Newspaper Page Text
March 5, 1913]
Pastoral and Per
Wherever the minister of a local congregation
so works with his people as
to receive year after year recruits upon
profession of faith, there is pastoral
evangelism. You will recognize that
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tages over other foims. It can reach
any church field. Nothing in the peculiar
composition of any church or its
surroundings?nothing except un'beliof
and spiritual inactivity within can prevents
church from doing its own soulwinning.
Pastoral evangelism tones up
the faith of the church with the consciousuess
that power can reside right
there in her own membership. Only
while the church is doing the discipling
of the unsaved and securing their
public confession expressed by baptism,
Is the Lord pledged to be with
them. "And, lo, I am with you all the
davs." Mflfthow 9Q-9A lo 1
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upon our being constantly evangelizers.
The first prerequisite is an evangelistic
pastor. If mothers who have unchurched
sons and daughters, if all
who have yearnings to see people reclaimed
coxe to know, if the peacher
himself and God know that he is heading
for the Cross of Calvary and leading
those who follow him to that Cross
for redemption, regeneration and sanctifieation,
then a praying company unknown
to each other and to him, will
sustain his ministry and will labor to
bring the unsaved within his Influence.
A second prerequisite is a sympathetic
session and other officers. Manv a
man blessed with evangelistic fervor
reaps no harvest of sculs because his
church officers fail to second his plans
and efforts, not always from lack of
interest?sometimes from lack of light
?an element which evangelistic committees
of Presfbytery can often furnish
the local church.
A third prerequisite is a band of pergonal
workers. Happy the pastor who
can count upon any considerable number
of these. Personal wnrlroro orin
not come by wholesale appeal?rather
by long, patient, private persuasion and
counsel?yet they are worth whatever
they coBt.
Rousing Men In Local Chnrclt.
Here Is the way one pastor In a large
city went after his men:
TO OUR MEN:
I have never thought more prayerfully
over any set of sentences I have
had to write than these that follow. I
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sonal Evangelism
want them so written that God can
use them to fire the hearts of men F
know Qnd love, wlCI moral earnestness.
During the past six years I have
been turned down by hundreds of men
to whom I have gone to urge some
definite Christian service. I heard
simply thousands of excuses and have
6een almost everything get in between
men and the thing I pressed for. I
have doubted my own leadership scores
of times In the unsleeping moments of
the night. I have studied on my knees
my limitations in getting men in this
parish to do things. Every time I
have arisen with a new determination
to keep right on calling these same
men so long as 1 am pastor here!
I will not think longer of the dead
and Ineffective committees of the past.
I -will not allow one bit of discouragement
to darken the hope in my soul
for better things
We have lost leaders. Strong staves
have broken in my hand. Death has
robbed us of elders and trustees.
Suburbs have taken workers and the
suspended roll has claimed Its share.
But note, men' God has pushed more
of the city close up to the doorways
of our big well equipped church than
ever before since she began. She nover
had such a chance. We dare not run
from personal duty. No man will. I
know our men will not let slight matters
hinder their serving through our
church this great new field about us.
Every man is called. Don't wntt on
a program. You love men and know
how to help them In a score of ways
without being told!
A definite task is now before us. The
Men and Religion ForwaTd Movement
is stirring church life throughout the
land. It must not go without our getting
in touch with it and sharing Its
blessing. Its five great fields of services
are given below. It will mean
nothing to us except as we tune up our
local church to receive.
These committees are not appointed,
they have orders, not from the pastor,
hut from the aroused conscience of the
church, and their sense of Christian
obligation to our great unreached conimounty.
Not one has been personally naked.
A general does not go down the line
and ask each man to kindly fire If he
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posibly can. He knows every man
stands to do bis duty, and hence give3
the order.
The committees are to:
First. Survey the field and get the
facts.
Second. Report to a series of November
meetings.
Third. Arouse popular interest in
their subject
Foutrh. Plan things needed to be
done.
God give us men!
Men who never shamed their mothers.
Men who never fall their brothers,
True, however false are others.
