The Seal of Apostleship
By A. G. Daniells
WHEN the question was raised by some as to whether Paul had been called by the Lord to the ministry, he presented the fruits of his labors as evidence of his apostleship, and of faithful, practical, wise-hearted service. He said: “Am I not an apostle? . . . Are not ye my work in the Lord? If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.” 1 Cor. 9: 1, 2. Those who received the gospel which he preached constituted the commendation, the credentials, to which he pointed. “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.” 2 Cor. 3: 2, 3. His epistles set forth the great burden Paul carried for the salvation of souls. He had no desire to make a showing among men. Yet he recognized the fact that men had a right to look for fruit as the result of his labors. To a certain extent he selected his field and conducted his mission with this end in view. Writing to the Romans, he said: “For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God. . . . Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation.” Rom. 15: 18-20. In his letter to the Corinthians he emphasizes the same point, showing that it was his firm, steady purpose “to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s line of things made ready to our hand.” 2 Cor. 10: 16. The world is to-day in great need of just such sturdy gospel workers as Paul. The work of Satan and his agencies, which is being done with all power and signs and lying wonders, must be met by the Lord and His servants with a greater power than Satan possesses. God is not honored by the weak efforts and general failures of His professed people. His message through the Spirit of Prophecy is this: “The Lord has need of men of intense spiritual life.” “Anything less than active, earnest service for the Master gives the lie to our profession of faith.” “We need to break up the monotony of our religious labor. . . . We are not showing sufficient activity and zeal. If we were more in earnest, men would be convinced of the truth of our message.” “Were the same diligence and self-sacrifice manifested at the present stage of the work as at its beginning, we should see a hundred times more than is now accomplished.” “There are in the ministry young men who have been receiving wages from the Conference, yet whose labors bring nothing in, who are only consumers. I have been instructed that this need not be. It would not be if our young ministers were worked by the Spirit of God. . . . If you are not producers as well as consumers, what is the value of your work?” The meaning, the logic, of all these statements is as clear as a sunbeam. A different showing must be made, or we should seek other employment, and thus give place to those who will bear an abundance of fruit. The president of the California Conference has just sent to all the members of the Conference a printed report of the doings of the Conference Committee since the last State conference. A part of that report deals so clearly, wisely, and fearlessly with the difficult problem of disposing of unprofitable laborers, that I will reproduce it here for the benefit of many Conference Committees who are sorely perplexed to know what course to pursue. The report reads as follows:— With these came other results: It was found that in the California Conference there are about 1,230,000 people altogether; while in the British Isles, speaking our same language, there are about 40,000,000 people,—about forty there to one here. Among this 1,230,000 in the California Conference there are about 3,800 Seventh-day Adventists, while among the 40,000,000 in the British Isles there are only about 1,000 Seventh-day Adventists. In the California Conference there were about sixty workers on the pay roll, to this 1,230,000 people, among whom are 3,800 Seventh-day Adventists; while in the British Isles there are about a dozen workers, to the 40,000,000 people, among whom there are about 1,000 Seventh-day Adventists. These sixty workers were consuming $21,000 in eight months in this field of 1,230,000 people, while in that field of 40,000,000 people there could be had hardly more than half of $21,000 to spend in a whole year. Again: In the area bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Potomac Rivers, and the sea, in the United States, leaving out West Virginia and Florida, there are nearly 15,000,000 people, in territory only about one-third larger than the territory of the California Conference, with its 1,230,000 people. I have not the statement of the number of Seventh-day Adventists and workers in that area of the South; but I am not prepared to believe that they are more than are in the California Conference. Yet again: I took a pocket folding map of California, and, beginning at the northern line, I read the names of all the towns on it in each county to the southern line, asking what towns had not been worked. It was found that there were few. I then asked Brother Ireland, who has been in the conference office all these years, to make a list of towns in the State that had not been worked. He did so, county by county, taking towns with a population as low as one hundred. This list confirmed what we had found by the reading from the map. Some counties have nothing but the outlying, sparsely settled country districts remaining. Some have from two to four towns remaining. Some have from four to seven towns remaining. The one county that has the largest number of towns unworked is Contra Costa, and the number is nine. There is one county in the State that has not been worked at all; it is Alpine, with a population in the whole county of only five hundred. By these bristling truths it was demonstrated to every one present that, as between the California Conference and the British Isles, and as between the California Conference and the South between the Mississippi and the Potomac, there is no sort of equality, nor any sort of fair proportion of Seventh-day Adventist people, workers, or funds. Then it was unanimously agreed that, since the whole world field is but one; since the tithes are but one, for they all belong to God; and since we brethren are all one, we should immediately break up this too easy-going system of things in California, and go or send the means to the help of the new and needy fields outside of the California Conference. And then in the convention, by a unanimous rising vote, passed a motion commissioning the Conference Committee to strip from the pay roll the name of every one of them whose work had not brought into the Conference fruit in fair return for the amount of means he had taken out of the treasury. This, for one reason, so that the funds of the conference treasury could be sent to fields where it could be spent to better advantage than it was being spent here. The Conference Committee, in council with the Auditing Committee, did so. About twenty were taken off the pay roll. And, though some were surprised at first, yet I know of not one who was offended or made weak; on the contrary, we personally know from themselves that at least the great majority of them are of better courage and stronger than they were before, because of the courageous and honorable stand that they took. And I believe that all are so. In addition to this, those who remain on the pay roll are looking for new fields only, and are finding them already outside of the California Conference. Brother Ireland and his wife have already gone to the island of Hilo, of the Hawaiian group; that is altogether a new and ripe field. Brother Courter has gone to the South, to report to Brother Butler there for work wherever he can do the most. Others are preparing to go to the South, to Porto Rico, to France, to Chile, and to Mexico. We sincerely hope that soon many more will go. And what then?—This: There will still be 3,760 Seventh-day Adventists, lovers of the truth of the Third Angel’s Message, every one of whom must become an active and diligent worker, to do the work that remains to be done in the California Conference, when the ordained and licensed workers are gone. Some of these are gone, and others are getting ready to go. This leaves room and work, and only you to do it. “Get ready, get ready, get ready.” Begin now to get ready. Scores can go out as evangelistic canvassers, to spread the printed truth, and to talk the truth to the lonely and hungry ones in the sparsely settled districts. This is what the convention said is the thing to do to reach the people with the truth in these few and small unworked towns and thinly settled districts; while the ordained and licensed workers who have the power to reach and hold large assemblies go to the fields where the multitudes are. This is wise and true. Other scores and hundreds can spread the literature and speak neighborly, Christian words, and do kindly, Christian acts in the communities where they live. And if the community where you now live is so filled that there is not room for work, then please move to some new field where the truth is not known, and you can be a light and a blessing by ministry of Christian words and actions. This careful, earnest, faithful work of reorganization means much to the cause in California. It will help the laborers involved. It will safeguard the funds of the treasury. It will contribute both workers and money to the needy regions beyond. It will bring gladness and courage to the hearts of God’s people. It is a good example for other Conferences that face the same perplexing problem.