MISSIONARY ZEAL | AdventAI

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Nov 24, 1881

MISSIONARY ZEAL.

An insider can often say with impunity what, coming from an outsider, would be greatly resented. A Methodist, for example, makes the following criticism on his own denomination:—

Our church has certainly a reputation for numbers, wealth and power; but where do we stand among the churches in our giving? I can give figures in reply. We are No. 9 among the churches in our gifts to Foreign Missions, our average being twenty-five cents a member. Only the Southern Baptist and Evangelical Association give less than we do, save the small body called the Disciples, who are marked nothing. And yet we number more than any six of the denominations that give more than we do. And the difference in our contributions is so great that I look at it with amazement. The Presbyterians give 96 cents a member; Congregationalists, $1.51; Protestant Episcopal, 53 cents; and Reformed (Dutch) church, $1.02; and we only 25 cents. “But,” says one, “we are doing a great work at home.” My friend, we have even a worse record here, for when it comes to the average per member for both Foreign and Home Missions we go a step lower, and only stand No. 10. I have heard it said with emphasis, over and over again by very wise and good men, that the spiritual strength of a church can be largely measured by its missionary zeal. If this is true, where do we stand to-day, spiritually?—Examiner and Chronicle.