Home Missionary Work

Home Missionary Work HOME MISSIONARY WORK
By C. A. BUCHANAN The subject of this address does not relate to a modern religious fad, but to a work well defined in the New Testament Scriptures. The records of missionary efforts upon the part of the early Christians take up a large portion of the book of Acts. Numerous references to missionary work are found also in the epistles. Hence, the conclusion may be reached in all soberness from an honest and candid study of the New Testament that missions, both “home” and “foreign,” were among the most prominent works of the apostolic church. The twelve apostles were the first missionaries that Jesus sent out, and under the first commission that Jesus charged them saying, “Go not into any way of the Gentiles, and enter not into any city of the Samaritans: hut go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, And as >ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt, 10:5-7). And since the church had not been established, and since there was, therefore, no or-ganization to support these missionaries, their temporal needs were provided for in a special way. "We read, “Get you no gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses; no wallet for your journey, neither two coats, nor shoes, nor staff: for the laborer is worthy of his food. And into whatsoever city or village ye shall enter, search out who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go forth” (verses 9-11). He later sent seventy others under the same instructions. But after our Lord arose from, the dead, and before he ascended back to heaven, he delivered unto the apostles a worldwide commission, saying unto them, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel unto the whole creation” (Mark 16:15). And again, “Go ye therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I command you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:19-20). He commanded them further to tarry in the city of Jerusalem until they received the power of the Holy Spirit and then they would be his witnesses, beginning in Jerusalem, then throughout all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8). The time had come for the establishment of the church, for an organization was needed through which to evangelize the world, and we read that it was according to God’s eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus that “the manifold wisdom of God should he made known through the church” (Bph. 3:10, 11). Further*- more, to do all things commanded of Jesus makes the church necessary, for some things commanded are to be done in the assembly of the saints. And besides, to make disciples of men, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, inducts them into Christ, or the body of Christ, which is the church. So, immediately after the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and after the apostles began to preach under the great commission, we read of the church as being in existence and of souls being added to it. And wherever the gospel was preached and obeyed after this, congregations sprang up, a result which did not follow the work of the apostles under the first com-mission. And since Pentecost the church has been “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15), and the God-ordained institution back of all true missionary efforts. The actual missionary labors of the early church did not begin until the church at Jerusalem was scattered abroad by persecution. The efforts of the enemy to put the church out of existence only contributed toward its extension throughout the length and breadth of the earth, for, “they that were scattered abroad went every-where preaching the word. And Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them” (Acts 8:4-5). And again, “They that were scattered abroad upon the tribulation that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, and Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word” (Acts 11:19). These references also show that the command of Jesus was being carried out in the order given by him, first in Jerusalem, then throughout all Judea and Samaria, and unto the utter-most parts of the earth. As the early Christians came to comprehend the full mission of the church in the world the missionary spirit grew accordingly. Not just a few of the leading churches, but every church seemed to become thoroughly imbued with the spirit of missions. Antioch in Syria became a radiating center for the gospel There were several prophets and teachers in the church there, and the Holy Spirit said, “Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. Then when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them they sent them away” (Acts 13:1-8). So, from Antioch'Paul and others went out on several different missionary tours. When they returned from these tours they made their reports direct to the chureli at Antioch. The church at Philippi became active in missionary work early in its history. They sent once and again to Paul’s need (Php_4:16), and he thanked God for their fellowship in the furtherance of the gospel from the first day (chapter 1:5). Likewise the church of the Thessalonians became an example, both in home missions and in foreign mis-sions, for Paul wrote to them thus, “For from you hath sounded forth the word of the Lord, not only in Mace-donia and Achaia, but in every place your faith to God- ward has gone forth” (1 Thessalonians 1:8). These apostolic churches are our examples, and from them we may learn the kind of work the Lord would have the church to do as well as how he wants it done. The local church is the organization which sent the missionaries in the days of the apostles. There was no separate organization known as Missionary Society of any kind, home or foreign. Every congregation was a complete missionary society within itself. There was no general assembly, synod, conference, association, or convention—district, national or otherwise—among the early Christians. In fact the New Testament reveals nothing in the way of a religious organization among them except the local church. Elders were appointed in every church and every church was independent. Any religious organization, therefore, other than the local church is unauthorized in the Scriptures. With no or-ganization other than this greatest missionary pro-gramme on record was carried out by the early church. The inspired records show that within about thirty years, beginning with a small group of despised disciples in the city of Jerusalem, the gospel was preached to the whole creation under heaven (Colossians 1:23), and the church was planted throughout the Roman Empire. These facts prove that no organization is needed other than the church to evangelize the world. It is a reflection upon divine wisdom as well as a presumptuous sin to substitute any other organization or system. Of course, we may employ modern methods of communication and travel without changing the original system. We must distinguish between fundamentals and incidentals. Methods of travel and communication are purely incidental, whereas, the church and its organization belong to the class of fundamentals, and fundamentals do not change with the times. The church was not founded as a temporary affair to be superseded by some other institution which human wisdom might devise, for the apostle exclaims, “Unto him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus. unto all generations forever and ever’’ (Ephesians 3:20. Jesus said he would build his church upon the rock and the “gates of hades should not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). And the Scriptures further show that Jesus Christ became head of the church, that the church is subject to him, that he is Savior of the body, that he loved the church and gave himself for it, that he purchased it with his own blood, that he sanctified and cleansed it, and presented it to himself a glorious church, holy and without blemish, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing (Acts 20:28; Ephesians 5:23-27). Certainly, therefore, the church of Jesus Christ is more permanently established, and more precious in his sight, and more glorious with him. than any other institution1 on earth. But we rob the church of its glory when we set up other institutions to do the work the church is designed to do.

