01.06. Methods

6 METHODS On the last Monday night of the meeting, I usually began talking for church membership. I did this briefly in every service, endeavoring to make it a little different each time, using the following approaches.

I believe every Christian should have a church home. On the last Sunday night of this meeting we want to see a number of people cast their lot with this church.

If you are not a member, we would like you to consider and pray about coming with us. If you are interested, speak to the pastor or his wife at the close of the service, or speak to me and I will help you get in touch with them.

We have a nice tract concerning our church we will be glad to give you; or if you prefer, we will furnish you with the Manual of our church. Should you ask me, "What church should I join?" you might be surprised at my reply. I would answer, "Join the church of your choice." Find a church with whose doctrines and government you are in agreement, cast your lot with it, and back it for all you are worth.

Every young convert should immediately unite with the church. Start out with the determination to go all the way with God. Accept everything which is on His program. The Church among all others is one of the most important.

I was converted in a union rescue mission’ and though I was told every child of God should unite with a church, I had no one to guide me in my choice. But I at once sought out a church in the city and asked the pastor if I could join.

I was already saved, but uniting with the church gave me a responsibility that helped me to stand. It gave me the feeling, I belong. I urge you, young Christian, don’t put it off but cast your lot with the church.

Every child of God should be a member of some church, should have a home base, a place he can point to as his home church. When I ask a man, "What church are you a member of?" and he answers, "Not any in particular," I wonder if he stands for anything in particular; so many do not. The church tramp who has joined the tribe of Gad, going from one service to another, is never much of a blessing anywhere. By all means find a church home. This church is a good one. Think about it, pray about it, and give us a chance to discuss it with you. Not only should every Christian have a church home, but I have a conviction that if he believes in holiness he should line up with the crowd who believes and teaches it.

Folk may say, "I have the harness on." That is very fine; but you can take the best team of horses in the land, place on them the finest harness that money can buy, but they cannot pull as much as I can, unless you hitch them to something.

If I am going to wear holiness harness, I want to be hitched to a holiness wagon. I want to pull something that stands for what I believe.

You may be a member of a Nazarene church in some other town or city, but if you have moved here, you should place your membership here. You do not need to wait until you can get your letter -- you can come in now and the pastor will write and get your letter for you. A Layman A very outstanding layman of our church is a statistician for the U. S. Government. His position has necessitated his moving many times to various cities, and it has always been his policy to ask his pastor for his letter and the letters of his family.

He takes these with him to his new place of residence and places them in the church there.

He tells his new pastor, "I don’t know just how long I will be here, but while I am, I want to do my best to be a good Nazarene layman."

There are hundreds of people over the country who were once good members of the church; they have moved to new places, neglected to write for their letters, and today they are backslidden and never attend church anywhere. Join now where you live and get your letter later.

Never permit a pastor to persuade you to leave your membership in his church after you have moved away. Your obligation is where you live. Unite with the church there. If there are exceptions to this rule, they are few and far between.

If you are a member of some other denomination but you like our church with its doctrine and rules, you do not have to wait until you receive your church letter before you join; you can come in now and the pastor can write for your letter. Or if you prefer, he can just notify your former church that you have united here.

Sentimental TiesNever allow sentimentalties to keep you from casting your lot with a holiness church.

Years ago I held a meeting in one of the most popular towns in the world -- a town so popular they named it twice, Walla Walla. We had been urging people throughout the week to be ready to unite with the church on the last Sunday night. On Sunday morning a dear old lady said she was coming in that night. When she arrived home her old husband said, "Mother, I don’t think you should join the Nazarene church."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because," he said, "I don’t think you should leave our old church. We have been in it most of our lives. We have raised our children in it and I do not think you should leave it." The old lady replied, "Father, I am not leaving my old church. My church has left me. It doesn’t stand for what it used to and what I have stood for all these years. It doesn’t care anything about me or my testimony. Here is the Church of the Nazarene, standing for what my church once stood for and what I still believe. They are my people, why shouldn’t I join them?" The old man thought for a moment, then said, "Mother, you are right. Our church has left us, hasn’t it? I am going to join with you tonight." That night they both united with the Church of the Nazarene, where they found wonderful fellowship with the people who believed as they did.

