Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 11
June 18, 1959
NUMBER 7, PAGE 13c

Another Reason

Luther G. Roberts, Salem, Oregon

Brother Billy W. Moore had an excellent article on "Why Adventists Out-Do Us" in the Gospel Guardian of May 7, 1959. However, in addition to the reasons he assigned as to the why, there is, at least, one more. This will be illustrated in the following described incident.

Some time the first part of 1959 I was in a place of business in a town in Oregon. A nicely dressed man came into the office of the business house and introduced himself to the man in charge. He said that he was "Reverend" So and So, and that he was a minister of the Adventist church. He was soliciting contributions for the Adventist church. He showed a booklet he had with him picturing the various works of that denomination being done all over the world. He particularly emphasized the work done in caring for the needy children of the world. Although the people in the business were not members of the Advent church the man in charge of the business at the time gave the man a check for $25.00. This is another reason why the Adventists are able to do so much of what they do — they beg money from every business that they can contact. Other denominations do the same thing.

If members of churches of Christ would send out solicitors from every business and professional man in the whole country much more money could be secured and more could be done. I read an article some years ago in which religious beggars were raked over the coals for misusing merchants by "hounding" them to give to support works of religious denominations of which they were not members. One sentence in the treatise was the following, "I would be ashamed to arm myself with note and check books, and face my fellow man who has not voluntarily taken upon himself the duties of membership with me, and ask him for one penny to pay for a thing he evidently does not believe in and which is my own obligation in the first place." Of course, churches of Christ have not so learned Christ, or have "we"?