of facility. Certainly this is true if we only use the church two or three times per week for an average of about five hours per week. A church can't justify its reason for existence on such terms.
Take a church like one in our area that cost one million dollars to erect. Add to the initial cost the yearly expenditure for upkeep. Depreciate it over a period of, say, twenty-five years. Then estimate its actual time of use per week. One hour for prayer meeting, three hours for Sabbath school and church services and one hour for youth meetings. Add to these occasional use for weddings, socials, business meetings, and evangelistic services and it still barely averages more than seven hours per week per year or about one hour for each day of the year. Divide the cost of construction and operation by the 364 hours it is used during the year and you have a staggering cost for each hour of use. Especially if it is true, as God's servant states, that so often our people come and go to these services "like the door upon its hinges."
You may raise the objection that it is used for the pastor's office and he has visiting hours. It still figures out as an overwhelming amount to pay for a place for the pastor to study or occasionally to counsel.
Community Education Centers
If we were to follow the instruction given about making the church a missionary training center, we would at least double its usefulness. But that's just the beginning. Not only is the church to be a training center for the members, but it can become an educational center for the community. The General Conference Health Department has been flooded by requests for information on meatless cooking. Adventists have an expertise in this area that comes from years of personal practice. What a tremendous opportunity for every Adventist church to be come a community center where people can come to learn how to cook without meat. Just as we were ready with the Five-Day Plan when the Surgeon General's report was first publicized, we should be prepared from our years of experience to teach vegetarian cooking now that there is such great interest.
The community's interest extends far beyond learning how to cook without meat and how to stop smoking. In this age when children are not generally being taught the moral principles on which our nation was founded, when homes are being broken up at a higher rate than ever before, we can take our know-how based on such books as Child Guidance and The Adventist Home and share God-given insights with our neighbors. Adventist churches should be known as centers for family counseling.
People today want help. They're searching for answers to problems that government and society can't seem to solve. They're listening intently for a voice of moral authority. What a tremendous opportunity for Adventist evangelism. And what are we doing? The picture God gives us through His prophet is that we are coming and going like "the door upon its hinges."
It's time to realize our Adventist advantage and potential. It's time to take seriously God's call to get away from so much sermonizing and to spend more time training our members to work the works of Him who sent us.
But just formulating more plans and programs is not the answer. We are told clearly that "there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times" (The Great Controversy, p. 464). Our first work and great est emphasis ought to be devoted to earnestly searching our hearts and lives, confessing our sins, and yielding ourselves fully to the infilling and power of the Holy Spirit. Only when Adventist church members have come into a true love relationship with Jesus and have removed the obstacles to the reception of the Holy Spirit will they be fully motivated to work for their families and neighbors. We must experience it before we can share it. The minister's first work must be to lead his church in this kind of revival experience. Then to keep the revival fires burning the whole church must go to work.
However, we must get our own priorities straightened out. Careful study of God's plan will show us where to put the emphasis on the training of our members and then the education of the public.
