Importance of Training in the Work of God
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hear. They should not regard the speaker simply as an orator, but as
a messenger from God to men. Personal preferences and prejudices
must not be allowed to influence them in hearing. If all would imitate
the example of Cornelius, and say, “Now therefore are we all here
present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of
God,” they would receive much more profit from the sermons which
they hear.
There should be connected with our missions training-schools for
those who are about to enter the fields as laborers. They should feel
that they must become as apprentices to learn the trade of laboring for
the conversion of souls. The labor in these schools should be varied.
The study of the Bible should be made of primary importance, and at
the same time there should be a systematic training of the mind and
manners that they may learn to approach people in the best possible
way. All should learn how to labor with tact and with courtesy, and
with the Spirit of Christ. They should never cease to become learners,
but should ever continue to dig for truth and for the best ways of
working, as they would dig for buried gold.
Let all who are commencing in the work decide that they will not
rest short of becoming first-class workers. In order to do this, their
minds must not be allowed to drift with circumstances and to follow
impulse, but they must be chained to the point, tasked to the utmost to
comprehend the truth in all its bearings.
Men of ability have labored at a great disadvantage because their
minds were not disciplined for the work. Seeing the need of laborers,
they stepped into the gap, and although they may have accomplished
much good, it is in many cases not a tithe of what they could have
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accomplished, had they had the proper training at the start.
Many who contemplate giving themselves to the service of God,
do not feel the need of any special training. But those who feel thus are
the very ones who stand in greatest need of a thorough drill. It is when
they have little knowledge of themselves and of the work that they feel
best qualified. When they know more, then they feel their ignorance
and inefficiency. When they subject their hearts to close examination,
they will see so much in them unlike the character of Christ, that they
will cry out, “Who is sufficient for these things?” and in deep humility
they will strive daily to put themselves in close connection with Christ.