Friend, are you holding on to an organization which has left you and forgotten you? A group which opposes and criticizes the experience of grace you profess? Are you going to allow bonds to hold you just because you have belonged a long time?

Here is a church which believes and teaches the doctrine you have stood for and preaches the experience you have enjoyed for years. Why not unite with us and help us spread this gospel to the uttermost part of the earth?

Back the doctrine you believe. Place your name as well as your presence with the group that teaches it. It does not seem consistent for a person who believes in the Wesleyan interpretation of entire sanctification to line up with and put his money into a church that fights or opposes it Cast your lot with a holiness church and put your influence and money back of it. Do not be a trunk Christian. Many who were once active workers in the church now have their letters in their trunks. If the exact church of your choice is not in the place you now live, find a spiritual church that is most like the one you prefer and join it; then when the church of your choice comes to town, line up with it Do not stay out of the church until you find one that, in your estimation, is ideal. Should you find such a church, you might not be eligible for membership or you might find you would be the only member. Do not stay out because some things in it do not suit you, but find the one nearest your choice and be a good member until one that suits you better comes to your neighborhood.

I have a small card here which contains a brief statement of our doctrine and excerpts from our general rules taken from the church Manual.

I do not have a sufficient number to give to everyone; but if you are interested, if you have been thinking of joining the Church of the Nazarene and have not fully made up your mind, if you would like to know more about what we teach and what we stand for, if you will raise your hand, I will ask the pastor to go down into the audience and give you this card. (This enables the pastor to see who takes the card and makes it easier for him to approach the prospect later. See contents of card on back page of this book.) We are not wholly unselfish in asking you to unite with our church; we believe you will be a blessing to us. We need you and we need your influence. We feel your coming will make us stronger for God and holiness and that you being one of us will help us build this into a larger and better work.

I also believe this pastor and these people will be a blessing to you and that you will be glad you made the step. A Physician I was holding a campaign in a city of about twenty thousand population. A prominent physician was in the meeting, who, I understood, had been attending the church for two or three years but was not a member.

One night after service I said to him, "Doctor, I understand you attend the Church of the Nazarene all the time. Why don’t you unite with us?"

He replied, "I’ll tell you, Brother Aycock; they won’t let me join the church."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I am a member of the Masonic Lodge."

"Doctor, are you going to let the lodge keep you out of the church?"

He answered, "Well, you know, Brother, the Masonic Lodge is a great institution; it is founded on the Bible. Scripture after scripture is in its foundation. They stand loyally by their members in time of trouble. They look after their widows, orphans, and people in time of need."

"Doctor, I don’t know anything about the lodge," I said. "I was never a member of one of any kind and I did not know they were founded on the Bible and did all that good work, but I willtake your word for it. But, Doctor, do you think they would stop doing all those good deeds if you dropped out?"

He smiled and answered, "No, I guess not; they did them before I became a member."

"Doctor," I asked, "aren’t most of the people in the lodge men and women of the world?"

"Yes," he said, "I suppose the most of them are."

"You know, Doctor, there are thousands of people of the world who will carry on the good work of the lodge who are not interested in the Church, especially in the spreading of the scriptural holiness. They will give to carry on that kind of work, but they will never give a dime to a holiness church like this.

"Here is a struggling holiness church, trying to build in this town and preaching the very doctrine you believe. Admitting this society is all you say, why not let the world run it and you come and lend your name and influence to help this church work for God and holiness?

"Help us build in this city a Church of the Nazarene to stand for the greatest thing in the world -- a full salvation that will save from all sin. Let the worldly crowd run the worldly organizations."

He stood for a moment with his head down as if thinking. Then he looked up, smiled, and said, "You know, I had never thought of it in that way. The world will run the lodge, won’t they?"

Then stretching out his hand he said, "Preacher, I am going to come into the church and help support it and its message of full salvation."

He came into the church and for fifteen years or more he was Sunday School superintendent and wielded a great influence for the cause of holiness before God called him home.

Friend, what you stand for may be good and the organization to which you belong may do a wonderful work, but is it pointing men to Christ? The greatest organization in the world is a spiritual church crusading for souls for Jesus. The church needs you; come in and help us.

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