The Effect on Christendom

If this were all, the Christian need not be concerned, for why should he care for the poor world's boastings or accomplishments? He knows its end—that it is doomed to judgment. He realizes, too, that he is not of it-that he belongs to another world.
But this is not all. The world is not alone in its boasting. Professing Christians have become infected with this same vaunting spirit, with the sad result that they glory in their shame. (Phil. 3:19.) The resulting condition is that no Christian activity is recognized as possessing any merit unless it can be flourished before the world as worthy of comparison with the world's great achievements. So the lust for great memberships, "Five-year Programs," "Men and Millions" movements, and "Evangelization of the World in this Generation" are phrases mouthed with pride by professed Christians on every side. Evangelists who cannot number their converts by hundreds and thousands are not wanted. Evangelism has become capitalized, and numbers are made the measure of success in God's work.