COME AT THE BEGINNING, STAY TILL THE END.
By George I. Butler
My experience in attending camp-meetings this season has made me feel more than ever before the importance of the advice expressed in the above heading. I have thus far attended seven camp-meetings, and every one of them has been injured, and some of them nearly ruined by the failure to heed this suggestion. The most earnest expostulation was necessary in almost every case, to keep a large percentage of our brethren from leaving the ground by Sunday. One reason of this is because they often make their plans before leaving home to return at such a time, and in some cases have parties engaged to meet them; and though claiming to be very reluctant to leave after being at the meeting awhile, yet they could not now avoid it, etc., etc. It is with a faint hope of keeping some from making such poor calculations beforehand in reference to the remaining camp-meetings of this season, that this article is written. Our camp-meetings are nearly all appointed to commence Thursday morning, and continue till the following Tuesday morning—five whole days. Less time than this would fail to accomplish the important objects to be secured. Our Conference business, our tract and missionary work, our Sabbath-school interests, the health and temperance reform, our educational issues, and above all the proper consideration of the great religious themes requiring our attention, and the spiritual wants of our people, make it utterly out of the question to devote less time to our camp-meetings. Considering the distances our people come, and the expense attending the procuring and preparation of the ground, and the labor involved, they demand more time rather than less. Indeed, there are so many things to be said and done that the ministers who have the burden of the meetings feel constantly crowded for time to do justice to any branch of the work upon which they dwell. If our people could be held longer at each meeting, greater good might be accomplished. But it is useless to attempt this until they can be persuaded to remain the limited time which we now appoint. It is a sad indication of worldliness and back-sliding on the part of our brethren when they are unwilling to devote five days in a year to the great interests of the cause considered in our camp-meetings. Anciently God’s people went up to Jerusalem three times a year, and some of these feasts were at least eight days long. After the ascension of the Lord, the disciples tarried ten days at Jerusalem, “to be endued with power from on high.” If we cannot spend five days once in a year, when looking for the Lord to come, and claiming to be giving the last message of mercy to the world, something must be wrong with us. A goodly number of our people do come at the beginning and remain till the close; but the very ones who need the benefit of our camp-meetings most are the ones who will not do this. To such I would appeal, and if possible persuade them to improve in this respect. You ought to come at the beginning, because the preaching at that stage of the meeting is just what you need to hear,—practical, pointed, calculated to arouse and awaken careless, cold people. It takes some length of time to reach the hearts of such. They are like persons who have become benumbed by being long exposed to cold. A warm atmosphere does not restore them to the proper state all at once. So with those who are cold spiritually. Before they start from home the world has such possession of their hearts that they think they cannot possibly give more than two or three days to the meeting; so they plan to get in about Friday night, and leave Sunday night. Their hearts just begin to be affected by the time they leave. Could they have been there from the commencement, they would most likely have been converted before the meeting closed, and been able to shed light and warmth upon others; as it is, they get but little good that is permanent. Such often have unconverted friends and children, whom they take home with them. These hear just enough to arouse a little interest, and partially impress their minds; but before coming to a decision, they go home. They may thus be simply hardened, so that they are not so easily reached the next time. Our camp-meetings furnish just the agencies to benefit them; and if lost at last, will not their blood be found in the skirts of those worldly-minded professors who took them from the rich spiritual blessings which were designed to save them? Those who leave the meeting Sunday night or Monday morning almost invariably lose the best part of the meeting. By that time most of the business is finished, and the Spirit of the Lord has made impressions more or less deep upon the hearts of those present, while the meetings have become more free; and now the work remains to be finished off and perfected. Almost invariably, this season, our meetings on Monday have been much the best of any. I have seldom witnessed more powerful seasons than some of these have been, in which hearts have been melted in tenderness, and sinners converted to God. How sorry we felt for those who had gone home without any special blessing. They had voluntarily taken themselves away from great and priceless privileges in spite of our most earnest protests. Many of those who did stay would have gone home had we not earnestly pleaded with them to remain. I have in my mind one camp-meeting which was broken up the last day in this manner. Though some remained, the interest was entirely spoiled. When part begin to leave, it puts a spirit of unrest and dissatisfaction into the hearts of others. We are all creatures of influence. None of us have the interest we ought to have; but when we pursue a course to injure and ruin important meetings, like our camp-meetings, we take upon ourselves a fearful responsibility, and not only endanger our own souls by neglect of duty and indifference to God’s blessing, but sadly injure others by our wrong influence. We are in an age of the world when many souls seem to be balancing, hardly knowing which way to go. Apparently small matters turn the scale in the wrong direction, and souls are ruined. “He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much.” We ought to use every means to help ourselves and others heavenward. The course which many pursue seems to me a positive disrespect to our State Conference, General Conference, and leading ministers. It is deemed necessary for the good of the cause to appoint these large meetings. It is done at great expense and much labor. Hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars are expended for them; and quite a number of our leading brethren toil very hard to have everything in the best of order, laboring for no earthly reward. The General Conference committee attend, or, if unable to do so, send other leading brethren, often traveling five hundred and sometimes thousands of miles. And yet so little do some of our people realize these things, that some trifling matter of convenience will cause them to leave at the most important point of the meeting, thus endangering its interests and grieving the hearts of God’s servants who are laboring with all their strength for the conversion of souls. What blindness sometimes comes upon poor souls who are in the dark and know not their own interests. So it was even when Christ was on the earth. “They knew not the time of their visitation.” We have used this plain language to rouse to reflection, if possible, those who are pursuing this course. We are glad that a majority of our people do not do so, and we greatly wish none of them would. In my judgment more than twice the good might be done in our camp-meetings if all our brethren were there at the beginning and remained till the close. No doubt there are cases where it is justifiable to leave, but sickness is about the only one which occurs to me. It is a question with me whether people might not better remain at home than to come toward the middle of the meeting and leave before its close. Brethren, ponder these things. Come at the beginning, and stay till the end.