The Object of Seventh-Day Adventists in Conducting Sanitariums
The first topic on the agenda paper for discussion in the recent medical conventions was under the above heading. Elder I. H. Evans led the discussion. The sentiments expressed offered the foundation principles for the discussion of the entire program. The spirit of the convention throughout was in keeping with his presentation of the subject. It was felt that a new era is opening for our medical missionary work, and that we are coming nearer to the principles that should underlie this work. The following are extracts from the remarks made by Elder Evans:— “What is the object of Seventh-day Adventists in conducting sanitariums? I think we must determine that object before we can operate sanitariums successfully. We have quite a number of these institutions scattered throughout the country. We have a large investment of money and young people in these institutions, and if we do not see clearly the objective, we are quite liable to miss our aim. We should not expect an artist to paint a beautiful landscape if he did not have that landscape in his vision as a completed picture. Suppose the artist has his canvas, easel, paint, and brushes, but has not the least idea whether he wants to paint a portrait, a landscape, or an ocean scene. Suppose he wants to put in the picture a face, a train, a lake, and many other things, but continually changes his idea. He cannot do that way at all. When he steps up to the canvas, he must know the kind of painting he wants, and must make every stroke express the vision in his mind.
“I think that is true in every phase of life. We must clearly perceive the objective. We see men wrecked because they had no purpose. They have drifted like derelicts. A man who has a purpose will surely do something; but before he can succeed, he must have an aim.
“This is just as true of sanitarium work as any other activity in life. I think when the denomination has a clear vision of its purpose in establishing a sanitarium, it will then know how to man that institution, and how to operate it in order to attain that purpose. Our first small sanitarium, started many years ago by the founders of this message, had an end in view. That purpose was not commercial, nor for affording an opportunity for doctors to build themselves a reputation; but rather, to relieve suffering humanity of their ills, to teach the laws of health, to bring to the afflicted, sin-sick soul a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ as man's Saviour and friend, and to win souls to accept the third angel's message. “When the object of an institution is to save the lost and to win them to Christ, it is not enough for the employees in that institution to say, ‘I will do the detail work faithfully; I will see that the books are kept properly; I will cook just as well as I know how;’ or, ‘I will doctor to the best of my ability.’ In that way you might be working well enough in a special line, but not get the desired results. The prime object of all service should be to win souls to Christ, to get men to love God, to believe in his Son, and be saved in his kingdom.” “This kind of service does not militate against institutional success. It is the true motive of all service. Every worker in a sanitarium cannot be a preacher, yet everybody connected with the institution should add his part toward the finished product,—a soul saved from eternal ruin. “I once visited a shoe factory. First, I saw stacks of leather in the stock room. Then I saw a great many benches and workmen. The shoe started in the stock room, and then went down one line of benches and up another, having something done to it at each bench and by each workman. It did not stay long at one bench, but kept on going. There may have been a hundred different machines and workmen that worked on that shoe, each adding something; and when it came out, polished and black, it was a finished product, ready for the market. It was not the product of one man, but every man working on it added something to make it a finished article. “Every man in every department of our work should make it his whole ambition to accomplish our desired end. The objective of all should be to win souls to Christ. There is very little gained in merely fixing up men's bodies, and letting them leave the sanitarium to serve the devil better than before and to sin all the more. Doctors and nurses and all the employees in an institution ought to be anxious not only that men's bodies should be healed, but that God should also heal their sin-sick souls. “We must inspire our workers with this purpose, or many of these patients will come and go like the door on its hinges. They may not receive impressions for a better life. I see no reason why we as a denomination should use our energy and means in simply curing men's bodies if we are to take no pains to save them from eternal death. When people come to our sanitariums, they should find a spiritual atmosphere very different from what they have found elsewhere. Impressions should be made that can never pass away. The spiritual influence should be so strong that sinners will find it uncomfortable until they cry out, ‘Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?’ The atmosphere should be spiritual, not simply professional. The people should realize that all the workers are Christians. “It is much better for a man to find salvation than to find physical health. There is no comparison between the two. It would be wonderful if you could prolong a man's life one thousand years; but to help him find eternal life is so much more important that there is no comparison. “The real purpose in sanitarium work is not simply a high professional standard, or to make money, or to have a great patronage, but to win souls to Christ; not simply to persuade some one to keep the Sabbath, but to help him to obey God's laws and to believe in Jesus Christ, that he may be saved in the kingdom of God. Keeping this in mind, an institution may lose its popularity, as far as the world goes; but we cannot expect to pattern after the world in pleasures, in eating and drinking, in fashions of dress, in catering to men's carnal appetites, and still win them to Christ. “I believe everything this denomination does should be for the accomplishment of giving the third angel's message to the world, and to bring men to accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Everything we undertake outside of that is misdirected effort. I cannot believe the Lord's remnant people should commercialize these institutions, and feel we have succeeded simply because we have made money; we cannot afford to give our strength and energy to that purpose. If we were to live here for a century, then it would be a different proposition; but when we believe the Lord is soon coming to this world, I do not see how it is possible for any of us to commercialize our efforts and talents and give ourselves to worldly activities. “I