Phrases dealing with things of new or current interest change with the times. The ideas so described are not always new, but the expressions suggest a renewed interest in their importance. At times these popular concepts invade the church and even affect its policies. "Feasibility studies" is an example.
A feasibility study, as the term implies, suggests an in-depth analysis done by competent individuals from a purely materialistic standpoint, to evaluate the likelihood of success if some project or undertaking under consideration is carried out. Admittedly, wise planning through the centuries has included an analysis of the probable outcome of any desired undertaking. However, in today's context a feasibility study implies a rather thorough analysis of a pro posed undertaking by qualified professionals.
The question for the church is: If the work to be undertaken has been specifically commissioned by God, should the church do a feasibility study before venturing in the direction of His expressed will? Where does faith begin and practicality end, or vice versa? The answer, I think, is found in studying the records of the Inspired Word.
The time of Noah doubtless had its giant intellects, its wise analysts, and its dependable statisticians, who together had accumulated a vast store of material knowledge. Would Noah have built the ark had he hired the primeval world's most reputable prognosticators to do a feasibility study of what God had ordered him to do? Would they not have found the capacity of the proposed ark entirely inadequate to accommodate the people and animals expected to go on board, together with the enormous amount of food that would be required for a protracted period of time? Would they not have pointed out that under no circumstances could rational thinking envision sufficient water to come from somewhere to sink an entire world out of sight? And, from a purely monetary consideration, where would Noah pro cure the money for such a gigantic structure, and if he did, where would he find the skilled craftsmen with sufficient knowledge to build such a craft?
But Noah had a clear command from God, and he went ahead without delay to fulfill his commission. For 120 years he endured the greatest mockery and scoffing the world has ever poured upon any single person. The Inspired Record tells us that the ark was built, the Flood came, and Noah and his family remained safe within the ark, together with all the animal life on board.
In another Biblical experience, Israel had been in Egypt approximately four hundred years, much of it in abject slavery. Egypt was a world empire; its armies were feared by all nations. Then at last God sought out Moses and commissioned him to go to Egypt and deliver His people. Moses was frightened. He saw no way to succeed in such an undertaking, and he said so. In response the Lord asked, "What is that in thine hand?"
"A rod," Moses replied. With no more than that shepherd's rod, Moses began his seemingly impossible mission. Had he done a feasibility study, would the results have encouraged him to believe that his enslaved, downtrodden people would rally to his support and cooperate with his efforts for their re lease? Would it have revealed any source of power to overcome the chariots, horsemen, and foot soldiers of Egypt's well-disciplined forces? Would it have assured him of resources with which to obtain food for so great a multitude to travel from Egypt to Canaan?
Even after the Israelites reached the southern shore of the Red Sea, and God told Moses to go forward, would a feasibility study have shown that as the feet of the priests touched the water, the sea would roll back? Would it have indicated that by the next morning that vast Egyptian army with all of Pharaoh's chariots would be strewn on the seashore?
Israel eventually arrived at the borders of Canaan. With that arrival came a great tragedy. A feasibility study was under taken. Twelve of their ablest men were chosen to do a detailed survey and analysis of the Promised Land. After weeks of searching the land, the majority rendered their report. Briefly stated, it consisted of one word Impossible! Why was it impossible if God had ordered it done? They replied, "There are giants in the land and their cities are walled to high heaven and we in our own sight and in theirs are but grasshoppers." The minority spoke up: "Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it."
The Scripture record states that Israel wandered forty years in the wilderness until all the adults of 20 years of age and older left their bones on the desert floor because of "unbelief."
Actually, if we analyze all God's commands, they don't seem feasible. They never have, and they probably never will. It's not feasible to pay one tenth of one's income plus offerings to the Lord. It's not feasible to keep the Sabbath in a world that disregards it. It's not feasible for a small organization such as Seventh-day Adventists to operate two universities in North America and develop others in other countries. It's not feasible for such a church to have grade schools, high schools, and colleges in almost all the major countries of the world. It's not feasible for the church to own and operate medical institutions, publishing houses, health-food factories.
It certainly isn't feasible for us to support a large army of missionaries and scatter them to diverse countries throughout the world. The best performed feasibility study would definitely agree. But the fact is that we are doing all this and more. When God says to do something, unbelief says, Do a feasibility
study first. When God told His disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel, He did so to a mere handful of men. Yet within a few years Paul recorded that these few followers had turned the world upside down.
God's instructions are clear and precise. The methods that His people are to use to advance His cause are sharply delineated. Let us not become so
worldly wise that we use the world's methods of approach rather than simple faith in God's expressed counsel. If our pioneers had done feasibility studies, we would have no Loma Linda University, no Avondale College, no Bangkok Adventist Hospital, no Review and Herald Publishing Association. We would have none of these. We would have no Seventh-day Adventist Church.
