Tell the World
"And He said to them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men"—Matthew 4:19 (NASB).
One day I watched an old man fishing for trout and pulling one trout after another quite briskly. I said to him, "I wish I could fish like that. In fact, just today I passed several individuals around this lake, and many of them don't seem to be catching anything."
The old man paused, rested his rod on the ground, and said, "Well, you see, there are three rules for trout fishing and you shouldn't even try if you don't pay attention to them. The first is, ‘Keep yourself out of sight.’ The second is, ‘Keep yourself farther out of sight.’ And the third is, ‘Keep yourself still farther out of sight.’ Then you'll be able to catch trout."
As I continued my walk around the lake, I thought to myself, “That's sound advice for catching people too!” Is it possible that in our anxiety to win others for Christ we have gotten in the way of the Holy Spirit? Before we can catch someone for Christ, we must first be caught. The text above declares that there is something we must first do, "And He said unto them, Follow Me . . ."
Today we stand at the beginning of a new quinquennium in the Atlantic Union Conference. While we are grateful and thankful for past achievements (see the May 2006 issue of the Gleaner), there is a tremendous task yet ahead to be accomplished.
As I’ve said many times before, our primary purpose on earth is to help populate heaven with people from this planet. But we’ve got to start at the beginning. We must personally follow Christ. We must focus exclusively on Him. We must abide with Jesus so that we might absorb His spirit. We must learn His method, His ways. By following Jesus, He works conviction and conversion in other people as He has worked it in you. Through the agency of His Holy Spirit, Christ works secretly in people’s hearts.
But then, we must also be moved to action—we must fish for people. Christ wills it so. By His Spirit, He qualifies us to win and disciple others for Him. In fact, witnessing and discipling are two sides of the same slice of bread. This makes a people-catcher both a soul winner and soul nurturer. Whether minister or member, we most truly follow Christ when we become actively involved in fishing for people—and as such, we let Christ witness through us.
So what is all this talk about Tell the World in the Adventist Church? Tell the World is an initiative of the Adventist world church and adopted by the Atlantic Union. Tell the World is an attempt to let every person know that Jesus is coming again—very soon! This Tell the World initiative is not just a program or project. It is a living, breathing reality in the heart of every Adventist believer to spread God’s love to everyone. This Tell the World "fishing expedition" initiative is the largest evangelistic effort in the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It will go on for years. It will last until Jesus comes!
Won’t you join us at the beginning of this new quinnquennial term to Tell the World about the . . . "Old, old story, of unseen things above, Of Jesus and His glory, Of Jesus and His love"?
Whatever you do to help populate or "catch people" for heaven, you will never, ever regret. In fact, in the process, you personally will be caught for Christ!
Donald
G. King is president of the Atlantic Union
Conference and chairman of the Atlantic
Union College Board of Trustees.
Atlantic Union GLEANER
August 2006
