Review and Herald for 1970

Er°a MTT: gam '11 Our idear of education take too narrow and too low a range. There ir need of a • preparation for tne lire Inez nor is. IT 1 has to do with the whole being, and with the whole period of existenr*e porsible to man. It is the hprmonious development of higher joy of rider serviPe in tne 1-ortr to name. .-Edunation, p. 13 C t"-Yrr I 11 I . t's A.gr-q_ah MONTE SAHLIN 1:* r, I- 7 ,v IJ If COULD be a Christian if it saya, "It is appointed unto man once weren't for my neighbor," the to die, but after this . judgment," I man said to me. he replied, standing there with his I was a student missionary on a sub, Bible in his hand. urban project with the ' Adventist 'Sure, you've told nie. you care, •col1eate Taskforce. I was using a re- but .show me,' I insisted. 'Even I can ious interest survey to interview see the difference.' " Mr. Parker. He was about 35, a ma- Proclaiming the message? Yes, in a ne operator in an aircraft plant. way. That Adventist was preaching, • His two children—Vickie, eight, and but it was not the New Testament intiny, ten—had attended a day gospel. A. message was getting camp, I had visited the Parker home through In fact, the medium—the Is several times. Adventist himself—was the 'only mes- 3? The neighbor interested me. How sage his neighbor was getting. 1 could a neighbor keep him from Such evangelism, so divorced from 7. Christ? I asked for details. The neigh- human needs and so unrelated to con- bor lived next door. He was a good temporary life,;;nOti'kOnly leaves the the neighbor—always helpful, cheerful, hearer unmoved.;?eiftiriakes him resist and gave free sermons. the gospel by • giving him an untrue Mr. Parker gave me the following representation Of 'what the gospel is. account: It may actually be the stumbling "Take Saturday, for example. I was block that keeps the hearer from ever 7 Message ' out mowing my lawn. When my neigh.. having a chance to say Yes to Jesus bor, and his family came 'home from Christ! church we stopped to chat. Is such impersonal witnessing com- A r 'Hi, what's new?' I said. mon among Seventh-day Adventists? " 'Nothing,' said my neighbor, 'e Maybe not everywheie, but it is too • Gettin g cept the good news that Christ died to, frequent for too many, of save sinners, and that ,,(ige includes Is it becanse we ,don't care .enough Y°u: about people, don't love deeply " 'That's new? You'veyeen playing enough to get inifoh4d'in. the , life of , that line to me for ten years. Like a another—to take the tune to listen to Through? stuck record.' him, to look through his to think " 'Yeah, well, the only thing new as he thinks, to sit where he sits? would be if you'd listen to it for a We feel safer passing:itOnt.in neat A change,' said the neighbor, then little sermons and leaflets-ir.-prepaclt- added, 'Beware lest thou 'forget the' aged by someone elseeIse for someone else. Lord! Maybe .We even. think , this' is what p, 'You can forget it as far as I m evangelism is all a ou —coin unt- cOneeihetl,' I told him and tried to eating words to people. start a,cOnv,ersation on something else. The , doctrine that should precede —the weather, politics, Vietnam. all oth6r doctrines and that binds to- "But the neighbor kepi' .00bbering other :into a, meaningful whole all me with at must be stuff from the Biblical truth is the doctrine of love. Bible,- such' s the mark of he.beast Theoctrme of love cannot . be -an tl the wicked shall be Wilted up. pi•ea0iicl.by,tvords alone, from pulpits "Well, he got through to mg'4.11, tracts, books, ;H or broadcasts. The right. I was mad. So, I said, -`Lool4,kif.f.*ords Must . be made flesh where peo- you care so much about, my soul, where '• pie live and 'struggle--in • the hiarket- . were ,you when I was looking for a job placT, in the streets, the homes, Jat ell, I was busy,' my neighbor An Unacceptable Solution '.urisweiel:L You know, between my Too- Often theological ',studies .are job, and the church, an my Advent- proclaimed without relating them tps, 1st l*Kifi: tied down.' the person and his heeds:. Many iecl.t- !-Nea ' ' • taking care Jar minds. 'are tuning out Christianit of yourself V tF"sha43,T 1 know you, because it is presented to them as un--, • And needetl'help.h0,4id you come ,real and unrelated to life. SOrnehow, o help me? No. You didn't care.' W.0Ve. 'stiCceeded, in Making the believ= 'cafe? Of' course I care, Why I've Ale unbelievable, the real unreal. Warned you over and over. The Bible ' How (do some professed Christians ' • REVIEW AND HERALD, September 3, 1970 45 13?