To Every Man's Door, Part One
 

To Every Man's Door, Part Two

By Jim Barclay
 

Now let's apply the principles we have just considered to a practical geographical mission problem: the United States. It's the greatest country in the world, with more religious freedom, more technology, more communication capabilities, and more wealth than any other country. We, the laity of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, have the advantages of all these benefits. Certainly, with all of this, we ought to be able to offer the gospel to every home in the United States without continued further delay.

Now let's review the three basic things we are asked to do. We are to:

1. GO

2. OFFER, and

3. BE READY to give an answer. We are:

1. To go from town to town, and city to city, and to every man's door—there are about 137,000,000 residential units in the U.S.A.

2. To make an offer of the gospel message—and this is very important. God created men and women as free moral agents. Their ultimate responsibility for the choices they make in life is to God alone. We cannot require them to listen to a thing we say or read a thing we give them. We do, however have the responsibility to make the offer in such a way that they may freely choose without compulsion to hear and/or read the message. We must also remember that an individual cannot accept or reject anything he has never been offered.

3. And, as 1 Peter 3:15 says, “Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you.”

QUESTION: How do we go from town to town, and city to city, and to every man's door? There is one tool we can use to do all that, and Ellen White instructs us to use it. That tool is the U.S. Mail. We have available every address of every residence in the United States. This means every apartment house, every single family residence, and every rural home.

Here is what we can do to make the offer [note: offers have been changed to reflect current program]:

1. Invite them to enroll in a free Bible correspondence course, including Discover, Focus on Prophecy, and Amazing Facts.

2. Invite them to visit some of our premier Adventist Bible study websites, such as Bibleinfo.com and BibleUniverse.com.

3. Invite them to ask for one of our free TriumphFULL Living booklets on topics such as marriage, parenting, health, addictions, and grief recovery.

4. Invite them to ask for one of our free Amazing Facts Sermon Library booklets.

5. Invite them to ask for special prayer and share their requests.

6. Send them all a copy of Steps to Christ or On The Edge Of Time and invite them to order The Great Controversy free of charge.

7. Invite them to ask for seven other free Spirit of Prophecy books made available in a subsequent offer included with the materials they have requested. After each book is read, another may be ordered, one at a time. These books are as follows: Patriarchs and Prophets, Prophets and Kings, Desire of Ages, Acts of the Apostles, Ministry of Healing, Christ's Object Lessons, and The Mount of Blessing.

Let me explain why we offer these books. Ellen White says, “I have a work of great responsibility to do to impart by pen and voice the instruction given me, not alone to Seventh-day Adventists, but to the world.” Testimonies, Vol. 8, p. 236. We are specifically concerned about the message to the world.

There are thousands of towns and zip codes with no church members, and we collectively have the responsibility to offer the message to them.

Now you say, “Why free books?” Over the years we have developed a serious imbalance between the free availability of the message from the living preacher compared to the published word. We have spent millions of dollars to freely give the message on radio, television, and in public meetings; but if a person elects to read the message, they have in almost all cases been asked to buy it. That is why the free books.

What does Ellen White have to say about this? “Think of how great a work can be done if a large number of believers will unite in an effort to place before the people by the circulation of these books, the light that the Lord has said should be given them. Under divine guidance go forward in the work, and look to the Lord for aid. The Holy Spirit will attend you. Angels of heaven will accompany you, preparing the way.” Review & Herald, 1/7/1903.

Don't you see, folks, God has not given us an impossible task, rather He has not only told us what to do, but how to do it.

PROJECT: Steps to Christ is a not-for-profit corporation by Adventist persons. Its purpose is to provide you, the laity, with the tools to offer the message to every home, including your town and surrounding territories, as well as the rest of the United States.

I hope you are thinking by this time, “How can we participate?” First, we each personally must have a burning desire to offer this message to every home, otherwise there is no basis for participation. Next, we must individually agree that we are really members of the total North American Division, not just a local church member with a local interest. There are thousands of towns and zip codes with no church members, and we collectively have the responsibility to offer the message to them.

With this background, your local church board could take an action to assume the responsibility to sponsor a zip code, beginning with your own town. If that zip code should be too large to do all at once, you could start with one or several individual postal routes of a lesser amount. Sabbath school classes, church schools, pathfinders, or individuals could have an evangelism project for a zip code or area of a city.

To accomplish this task will require an adjustment of our financial priorities. Our responsibility to give this message to every home will not go away just because we prefer to spend our money on other things. When we talk about money, we will of necessity change our attitude from one of contribution to one of investment— like $10.00 is a contribution; $1,000 is an investment.

We, the laity, have a serious problem. In [some] congregations there are probably 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation Adventists. It is obvious we have delayed our work far too long. As a 4th generation Adventist, I have concluded that if we, the present living generation are going to finish our work, we are faced with doing significantly more seed-sowing than our parents or grandparents have done. I also believe that our past failure to do the seed-sowing work can be related to a word called commitment. Commitment to our mission. Commitment of our spiritual gifts to our mission. Commitment of our time and our money to our mission.

You and I, the laity of this church, must accept the God-given responsibility for the seed-sowing work. We cannot assign it to the ministry or the church structure; and it will not disappear like a cake of ice cream on a hot summer day. The only thing left is either delay it or do it. We have delayed it long enough, so let's do it now! Let's all remember—we cannot finish something we have never started. So let's start now and go to every home!