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WHAT IS THE TROUBLE?

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 31, 1878

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 52, No. 18.

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WHAT IS THE TROUBLE?

By Wm. Covert

Bro. A.—Good morning, Bro. B., I am happy to meet you. I have been wanting to ask you about the prosperity of your church. How is the church getting along?
Bro. B.—I am sorry to tell you, but our church is all out of joint.
Bro. A.—How does this come, Bro. B?
Bro. B.—The members are continually hurting one another’s feelings, and all seem so very sensitive that there is no getting along with them.
Bro. A.—That is very bad. There must be some cause for it.
Bro. B.—Perhaps there is; but I cannot tell just what the cause is.
Bro. A.—Shall we look it up?
Bro. B.—I will render all the assistance I can.
Bro. A.—Then I would ask first, How many families in your church are taking our papers?
Bro. B.—I do not know exactly, but less than half. Times are very close, and retrenchment seems necessary. We can scarcely take our own county paper.
Bro. A.—What are you doing in the tract work this quarter?
Bro. B.—Indeed, I hardly know what is being done, I went home after preaching. Our young folks were visiting, and I could not stay to the tract and business meetings. I learned, however, from Bro. T., that the report was not very encouraging. People are very much prejudiced against the Adventists in this vicinity, and our members are not doing much.
Bro. A.—How is your elder’s courage in the work?
Bro. B.—Not very good. Our elder and deacon have spent much time in trying to settle church difficulties of late, and I cannot see that any real good has been accomplished.
Bro. A.—Were there any accessions to your church at the last quarterly meeting?
Bro. B.—No: there are several that might have been reached but for the troubles in the church. A large share of the minister’s time was taken up in investigating these troubles.
Bro. A.—When I was here two years ago, your son and daughter, and members of other families in the church, were much interested upon the subject of religion. How is it with them now?
Bro. B.—Not so favorable as it was.
Bro. A.—That is strange, when there is so much interest at new points where the truth is being presented.
Bro. B.—Well, as I have told you, the troubles in our church are hard things to meet, and then we have been so busy of late that I have neglected to interest myself about these things as I should.
Bro. A.—I cannot understand why you should be so burdened with business as that; your farm is cozy, and I suppose you are out of debt.
Bro. B.—I was one year ago; but I bought forty acres over the way for $1000, and I had to borrow $500 to pay for it. I would not have done this, but there was a bargain of $500 in it. The man could not pay for his land, and I thought that if I could get it, I could then do something for the cause by-and-by.
Bro. A.—What did the brethren advise about it?
Bro. B.—I did not ask them. They are too ready to remark about other people’s business any way. My feelings have been hurt over some remarks that have been made about the matter.
Bro. A.—My dear brother, I think I can tell you what is the trouble in your church. The world is getting between you and the kingdom of God. I have learned by our conversation this morning that the members are not hunting for something useful to do in the Lord’s cause, and when this is the case, the devil always sets them to work. You tell me that many families are neglecting to take our own papers, yet they take the county papers; your tract society meeting was a failure, first, because you had but few reports to bring in; and, secondly, some of the members left the meeting to let their children visit.
Can you not see plainly that there is a sad lack of real interest in the cause of present truth? This being the condition of a majority of your members, you are sure to have much trouble and many church trials. Your church must reform or go down, and now I would advise that every one take our papers, and read them. If all do this, I believe they will soon find so many things to interest them that they will forget to talk about one another. They will forget all about what has been said about them; and instead of wasting the time of the church officers and the ministers in trying to ferret out flying scandals, they will be hunting for the best tract to give to this friend, and the most suitable paper for that one, and studying how they may get another to subscribe for the REVIEW, the SIGNS, or the REFORMER; some will be found who should attend our college, and still others who should take treatment at the Sanitarium, etc., etc. Prejudice will then give way, and your neighbors will read what you recommend to them. Your children will see that you are in earnest, and they will be converted; and instead of calling for help, you can be helping others.
Wm. COVERT.