Evangelism?

[Gregory Matthews]

See:

https://spectrummagazine.org/views/2019/lets-delete-words-evangelism-and-witnessing-our-vocabulary

 

[GHansen]

Really bad article. Thought it was written by a college freshman. "Witnessing" has never been, for me, as described in the article. Best times of my life were spent witnessing e.g., doing prison ministry, passing out tracts in interesting places such as rock concerts and other public venues. I'd much prefer an article by someone who actually knows what they are talking about such as John Carter or Pastor Doug. Most companies have goals employees are expected to meet. When Ross Perot worked at IBM, he met his annual goals in a week.  SDA clergy continue drawing their salaries for doing what? Baptizing a few children of members every year? A professional degree such as an M.Div or D.Min isn't required for that. As one SDA pastor said, the best way to grow a church is through membership transfers i.e., moving peas under a walnut shell  around, riding the coattails of others. I personally baptized 8 people in a ~ year as part of a team with one paid ministerial professional, whose salary did not come from the sweat of church members.

Granted, most SDA clergy are failures at evangelism or witnessing. Most simply don't know how to do it, although that's what they should be paid to do. Like what the Bible says "Those who preach the gospel should live of the gospel."  Instead of writing books, the author should have been out knocking on doors to discover how he might serve his community. That's how Willow Creek started, a young pastor and his wife visiting their community to discover what the people though they needed. The ICOC attracted thousands of young people through friendship evangelism, including  medical students, young lawyers, navy pilots. One young physician mentioned that another physician he worked with was an Adventist and spiritually was one of the most bitter and messed up people he had ever met. This same young doctor was part of a team evangelizing L.A. for the ICOC. He  was discipling another medical doctor when I met him.

The ICOC, the Mormons, the JW's have few professional clergy in their ranks but do a fair job of growing their churches. If I remember correctly, in parts of  N.A., it costs about $100,000 for every new member who joins the SDA church. Get that? The cost of one new member exceeds the salary of a pastor. Those eight new  members, many of whom are not even working, in a church with 2 or three pastors, cost nearly a million bucks. Most SDA clergy are being underwritten by the labors of other individuals. I'm not a CPA so it's hard for me to understand how any entity can continue under those circumstances.

[GHansen]

Perhaps the article author tried, in his younger years, to "witness" but failed; consequently, writing books about witnessing was an alternative. With clergy who consider "witnessing" a drag, it's not surprising that evangelism is left to a very few individuals in the denomination e.g., Doug Batchelor. Doug combines elements of Jewish comedianship, an extraordinary family background, and joy in his work, to make a favorable impression. He's a very likable person. What becomes of his converts over the long term is another question. J.J. Millet brought a similar pizazz and sparkle to his meetings. He too, had entertainment in his background.

JWs are taught from the get go that door to door evangelism  is an integral part of their church membership. They are carefully trained in personal evangelism. Individuals in America who excel in the work have opportunity to become remunerated pioneers in developing areas of the world . A Kazakh acquaintance knew all about JWs and their Arian doctrine but had never even heard of SDA.

In many areas of the world, native English speakers can earn a decent living as English language teachers, including three months paid vacation, free housing, a significant annual bonus and a light work load. No need to go around like a beggar for "sponsors." You can be paid for working as an English language teacher in many Asian countries such as Japan, Thailand, China, Viet Nam. What you do in your considerable free time, tempered by common sense, is your own business. The fact that a bi-lingual Bible is one of the best teaching tools available is certainly an advantage to those who pay attention to their work. And you won't need your hand in other people's pocket to do your "job."

[GHansen]

Years ago I attended the Sacramento Central SDA church. Pastor Doug was the senior pastor. He had two or three associates and a Bible worker also with him. Two Folsom prisons are within a 30 minute drive of the church. I went to one of the associates and said I wanted to start a prison ministry. He chuckled a bit and suggested I write letters to inmates through an existing program at the church. I had done this years before in Arizona but stopped after an inmate said he was going to burn my house down when he got out because I wouldn't send him a small television and a wrist watch.

I made a few inquiries and discovered that the SDA churches in the area had been excluded from the prisons because the chaplains felt that the teaching of the church was divisive and could cause security issues in the prison. State employed chaplains are responsible for chaplaincy services in each prison. Prison admin generally defers to their decisions as to who can be admitted to the prisons for religious services. Local SDA churches had put considerable pressure on the Folsom chaplain to allow them into the institution but the chaplain, an ex-correctional officer and former JW who had become a Baptist held firm to his belief that the brand of Adventism put forth by Amazing Facts, for example, would not work in the prison.

Visiting GNU one Sabbath, I heard that the prison chaplain would be at a prayer breakfast held in Calvary Chapel, Grass Valley. I attended, told him I was interested in holding services in the prison. Later I contacted him by phone. He asked me about my church affiliation. I said "I'm a former Sabbath-keeping , vegeburger eating SDA who discovered the gospel and centrality of the Cross in my Christian experience." He was quite impressed when I mentioned Dr. Ford and said that he often listened to him on the radio. "No problem," he said. "Come on up to the prison and I'll get you a credential to enter without an escort." I conducted services there on, first, Monday mornings and then changed the day to Saturday. My work there continued until a new chaplain arrived. The previous chaplain went into full time pastoral work in Stockton.

I personally baptized 8 inmates after being designated by the chaplain to do so. Ironic that I could baptize people in the prison but when I was asked to do a prayer meeting at Sac Central about prison ministry, the church administration cancelled it.

A dear old SDA pastor required us to memorize the following "The testimony of our own experience is heaven's appointed agency for revealing Christ to the world." That's my testimony and I'm sticking to it.