The Local Church by Dr. Peter S. Ruckman

Author:Dr. Peter S. Ruckman [Ruckman, Dr. Peter S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: BB Bookstore
Published: 2011-06-12T07:00:00+00:00

LESSON VIII

Training Personal Workers

Now, your main job will be to feed sheep. Simon Peter makes this clear in 1 Peter 5:1–4, and if we are to believe the account given in John 21:15–16, Simon Peter would be the one who would speak with authority on such matters. You are to feed the flock. If you feed them, they will feed you. I have had the “sheep” build bookcases in my house while I was away on a meeting. I have had the sheep fix three big meals a week for me and my family when I was raising four children by myself. I have had the sheep rotate the tires on my car while I was out of town because they knew I had not thought of it. I have had the sheep buy me clothes, books, suitcases, cars, plane tickets, radio and TV time, and give me a housing allowance so I could buy a home for nothing. I gave them the pure, unadulterated words of God, and they gave me their support.

The billy goats “butted” (“Brother Ruckman knows the Bible, BUT....” “Brother Ruckman is a fine evangelist, BUT....” “Brother Ruckman is a good teacher, BUT....”), but there were always enough sheep on hand to supply the need.

Now, how can you feed the sheep if there is no flock there? You can’t. You cannot build a church without converts, and you cannot get converts these days without going out after them. You were told to “go into the world,” so you will have to go “fishing” for men if you are going to build a local church. This brings up the matter of what we call “visitation.”

Your people will give you four reasons for not going out after the souls of men in the community where you live.

1. They don’t feel “qualified.”

2. They are afraid (this is the most honest reason).

3. They lack motivation.

4. They don’t have the time because other activities are more worthwhile.

To solve these stumbling blocks, you need to train your people in the pulpit and in the classroom, gradually introduce them to the work by taking them with you, encourage them with reports of friends and relatives who get saved, and lay a strong emphasis on the lost condition of men. If you will review what we said in the lesson about your people “losing the vision,” you will see that no real visitation can be done if your people are not convinced that souls are eternal and without Jesus Christ they will wind up in the Lake of Fire.

Plan your visitation program carefully, present the plan to your people clearly, organize your workers and train them, and then maintain enthusiasm in the congregation for the work. We will describe how this is done.

First of all, visit constantly yourself; plan a route of names and addresses before you go out. Get used to solo visitation before you take anyone with you. I have actually begun visitation in a church where the whole program had collapsed, and for six months I was the only one who did the visiting.

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