do not reproach any one in these institutions for failures in the past; many doctors and nurses have labored beyond their strength to make the work a success, feeling that they had to get funds with which to liquidate indebtedness. Our great mistake was in establishing institutions with heavy debts upon them. I believe debts do not belong to the gospel plan. It is contrary to the instruction of the spirit of prophecy to borrow money and build institutions, yet we have done it again and again, and the men who have been placed in those institutions have been practically compelled to keep the idea of making money ahead of everything else. I do not believe that is the order of the Lord. Now we have many institutions on our hands heavily encumbered with debt. We are not making money in the sanitarium work. So far, these institutions have proved to be a tax rather than a means of supplying funds. We have gone into debt so heavily, and our people have been so embarrassed and worried over finances, that they have almost lost sight of the real objective. “I am not here to reflect on anybody. We have seen these sanitariums growing up all over the world, and have felt they were a part of our equipment in giving the message; but I believe the time has now come when we should seek to determine the purpose of these institutions; and if they are not being operated on correct lines, we should try to set them right. What can we do to change the situation? I believe the first thing for us to do is to get a clear vision of what we ought to do. We must come to a comprehensive understanding of the18object to be obtained, then man every institution just as nearly as we can with men who understand that purpose and who will work to attain it. “I think we have sometimes been very negligent in manning our institutions, and have been so anxious in regard to the finances that if a man would draw a good patronage, that fact had more weight than his Christian experience and his faith in the third angel's message had in securing his services. If we as leaders fail to see what we should strive to attain, it could hardly be wondered at that those whom we put into institutions to manage and operate them should fail to appreciate or clearly perceive the goal to be reached. “If our purpose is to bring the third angel's message before those who will come to the institution for medical help, we must be very particular about whom we place in charge of such a work. We certainly should not send a man out to preach who did not believe the third angel's message. We many times call men into our sanitariums because they are surgeons or because they are popular, and then we expect them to accomplish the denominational purpose, regardless of their Christian experience. Brethren, I am sure that that thing is wrong. You will say you do not believe a man can succeed simply because he is a Christian. What is success in sanitarium work? Is success to make money? If so, then I will admit that any man who is popular, or who is a good surgeon, or who can draw patronage, will give better evidence of success than another man who cannot do these things; but if our work is to lead lost men and women to a Saviour, if it means to bring the third angel's message to those that come under our influence, then I think we must man our institutions with godly, consecrated Christian doctors and nurses; and if we do not do that, we certainly cannot expect to win souls to Christ. It is impossible. “I believe in our sanitariums. Thirty-five thousand patients, we are told, are annually coming under the influence of these institutions, staying five weeks on an average. That is a large congregation. They generally are educated persons, and all these should come under the personal touch of men and women who are giving their lives to this work of bringing souls to Christ. Out of that number, how many find the Saviour? Many ought to find salvation and accept the third angel's message. “One doctor wrote me a few weeks ago that during the past year fifty souls have come to Christ in the institution with which he is connected, and this was the result of work done by the helpers of the institution. For 1915 they desire to bring one hundred to the truth. Friends, I believe in such work as that. It is a splendid auxiliary to the ministerial and evangelical work we are carrying forward. If every institution we are operating could bring one hundred souls to Christ this year, we should have a large ingathering from our sanitarium work. It would mean much in the upbuilding of our churches. I believe that during this convention we ought to study this question seriously, and determine the purpose and object of our sanitarium work. Then our boards should undertake to man these institutions in harmony with these principles. We should no more think of putting into these sanitariums men who are not converted than we should think of putting unconverted men into the ministry or the schools to teach our young people. “We have a large number of students in our sanitariums. We have as many helpers in our sanitariums, I believe, as students in all our schools, both academies and colleges, above the tenth grade. That means that we are turning out nearly as large a number of graduate nurses as the pupils our schools carry beyond the tenth-grade work. That is a serious proposition for the denomination. We should not think of putting into one of our schools in this country a teacher who is not a thorough, earnest Christian, if we knew it. We should not think of manning Union College or the Pacific Union College with men who do not know whether they believe this message or not. A man might have a degree from the best university in the country, but if he was not a true Seventh-day Adventist, we should give no consideration to placing him either at the head of or as a teacher in one of our training schools. We should look that man in the face and say, kindly but firmly, ‘These are our children, and we cannot put them under the tutorship of a man who is not a Christian, a loyal Seventh-day Adventist.’ “If we have as many boys and girls in the nurses' course and working about institutions as indicated, I want to know if we can afford to put them under the training of men that are not heart and soul Seventh-day Adventists? We cannot. If the leaders are strong, these young people, when they come out of these institutions, will be strong and will have a living faith. The leaders must be soul winners. The medical superintendent and the business manager and all the workers must be united in the purpose of training these helpers that come under their influence, to become soul winners for God. The teachers must be converted, God-fearing men and women. They must believe in prayer. They must be daily students of the Word of God. They must labor for souls and keep clearly in mind the purpose of all true service. Then they can teach nurses and patients, and we may expect growth and progress in our sanitarium work.”