Give us men. I say again,
God give us men!
Dr. Egbert W. Smith, In an article
on 'The Evangelistic Pastor," speaking
of the two important methods, individual
and Pulpit Evangelism, gives
the following suggestions:
"As the vast majority of the unsaved
never enter our churches or come In
sound of our pulpits, It is the first
method that needs to be stressed to
uuy. mougn caiiea tne new evangelism
It Is the oldest way of bringing
men to Christ. It Is the personal touch,
the Individual relation. Ht Is Andrew
after Peter, Phillip after Nathaniel.
Christ after Zacchaeus. The bringing
back of this element Into the church
Is beginning already to mark a newchurch
era in the progress of the
gospel. Every Christian engaged in
personal work to save others is the
divine Ideal to which every pastor must
urge his members and lead the way.
Workers Organized.
Many pastors are organizing classes
among their members for Instruction
and practice in individual evangelism.
A. score of little books and pamphlets,
giving courses of study and abundant
oractlcal directions, are issuing from
the press, so that any pastor who
wants to can begin at once to train his
people for personal work. A minlBter
laid his hand upon the shoulder of n
young man and asked him tf he was a
Christian. The reply was, "No. sir;
I have heard you peaoh every Sunda
for seven years, but I am not a
Christian yet" What seven years of
preaching had failed to do, five minutes
of heart oontact and personal relation
accomplished and this young
man Is now a faithful, active Christian.
Not every preacher can be elo
nuenx, Diir. nere is tne place of power
for every man. He can be sympathe/w.VAyJ
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tic, earnest, courageous, self-sacrlflcing,
ever watching for the right moment
to speak the right word in the
name of Christ,
The possibilities of this personal
work are startling. If there were only
one Christian in the world to-day and
in one year he should win anothpr tn
Christ, and the next year each should
win one more, and every man brought
to Christ should win just one each
year, it would take only thirty-two and
a half years to bring the whole world
to Christ. Personal work for souls in
which the pastor trains his members
and leads the way.
I)r. Goodell, in his book On "Pastoral
and Personal Evangelism," -says
some things on this particular phase of
our subject that will probably rouse
the consciousness of quite a number
of us. He says that we cannot afford
to work "with our hand upon our
pulBe." He speaks of Mr. Moody as a
magnificent animal who was so stronglv
constructed ?,? ?-?
uj uuluio iuai unuer
ordinary corcumstances he would ltive
lived ninety years. "But," says Dr.
Goodell, "his heart took on the cares
of this world so greatly and throbbed
so terribly under them that it shook
ids tabernacle to pieces at sixty-two."
He then goes on to gently remind us
ministers that we are the best insurance
risks In the world, that as a
class we live longer than other men.
Dr. Jowett says that he asked this
question of a young missionary who
had been sent home on account of
broken-down health: "Why do you wish
to return?" "Because I can't sleep
for thinking of them," was the reply.
Brethren of the ministry, In the propogatlon
of a real evangelism there
must be the faithful preaching of the
cross by men who will not hesitate to
tread the path that leads to Calvary.
Personal E fangellsm.
This Is doubtless the most effective
?? type of Evangelism for today.
Nothing tells like the per\
sonal touch, the Individual
working for the Individual.
(T Here Is work all can do.
^ g\f Every church member should
-\ oolong to the "Win-One
_ League," and try to win at
least one person for Christ
-j each year, one In a year.
O (1) A person can't; give
Christ unless he has him.
I (2) M a person has Christ,
he must do one of two things
with him?give him away or
give him up.
(3) The Christian, on this
own confession, has Christ.
If he does not give Christ
to others, we are to InfeT
that he renliy does not have
what he claims to have.
(4) The great need of many
church members Is a personal,
definite, spiritual reallza
uvn i/i ?jnnHx in tneir hearts
and a personal, definite, splrl
itnal giving of Christ to the
\ world.
J (5) The time has come
\ when no man can serve his
Lord by proxy. Every PresrHK
byterlan In our Presbyteries
fConWntieif on n*** tl.l