Some seek to justify the society by claiming that after all it is nothing more than the church at work. But others just as honest seek to justify human creeds and disciplines on the same ground, that they are nothing more than the Bible interpreted. I think the argument is just as strong for one as for the other. That the mis-sionary society and the cliurch are two different institu-tions is evident from the following facts: The head of the society is not the head of the church; the society has conditions of membership peculiar to itself; it has officers which the church does not have: it has a constitution and by-laws all its own.

While the church is the only organization which is authorized to send the missionaries there is nothing to prohibit any faithful servant of the Lord who so desires from going into the field, either home or foreign, at his own charges. But he should be answerable for his con-duct to some local congregation where he is known, and he should have their endorsement. This will work no hardship on him if he is a faithful servant indeed. However. the fact that there are men who are willing to go without a definite promise of support does not relieve the church of the responsibility of supporting the gospel, for “the Lord has ordained that they that preach the gospel should live of the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:14).

Every congregation that is strong enough to do so should carry on an independent program of missionary work. There is less complication and less chance for embarrassment when this can be done. Any number of congregations, however, may cooperate in the support of any Scriptural work, without the creation of any other organization, by placing the work under the direction of one congregaiion. An arbitrary control should not be exercised, over the work, but all who are interested should advise together. The New Testament furnishes examples of individual efforts, as in the case of Aquilla and his wife teaching Apollos the way of the Lord more accurately (Acts 18:24-28), and of congregational efforts, as the church at Antioch which sent out Barnabas and Saul (Acts 13, 14), and of cooperative efforts, as exemplified by the churches that sent relief to the brethren in Judea (Acts 11:27-30, 1 Corinthians 16:1-3). It is not cooperation that we oppose, but corporation, for the reason that corporation destroys the autonomy of the local church.

Departures from the principles of church government revealed in the New Testament were among the first steps of the apostasy. The “systery of iniquity'’ was at work in the days of the apostle Paul. There were men in the church who loved the preeminence. The ambition for places of distinction and power revealed itself even among the chosen twelve. They disputed among them-selves as to who would be the greatest until Jesus taught them that none should exercise lordship over the other as the chief ones did among the Gentiles, but that who-soever would become great among them should be their minister; and whosoever would be first among them should be servant of all (Mark 10:42-45). This ended the strife among them as to who should be greatest In the kingdom. And the development of ecclesiastical power was after the apostle passed from the earth. The development was gradual-—almost unnoticable at first. In fact the Roman Papacy was more than five hundred years in developing. But it never could have been if the principles of independent, congregational government and equality of rank among the local church officers had not been violated. When these principles were sacrificed the way was opened up for the growth of human authority in the church and therefore, for the introduction and adoption of human dietrines. Many doctrines of today are called orthodox, not because they are taught in the Bible, but because they have been approved by some church council and written into some creed. The reformatory movements of modern times have fallen short in that they have failed to restore the orig-inal organization and practice of the church. All refor-mations may have accomplished some good but most of them have resulted in the starting of new denominations with about the same ecclesiastical machinery as the Roman church has, only in a modified form. The restoration movemeni of the nineteenth century had as its object a complete return to the simplicity and purity of the apostolic church, in name, organization, doctrine, and practice. But there is an old saying that history repeats itself, and recent developments in what is known as the “res-toration movement,” have confirmed the saying. When the missionary society movement began among us a few years ago there were brethren who saw in the movement a serious departure from Bible principles. But many of our brethren were unable to see any harm in the society. To these the society seemed to be the best method of cooperative missionary work. Those who oppose the movement were called “anti-missionary” and “non-progressive.” And as in the first apostasy, so in this one, one advance step called for another. Soon there came to be more organizations than there was room for and it seemed advisable to incorporate all of them under one general head, so the United Christian Missionary Society was created and incorporated under the laws of the state of Ohio. And as the glory of the society has increased the glory of the church has decreased. The society has grown in power until it is too great to be controlled by the church, and to some of the society brethren it is proving a very troublesome and unsatisfactory thing. The Christian Standard has been for some time raising its voice against it, but with small success. And recently the Standard launched a new publication, The Touchstone, the purpose of which is to inform the brotherhood against the society, and thus to check its “progress” if possible—progress, toward Rome. It is claimed that the officials of the society are incompetent and disleyal to the truth, that the laws of the state in which the society is incorporated have been violated by them in several points, that the society persists in keeping missionaries on the field who compromise the principles of the ancient gospel. No doubt the society needs a reformation, but there can be no permanent reformation of a thing which is wrong in principle until the principles are reformed. The only solution of the matter would be to do away entirely with the unscriptural organization and come hack to the Scriptural ground. Anything short of this is not worthy of the name, “restoration movement.” The society is weighed in the balance and found wanting.