-5 4.11. .2a-gt:an • • let out of this predicament? They say our own; lives, and orced to retrain because his company we must discard the old message and the world—have a real knowledge of is going out of business.- They struggle come up with a new one. Rewrite those who need, the gospel:. together to get, the man established in .theology, they insist, and forget about We need to do research before we his new job, and together they meet the old-fashioned concepts of sin and launch out in ‘missionary projects. the problems of family adjustment. Salvation.. Talk about an "atheistic Our programs will be much more ef- One day the ex-foreman is in church gospel,".a God who is dead, situational fective if we have a factual profile of for the first time: ; 'ethics. Such :"gospels" may change our target audience. We need to con- Third, .jesus won the confidence of thought patterns but they seldom centrate on the growing number of individuals. He did not simply partici- .change the man. non,Christiansias:well, as the decreas- pate in a faceless group, even a corn- esus would never have done that! ing number o the' church-oriented. munity service groupi His service was watered-down religion is worth-, Our visitation will be much more disinterested, that is, tWf.thcout thought less and hypocritical! It doesn't really Clarrstlike if we take the time to know of persOnal gain, but His love for help anyone. Any Christian who has more about the one we are seeking to those He served was %unyielding. We ',-seen the C.hanging, revitalizing power job, his faMily,. his needs, must learn to relate to individuals as conversion in his life or that of an- his. interests,h*.rohlerns ,his we- !'do good" in work projects or er, cannot trade it for gradualism background. • courteously conduct our business af- fairs.Wimust reach across the ,bar- Often beliefs. Practical Help ;4 .4‘ n the other hand, there are pro- 4' riers1,Society has raised between ed. Christians who would• merely Second, our Lord helPel-peop e fu perSdirkarOmold loving relationships out louder, using traditional meth- practical ways. He preached the doc- with those' around us—iMselfish, hum- -111e answer, they believe, lies in trine of love as vigorously as He did ble, patient relationships. • A greater degree of zeal and the fatherhood of God or the judg- Fourth, - "Then, He bade them, et into the old methods and words ment. The Spirit of Prophecy writings TollOW' Me.'"After He, had demon- ;if the people don't listen and say that He spent more time healing strated the doctrine of love, and they tit* accept it. thari,preaching.- He ministered to peo- had accepted it- and understood it, These church members often indict ples needs. We need to, balance our then He asked them to admit they approaches that attempt to give the use of words with practical action. For were sinners' and accept His saving ..good news in new ways and in every Bible study, we need a Five-Day atonement , and keep His, coMmand- churcht language as not constituting Plan to Stop Smoking. For:.g.v0:y se- menWifle did not impatiently, self- vante ism. They say, "Why should we ries of 'meetings, series okchtacasts, igtfri*h. on to those important:0o, 'be afraid to tell people that they need literature distribution ;Voject, we trines:that relate the person directly Jesus and that they are sinners? What need ran eqUalintirilher dwelfare sei v- to God as Lord; He selflessly waited is to be 'gained by hiding the gospel? ices, tutoring projects, - job-training until they had in their own way come WWe should not pull any punches!" classes; clay:tamps, and teen centers. to the right moment when speakin That kind of approach has become In Many; training „classes on how- to of these doctrines would be best ap- clasSic. Be frank and factual! If they witness, I've had people ask me, preciated. une - you out, that's their problem. ".How do I get a hearing? How do I We must follow His example. tir lob is jnst to sow seeds. Never reach -the secular men and women in • hrist's method alone will give true and the results. my community?" The answer is really success in reaching the people." We Which way then for effective evan- quite. simple. By getting involved in must learn the timing and flexibility gelism? How are we to finish the work? compinnity, service programs Where h ' t made" t the Master soul win- Let's < take Christ's example.

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