Call for a Balanced Work
187
will be encouraged to do a kind of work which will amount to the least
in strengthening all parts of the work by harmonious action.
The gospel invitation is to be given to the rich and the poor, the
high and the low, and we must devise means for carrying the truth into
new places and to all classes of people. The Lord bids us, “Go out into
the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that My house
may be filled.” He says, “Begin in the highways; thoroughly work the
highways; prepare a company who in unity with you can go forth to
do the very work that Christ did in seeking and saving the lost.”
Christ preached the gospel to the poor, but He did not confine His
labors to this class. He worked for all who would hear His word—not
only the publican and the outcasts, but the rich and cultivated Pharisee,
the Jewish nobleman, the centurion, and the Roman ruler. This is the
kind of work I have ever seen should be done. We are not to strain
every spiritual sinew and nerve to work for the lowest classes, and
make that work the all in all. There are others whom we must bring to
the Master, souls who need the truth, who are bearing responsibilities,
[258]
and who will work with all their sanctified ability for the high places
as well as for the low places.
The work for the poorer classes has no limit. It can never be got
through with, and it must be treated as a part of the great whole. To
give our first attention to this work, while there are vast portions of
the Lord’s vineyard open to culture and yet untouched, is to begin in
the wrong place. As the right arm is to the body, so is the medical
missionary work to the third angel’s message. But the right arm is
not to become the whole body. The work is seeking the outcasts is
important, but it is not to become the great burden of our mission.—
Manuscript 3, 1899
.
Not Called Upon to Erect Homes for Abandoned Women or
Babies—I must speak plainly in regard to some things which must be
guarded. We should not enter into the work of maintaining homes for
abandoned women or for infants. This responsibility might better be
borne by families, who should care for those who need help in these
lines.—
Letter 11, 1900
.
The Lord does not give us direction to erect buildings for the care
of babies, although this is a good work, but it is not the work for the
present time. Let the world do all it will in this line. Our time and
means must be invested in a different line of work. We are to carry