God's Sabbath

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E NTERING INTO G OD ’ S S ABBATH R EST

The Usual Method of Missionary Work

Christ has said: “‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.’” Mark 16:15. How do the various churches go about fulfilling Christ’s commission to preach the gospel in all the world? What is “the common order of things” in missionary endeavor? The various methods adopted by the different church organi zations are generally similar, although there are, of course, var iations in the actual application of those basic methods. Differ ent devices are continually being thought up to catch the atten tion of the general public, some of which are quite novel and clever. A typical example for a church approach to missionary work is as follows. The church nominating committee appoints a missionary leader, whose responsibility it is to use every means he or she can devise to induce the members to go out and win converts. Having motivated some to volunteer for the Lord’s service, a meeting is called to plan the campaign. Territory is selected, lit erature is supplied, and the new missionaries are assigned their individual areas of operation. At the appointed time, the volunteers sally forth to commence a methodical house-to-house visitation according to the usual pattern. They will leave no house unvisited, knocking on every door they pass on their systematic campaign. As each contact is made, the objective is to generate a spiritual interest, hold a con versation, share their faith, leave some literature, and pave the way for a return visit. Most of the people reject the advances with responses varying from polite to abusive, but there is the occasional person who does show an interest, and from this sprinkling, some eventually join the church. It is hard, discouraging work, but it is the system adopted by many churches – “the common order of things.” No scriptural foun dation for this method can be found. It was devised by the people in the churches themselves, not by God. Why then should we fol low it? Those who are under God’s personal leadership will be led by their divine Head to do missionary work in an altogether differ ent way. We need to inquire what the Lord’s way is. How should missionary work be done according to the Sabbath rest principles?