by Steve Hale
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him" ( 1 John 2:15, NKJV).
The County Fair was ongoing. Football season was underway. The weather had just turned cold. Families were working, and school was in session. The small congregation where I was preaching was mostly optimistic, but we had some pessimists. The church was experiencing explosive growth. It was time for some harvesting via a Gospel Meeting.
The pessimists among us cited the earlier paragraph. This Gospel Meeting will flop! No one will show-up. It's a waste of time and money.
A waste? We averaged 103 a night, set-up studies, and eventually baptized several into Christ. We did not flinch in the midst of competition from the world.
In more rural areas, much of the social life revolves around the church. In those situations, the Gospel Meeting is a big social as well as spiritual event. The congregation's support of such an effort is a given. Attention is focused on the community and sister congregations for attendance.
It's just not that way in metropolitan areas. There is much more ferocious competition for the flock's attention. Life's pace is faster and more furious. It's harder to focus on the church as the sole source of one's social " life. Therefore, it's far easier to skip a night or two of a Gospel Meeting. This is exactly why Gospel Meetings are so short now.
Fifteen years ago, it was not uncommon to see a Sunday through Friday night meeting. I have preached in a few Sunday to Sunday Gospel Meetings. Now, we generally have them Sunday through Wednesday or Friday through Sunday. Either only calls for us to come twice more than usual anyway.
The Restoration Movement saw Gospel Meetings that would last for months! People were hungering and thirsting for the gospel. Let's turn off our televisions, and put aside excuses. Let's make the commitment to have a great Gospel Meeting! Let us all:
1 . Pray for lost and wayward souls, brother Holland, and God's blessing!
2. Encourage one another's attendance, and our visitors with a warm and personal greeting.
3. Nurture, befriend, and develop new relationships, and by those, win many to Christ.
Don't fall prey to unholy competition!