I am expected to give in this address something of my work as county missionary in Johnson County, Texas. Beginning March 1, 1920, I labored for four years and a half under the direction of the Central Church of Christ at Cleburne, the county seat of Johnson county. I did some work in adjoining counties and responded to some calls from distant points, but my work was largely in Johnson County. I lived in Cleburne and was answerable to the Cleburne church. This church was responsible for my support, and I reported to the treasurer what I collected in the field. The collection was small at first, but it grew to be more than half of my support the last year. Our first efforts were in those communities where we had a few scattered brethren and where there was a prospect of opening up a regular work. Brethren from Cleburne cooperated in developing local leaders at the new places. Some of the more distant missions failed, due to a lack of outside help; but a number have con-tinued to this day and seem now to be permanent con-gregations. Six years aeo there were seven congrega-tions of loyal disciples in the county. Since that time the work has been started at eleven places. And while the work has been discontinued at several of these places, largely on account of transient membership, we rejoice in the good that has come from the work even at the places that failed for some of the workers in other congregations at present were won to Christ at these missions. The results of this home missionary effort have been very gratifying. The gospel has been preached in nearly every community in the county and at numerous places in adjoining counties. Besides the new missions started, three congregations that had ceased to meet at all were revived, and others that were about to fail were strengthened. Brother Jesse Powell, who is capable and successful, succeeded me as county evangelist, and the work has become a permanent thing with the Cleburne church. Also, several of the capable young men of the Cleburne church, having caught the missionary spirit, are now preaching at mission points and are rapidly develoy- ing into good preachers.

I consider the years I spent in the county work in Johnson County the most fruitful years of my ministry up to the present. While thus engaged I held some of the most successful meetings that I have ever held. The preparation of this address has brought to memory some of the most pleasant experiences of my ministry and some of the dearest friendships that my family and I have ever formed. There are always hardships and discouragements to be experienced in planting the cause in a new place, but these can be overcome, and they will diminish as the work becomes established.

