Responses from Our Brethren Concerning the Financial Policy of the General Conference
SINCE the little tract, “Statement and Appeal,” was sent out announcing the financial and missionary policy of the General Conference, and since a statement of that policy by the president of the General Conference appeared in the REVIEW, letters of approval and thanksgiving from our brethren have been coming to the general office. These have been very cheering, and have strengthened the conviction that this decision is of God, and that his people were anxiously waiting and praying for such a stand to be taken. We publish below a few extracts from some of these letters, for the encouragement of our readers:— THE REVIEW of December 9 reached me this morning. God bless the General Conference Committee for the noble stand they have taken on gospel finance as outlined in your editorial, and in the report of the council.
A TRACT SOCIETY SECRETARY. I praise the Lord for the policy which the resolutions indicate. I believe that it will be an honor and glory to the cause we love. It is not the Lord’s will that we continue to be involved as we have been of late years. The Lord wants his people to be a free people, and not the servants of others.
A CONFERENCE PRESIDENT. I have read with much interest and satisfaction what has appeared in the REVIEW, and also in the “Statement and Appeal.” I am sure that the position taken is sound, and I am also sure that the believers everywhere will rally around the General Conference Committee in carrying out the resolutions. They are tired of the old debt-making way.
A MINISTER. I have been studying what appeared in the REVIEW of December 9 regarding the financial plans of the General Conference Committee. I am glad to know that the committee has come out publicly on that principle. The Lord has been trying for years to lead his people to get out of debt, and I rejoice that they are beginning to see that in God’s light. If each one who takes the name of Christ would pay a full tithe, how much money would come into the cause!
AN AGED VETERAN. The policy of the General Conference, as outlined in a recent REVIEW, of doing business on a cash basis, not only in the home fields, but in the foreign countries, has brought comfort to my own heart, and to a number of others as well. I was personally convinced that this was the right policy, and have been resting contented on that point; but it was a great comfort to see such a clear statement of the matter, and a flat-footed stand on this righteous principle. You can be fully assured that this conference to a man will stand with you in this matter. It will bring confidence as nothing else would. That answers the question that I have had to meet all over the conference, whether or not we shall have other debts to pay on schools, sanitariums, etc., when we have paid the present debts by selling “Christ’s Object Lessons,” and in other ways. Some have said that if they could be assured that the present debts would be the last, they would willingly take hold and help pay them; but for fear that they would not be, some have held back in the work with “Christ’s Object Lessons.” So I am sure that you have adopted a wise policy, and one that all the true, thinking brethren and sisters will indorse. They will stand by those who not only adopt this policy, but live up to it at all hazards. Personally, I believe that it is as truly our privilege to exercise faith in God to raise the money before the debts are made, as it is after they are made to have faith that the Lord will help us raise the money. We have been trying to work here on a cash basis, and shall be glad to indorse in our conference such a policy as has been outlined in the REVIEW.
A CONFERENCE PRESIDENT. I have read with much interest the report in our good REVIEW for December 9 of the council lately held in Battle Creek. I am much interested in the financial policy adopted by the council, which is so plainly stated in the resolutions. I praise the Lord with all my heart that this important decision is made, and I believe that it will encourage all who love the work of the Lord, which we have so long hoped to see close in glorious triumph. The idea has prevailed among us that when we saw something which ought to be done, it should be done, whether we had the money with which to do it or not, if the money could be secured by loan. Conference committees have thought that they had to do the work faster and on a larger scale than was warranted by the money they had at their command. Thus large debts have19been contracted almost everywhere. This has led us to look to money lenders for help, rather than to God. Then when the money should be paid, we were often in great perplexity, and the burden of raising or borrowing it was generally left to a few. This led some to doubt the love and sincerity of their leaders, and brethren began to criticise one another, which only made matters worse and increased the perplexity. It is easy to go into debt; the common expression, “to run in debt,” describes it vividly. It is like rolling a snowball downhill on a mild winter day. It is not so easy, however, to get out of debt. It goes slowly. This I have experienced personally as well as in regard to the cause. Debt is a tyrant, and like the Midianites in the time of Gideon, it takes all; and it is also a reproach. Therefore the Lord, who loves his children, and desires that they should be happy, has said: “Thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow.” Deut. 15:6; 28:12. And again, “The borrower is servant to the lender.” Prov. 22:7. We have, indeed, through sad experience, learned the truthfulness of these words; but now that the General Conference Committee has been led to take such a firm stand, I will take courage, and look for better days. May the Lord greatly bless his people, and enable us all to follow his direction in all things, so that the work may soon be accomplished, and the blessed hope realized.
A MINISTER.