There is very little mystery concerning why many of our converts drift out of the faith after a short time. The fault is not with the message, which is eternally true. It lies in the human factor. Many contributing reasons might be cited. But there are four basic factors which we do well to note. Most of our difficulties center around violation of four fundamentals of sound and abiding evangelism. Let us note them briefly.
Lack of Sound Conversion as the Companion to Thorough Instruction
Too many who are won to the faith are intellectually convinced without being spiritually converted. But intellectual assent alone will not usually hold converts permanently. There must be a genuine "heart warming," as Wesley called it, "a regeneration, or new life" if the soul is to be abidingly anchored in the faith. Nothing is more out of keeping or disappointing than an argumentative doctrinarian whose heart and life have never been transformed by the love and grace of Christ. Such recruits to our ranks are not only potential risks, but are unsatisfactory and cantankerous members while they remain with us.
Too many who are won to the faith are intellectually convinced without being spiritually converted. But intellectual assent alone will not usually hold converts permanently. There must be a genuine "heart warming," as Wesley called it, "a regeneration, or new life" if the soul is to be abidingly anchored in the faith. Nothing is more out of keeping or disappointing than an argumentative doctrinarian whose heart and life have never been transformed by the love and grace of Christ. Such recruits to our ranks are not only potential risks, but are unsatisfactory and cantankerous members while they remain with us.
Be it noted, however, that it takes soundly converted preachers and Bible instructors to truly convert others. In altogether too many cases there is grave weakness at this point. The lightness, joviality, and secularism, coupled with the obvious lack of genuine spirituality, the reliance upon the mechanics of method, organization, argument, devices, and oratory for evangelistic equipment, are all too tragically reflected in the converts of some
This need for true conversion is basic, and it is personal. God forgive us if unsanctified hands handle the Word of life, if untransformed lips merely parrot the message of life or death to the soul. A converted ministry, with a resultant consecrated, converted church, is our greatest need. Sound conversion is the first sheet anchor of the soul, to avoid drifting with the tide onto the rocks of separation.
Lack of Thorough Instruction in the Verities of the Faith
In some of our high-pressure evangelistic campaigns, where there is all too little personal work and home instruction, many are hurried into the church with serious gaps in their instruction. Vital subjects were missed because of irregular attendance and only hastily reviewed in the baptismal class. The distinctive teachings such as Spirit of prophecy and tithing truths, health, educational, and other reforms, and much else that goes to make a genuine, intelligent, fully-rounded Seventhday Adventist, are neglected and sometimes even omitted.
We have too often rushed people into the baptismal pool before they were properly prepared and ready. Thorough instruction, then, is the second anchor to hold the soul when the buffeting winds of trial would drive it aground.
Failure to Integrate Our Converts into the Throbbing Heart of the Movement
Too often we do not properly integrate our converts into the spirit and comprehensive program of the advent movement. Every family won to this message should not merely be joined to the church. All should be inducted into the Sabbath school as regular and active members, the young people tied into the activities and objectives of the Adventist Youth Society, the children and youth enrolled in our church schools and academies, the parents brought into our various layman endeavors, the home regularly supplied with our periodicals and books, interests and activities tied into our evangelistic projects, and our world-wide missions, habits of health, diet, drink, dress, and recreation tactfully revised and reformed. In other words, our converts should be integrated into the spirit, life, and vital activities of the church. They must become full-fledged participants in God's organized movement, not mere members of the church, as are most adherents of popular Protestant denominations. This is the third sheet anchor to the soul. When this is fastened to bedrock, it will be a strong aid in keeping converts from drifting into carelessness.
Let us not be quick to lay on the evangelist all the blame for failure here. He is the victim of a system of intensive and too often superficial evangelistic campaigning that has developed. Moreover, he is judged by his immediate record of baptisms, rather than by the permanency of his converts. Were we to change the checkup and standard of convert evaluation, to the number of those still in the church at the end of a year after baptism, the entire picture would change. This is the test of true evangelism, not merely how many, but how abiding.
We go to great expense and pains to gain converts. But we often rush our evangelists through their efforts. We transfer them too soon, even before their efforts are properly bound off and their converts soundly established. No one else can so establish these new recruits in the faith as the one who first leads them to accept it. His instruction needs to be more full, thorough, and complete. We should not rush him or permit him to be pulled away from an effort with his work only partly done, to repeat the incomplete procedure in another place. Both the conference committee and the evangelist must share the responsibility for failure here. We must revise our evangelistic schedule if we are to conserve our fruitage. Conservation is imperative today, for our own sake, for the sake of souls at stake, and for the honor of God.
Failure of Coordination Between Visiting Evangelist and Resident Pastor or District Leader
The frequent lack of coordination at this point, though in a slightly different category, is serious. Oftentimes there is failure on the part of the evangelist to actively tie the resident worker into the effort, so that the converts are jointly his converts and his charge. Sometimes the tragic human trait of indifference or jealousy shows itself. They are not my converts, the pastor may say. Intensely busy with his own problems and interests, he lets them drift through neglect. Nevertheless, they are souls within his parish, and there is inescapable responsibility.
Sometimes the pastor is out of sympathy with the evangelist. At times this may be sheer lack of cooperation. In other cases it springs from revulsion against an evangelist's boastful publicity, or perchance his careless and superficial work. And then, when the credit for all souls won in the city for the duration of a campaign goes to the visiting evangelist, it is easy to see how there is naturally a lack of ardor on the part of the resident pastor and a failure to tie in with the effort. This matter of faulty relationship is a serious weakness that should be resolutely remedied. New converts have to be nursed along for a time. This responsibility must be shared. We do not leave the newborn infant to shift for itself. We do not say, it is not my child; I have no special responsibility for it. Or, to change the figure, there needs to be active, vital, persistent husbanding of our fruitage. The tender plant must be cared for, watered, sheltered from the burning sun, cultivated, and fed until its roots are firmly set and it can stand alone under storm, stress, or drought, bearing fruit and honoring the expectations of the heavenly husbandman.
Few people are harder to reach again than those who have become only half Adventists and have drifted away from the faith. Only partially indoctrinated, not understanding the genius and spirit of their new faith, not being willing to abandon completely their former worldly life, they are moved to repentance by nothing. Such individuals often develop an indifference and an apathy toward the church that puts them beyond the pale of help.
It is a fearful thing to bring a soul part way along the path of a new life and then allow him to become confused and lose his way because the signboards are not clear, the lighting is dim and insufficient, or the road is beset with unmarked bypaths, and sometimes marred by unknown ruts or pits. Leaving such to struggle along behind the procession, to stumble off the pathway back to the familiar and enticing life of the past, involves most solemn accountability which we cannot pass on to others.
Fellow workers, this situation presents a tremendous challenge and confronts us with fearful responsibility. We must grapple with the problem and alter the situation. We must change our methods, attitudes, and relationships. We must never rest until this great wastage has been stopped. For the sake of souls, for the cause we love, for the honor of the church, and, above all, for the sake of Christ, who gave His life for the souls of men, let us change this situation.
Leroy Edwin Froom, well known researcher and writer, at the time of writing was Associate Secretary of the Ministerial Association of the General Conference.