County mission work should extend into the rural sections as well as into the towns and villages. I believe the church should be established in the centers of population first if possible, for more people can be reached there, but I do not believe in giving up religious efforts in rural districts. In recent years the movement to the city has been hard on the rural church, and in many communities the people are as those whom Jesus met on one of his tours, as sheep having no shepherd. As long as there are people in the country the gospel must be preached in the country. The church in the city or town may justly give the rural church credit for a large percentage of its growth in membership in recent years. Go to any city church and ask all who became Christians before moving to the city to hold up their hands, and I dare say you will be astonished at the number. The congregation at Alvarado is the youngest in Johnson County at this time. It was established last September by a cooperative effort of all the congregations in the county. The plan used is worthy of a detailed account in this connection. Alvarado is the second town in size in the county, and for a long time has been considered a difficult place for the ancient gospel, Several mission meetings have been conducted there without visible results. The people would not come out to hear. But last fall a new method of attack for that place was employed. After all other meetings of the town were over and there seemed to be nothing in the way, we engaged the use of the largest tabernacle in the town, secured Brother McMillan of Cleburne to do the preaching and Brother An twine of Bonham to conduct the singing. We gave only a few days notice to the town. We had brought out a special Alvarado Meeting edition of the Cleburne Christian, our county church paper at that time, and just a day or two before the meeting began we placed a copy in every home in the town. In addition to the gospel teaching in the paper there was something by different writers on every page of the paper about the meeting. This, with the other usual means of advertising a meeting, brought out two or three dozen Alvarado people to the first service, which was on Sunday night But counting the visitors from Cleburne and other places over the county the crowd was estimated at one thousand. The several congregations dismissed their night services in order to attend the first service of the meeting. Every congregation in the county was represented except one, which was twenty-five miles distant. The psychology of a crowd worked. The meeting was the talk of the town the next day. The report got out that all the “Campbellites” in Texas were there. After this some of the visitors had to stay away to make room for Alvarado people. Brother McMillan was equal to the emergency. He preached the truth in love, and with telling effect. The number of baptisms was not large but from all sources a body of about thirty members was left there meeting regularly, and the number is growing. Cleburne is assisting this young congregation by furnishing them preaching three Sundays in the month. Brother Powell preaches one Sunday and conducts a weekly Bible class, and Brother Paul Suthern, a young preacher in the Cleburne congregation, visits them two Sundays. From the Alvarado meeting we learned some good lessons in cooperative missionary work. Cooperation does not mean simply to contribute some money. The missionary needs more than financial support; he often feels his need of somebody to stand by. The apostle Paul nearly always had a company with him. Being forced to leave Berea hastily he left Silas and Timothy behind on one occasion. But upon arriving at Athens he sent for them to come to him with all speed. Again, when brethren from Rome came out several miles to meet him, having heard that he was coming, Paul thanked God and took courage. The greatest problem at a place where the cause is not established is getting the attention of the people, for we must have attention to get results. A large crowd always attracts attention. Hence, there is a double service rendered by those who accompany the preacher to a mission point: the preacher is encouraged, and the attention of the people is gained. In missionary work it is best not to scatter the efforts too much, but rather to concentrate on a few places until the work is established. A protracted meeting, however successful, must be followed up with other constructive work. We were not so careful about the follow-up work when we began in Johnson County, and for lack of it our labor was apparently lost in some instances. We were anxious to hold as many protracted meetings as possible. But to spend all the time holding protracted meetings is a mistake. The seed planted must be watered It is better to furnish every mission with preaching at least one Sunday in the month and a regular mid-week service, either a Bible class, a prayer meeting, or a sermon. Some of these meetings can be conducted profitably n the homes of the members. By reason of the social advantage some people can be reached in this way that might not come to the public place of meeting. I think many of the conversions we have had in summer meetings had their beginnings at services of this kind.

Another important result of the Johnson County work is the influence it has had on the established congregations of the county. All have profited more or less, first, because the work has brought them closer together and has helped to create a better spirit of cooperation among them. I seriously doubt that the churches of the county could have made such a success of the Alvarado meeting six years ago. And again, almost every mission meeting which has been held in the county has afforded some congregation an opportunity to lend at least its moral support. The help received from this source made possible some work that could not have been done without it. Besides, to have a part in such work always strengthens the churches that participate, Those who have known the Cleburne church for years say that it has had its greatest growth since it began to do systematic missionary work. The present congregation at Venus represents some of the fruits of our county work. For nearly two years now the church at Venus has been self-supporting. The expenditures of this church for all purposes during last year were about thirty-five hundred dollars. Until about three years ago that church did not meet the year around, and had no regular preaching. There were a few faithful members there who realized they could do better if somebody would teach them how, so they solicited help from Cleburne. The Cleburne church allowed me to give six months time largely over to the Venus work, and also realeased Brother McMillan for i protracted meeting there following that period of concentrated work. This effort more than doubled the membership and brought the church to a self supporting basis. They support a preacher for full time now and do some outside work. Within the last two years the membership of this congregation has grown from about thirty-five or forty to one hundred and fifty. Venus gives the Cleburne church most of the credit for this growth. The efforts would not yield such results as this at every place, of course, but I have come to believe that when we start out to do home missionary work we would do well to begin on some of the old congregations, if we can get the opportunity. If we can bring more of our present congregations up to the New Testament standard it will be easier to convert souls to Christ and to start new congregations.

I am not advocating that the larger churches should exercise any authority over the smaller ones and dictate as to the management of their affairs. We have no “authority” to exercise anywhere, at home or abroad, but it is our privilege as brethren to teach and admonish one another. We all can do better than we are doing; and most of us do better when we are taught better, if we are approached in the right way. Most of our con-gregations are stronger than they think they are. They just need to be taught what they can do if they will try1. But the teaching must be done in the spirit of gentleness.

We have just cause to be encouraged over the future prospects for the Lord’s work. More of the local churches are awaking. There is more agitation of missions, and as a result, more missionary movements are getting under way i different parts of the country. And while it must be deplored that the simple New Testament plan of missions has suffered in the hands of thoughtless men, and that denominational machinery has galded the shoulders with burdens heavy, we believe that a happy day of Scriptural missions is dawning upon this very generation. May low spirited and listless disciples lift their eyes and look on the ripe harvest fields. May more of us pray to be sent into the harvest as laborers.

'‘The morning light is breaking; the darkness disappears; The sons of earth are waking, to penitential tears; Bach breeze that sweeps the ocean, brings tidings from afar, Of nations in commotion, prepared for Zion’s war.”