Relevance-Part 1 - Microwave Meetings & Rotisserie Teaching

Thank you, South Atlantic Conference, for your support of the publishing work in these challenging times. Some have questioned the relevance of the publishing work in today's church. I see it as more relevant than ever for a few reasons. Here's one:

1. Shorter public evangelism meetings. I understand there's a variety of reasons for this and it's not my purpose to debate any of those. In evangelism, we like to talk about results and that's what this article is about. How many people did you baptize? If it's a large number, then you're called of God, and the ends justifies the means. However, are there not other results to consider? Did Jesus simply say baptize? Didn't He say to make disciples in the same breath? Didn't He say to teach those disciples to obey all things that He had commanded? 


Doesn't that imply that there's a question equally as relevant as, "How many?" What about the relevance of, "How deep?"
How deeply did we immerse our candidates in the implications of the gospel before we immersed them in the water?  Did they get baptized without understanding they were making a commitment to the church? Did they get baptized at your church because their church doesn't have a pool? Did they get baptized believing that they could be a faithful 5% tither? Did they get baptized thinking that because they're in love with their partner, it's just like being married, so it's cool to live together?


Have you ever heard that the word baptize comes from a Greek word for immerse and that the word was commonly used to describe the process of soaking cloth in a container of dye until it takes on the desired color? Of course, we don't want anyone holding their candidates under the water until we're impressed that they've changed their ways. It's to symbolize that they've already undergone a change from the inside out. But the implication of soaking cloth in dye reminds us that the goal of evangelism is more than baptism--just as the goal of fatherhood is more than making babies. Don't we have names for men that make babies they don't parent?

What does that have to do with the modern trend of short evangelistic meetings? It means that no matter how we're able to answer the question, "How many?" the question of, "How deep?" becomes more difficult to answer. Since we've moved to meetings of shorter duration, we have a limited period of time for distinctive SDA teachings to be taught and absorbed during the meeting. The teaching that used to take place through months of Bible work preparation for the 10-12 week meetings of the past has been reduced to what can fit into a much shorter period of time. 

After the meeting, many things go back to usual and there's often the assumption that new believers should know, believe, and practice a new way of life without much intentional aftercare. Whatever fervor was generated during the meeting time has waned in most cases and new members can be easily discouraged by more established members that aren't always tactful when they share their high expectations of new converts. We seem to forget that they are "babes" in Christ. It's like we expect newborns to jump out of the cradle and ride a bike. Without strong Biblical roots for their new found faith, many will fall by the wayside and be devoured by the fouls (I mean fowls>:) that sometimes perch in our pews.

Where human resources are scarce, our books are the Bible workers, preparing the way for the preacher. Our literature will introduce and reinforce our fundamentals one line at a time. We must remember that what's old to us is shocking to others. The 6-day literal creation, Sabbath, 2300 Days, judgment, tithe and offering, diet, mark of the beast, the state of the dead, and faith in Jesus as LORD as well as Savior, goes against the current of both the world and other churches. 

We're expecting tremendous levels of commitment from people living in a society that takes commitment lightly--whether in marriage, employment, child-rearing, or paying their debts. We risk asking them to make life-long commitments based on superficial information, when most of us want information according to the commitment level expected. The greater the expectation, the more I need to understand--not less. 

New members must be fortified for the conflicts they're about to face with their families, friends, employers, and former churches. Books don't replace the personal touch they should receive from members and pastors, but they can certainly help fill some of the gaps of our modern condensed outreach methods. Microwave cooking notoriously overcooks some spots and under-cooks others. Having microwave meetings is understandable in today's world for a variety of reasons, and that's all the more reason for the rotisserie-style teaching of our books!