Fifteen thousand leaflets were distributed; we placed ads in the newspaper and on the radio. But there was no response!
At the lecture, there were some personal friends who often come and a number of young people, but there were no new faces resulting from all the effort.
Should we be disappointed? If that is our consistent experience, should we drop lectures from our ecclesial program?
Looking for converts
There is no question that a lot of new faces responding to a special effort creates an air of excitement and makes the work seem worthwhile. Furthermore, we have a duty to warn our neighbors what is coming upon the earth and to proclaim the gospel of Truth. But the real good is done when someone is converted to Christ, being baptized into him and into the ecclesia.
One-time visitors should not be our priority goal. The person who has been coming along for many months or years and the relative or friend are the ones who are better candidates for conversion.
No visitors or 85 visitors?
At a recent Bible school, there was no response from the local community to our ads and canvassing for the Thursday night lecture. When this was pointed out, a committee member responded, “True, but there were 85 unbaptized young people in the audience old enough to commit to the Truth.”
Did the speaker have interested friends to address? Of course he did! Because a young person is part of the ecclesial circle is no guarantee he will eventually be baptized.
The value of lectures
Even if we come from larger ecclesias, we seldom hear a comprehensive presentation of a first principle apart from a lecture. The points may all come out in home discussion or in Sunday school; but in those situations, the topic is usually covered in a partial, rather than in a complete, manner.
A first principle presentation is good for all ages, even young children. They may be reading a book, drawing or daydreaming, but once in a while a point comes through and, drop by drop, the living water of life is taken in.
Since our children are under our influence for many years, we are likely to take for granted that they will absorb right principles in the course of their upbringing. We can take nothing for granted in this regard. What they learn at school, from their friends and from other sources almost invariably runs counter to the gospel. They can greatly benefit by hearing the Truth expounded and demonstrated over and over again.
And there are the converted. None of us should take our understanding of and commitment to the saving gospel for granted. While we may have understood and believed the Truth at our baptism there is no guarantee that we will hold fast to it. History should teach us this. Ever since the first century, every time the Truth has experienced a revival, it has been apostatized within 100 years. Its existence for 150 years from 1848 to the present is much more the exception than the rule.
We need, then, to continually reinforce right principles in the mind of every believer. The process may seem repetitive and monotonous at times, but it is a safeguard to keep to the forefront our knowledge of the first principles which are vital to our salvation.
God blesses but not always the way we expect
In processing the ecclesial news, we have noticed an interesting pattern. Those ecclesias which are vigorous in special efforts, lectures and campaigns, regularly have more baptisms than those which are not. Yet the baptisms rarely come from the special efforts. Most of the conversions come from personal friends, family contacts or “chance” encounters at work, school or in the neighborhood– opportunities available to less active ecclesias.
The pattern is this: there are only so many things we can do. We can hold special efforts, we can pass out leaflets, we can have an answering machine, etc., but we cannot arrange “chance” encounters or ensure response from family members. If we do what we can however, it appears God blesses us with interested people whom we can effectively instruct in the way of life.
New opportunities
Sometimes we lament that people will not come to lectures anymore. There was a day when a religious talk was a big event in town and it provided “something to do” for the evening. That day is long past especially with the advent of television.
Every problem, however, presents an opportunity and that is even the case with television. We have received a letter from the New England Christadelphian Tape Library which seeks to seize on this opportunity.
“Until recently only a select few have been able to ‘get on the air.’ With the advent of cable TV and the home VCR, this has dramatically changed. We now have the means to enter the homes of thousands of viewers scattering the seed of God’s word. There is, however, still one major obstacle. The creation of quality video programming is both very time consuming and expensive. This is where the lending library comes in. It is intended to be a supply of quality broadcast video programming that is available for the Christadelphian community to use. We plan to have the early programs done by Bro. Maurice Stewart, those done in southern Ontario in 1978, recent tapes from southern California and a new series just being produced featuring Bro. Peter Pickering of Australia.”
Cable TV
Opportunities vary from community to community on this medium. Some channels will offer free time if programs can be used on a filler basis. An interesting idea is presented by the New England tape service in regard to follow-up contacts. At the end of the program, viewers in the United States can be given a toll-free phone number funded by New England ASK. Sis. Carole Hampton of the Boston, MA Ecclesia has volunteered the facilities of her answering machine. She will forward all pertinent information to the local ecclesia or person responsible for contact follow-up.
To make arrangements to borrow the broadcast tapes or use the toll-free number, please contact Bro. Jeff Wallace, 449 Page St., Stoughton, MA 02072, (617)344-3742, FAX (617)344-5062.
Here is an additional avenue of preaching the Truth that we can pursue. Let us do what we can in our various areas, trusting the Lord will bless us with a fruitful response to His honor and glory.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One