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The Chief Qualification

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 15, 1909

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 86, No. 28.

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The Chief Qualification

By F. M. W.

MEN must be won to Christ through love. There can be no other motive power. Method has its place, argument and logic may contribute valuable assistance, but these can never take the place of the great impelling power of the gospel, exemplified in the unselfish sacrifice of the Saviour of men. There are men of giant intellects in the ministry of the world-wide church to-day, men who have been skilfully taught in right method and movement, graceful in gesture and eloquent and logical in expression, and yet their labors are fruitless in soul-saving. The trouble is they are legal, intellectual Christians. Their souls have not been touched with the heavenly fire, and their very lives set ablaze with the flame of divine love.They can appeal only to the intellectual or emotional in their hearers.
He who would lead men to God, must first go himself to the divine fountain and drink. He can become the agent in the hands of divine grace to give only that which he has received. If he has tasted of heavenly sweetness, and found it precious to his own soul, then he can invite others to come and partake likewise. In his testimony there will be the ring of assurance, the spirit of confidence born of personal knowledge, which will carry conviction of truth to his hearers. To such an experience the Spirit of God can witness, whereas it can not work through the dry forms of professionalism.
Best of all is the intellectual culture and the practical Christian experience combined; this is the ideal in the efficient Christian worker. But better a thousand times the practical Christian experience, with the intellectual culture lacking, than all the wisdom and culture of the schools without the saving knowledge of God in the soul.
It is incumbent upon the disciple to make himself, under divine grace, the most efficient worker possible. He should seek the highest culture, the broadest knowledge, the best methods, which lie within his power to secure. But above all else, he should seek that preparation of heart and soul which will enable the Spirit of God to use him as its agent in the accomplishment of the Lord's work in the hearts of men.
F. M. W.