Chapter 13: The Crisis Continues (1888-1889)
Outside of the London Conference there was still plenty of enthusiasm for what could be done. Rev. Judson Smith of the American Baptist Missionary Union wrote, “What hinders the immediate effort to plant the Gospel in every nation and island and home in all the earth with the next few decades_ Nothing but the faltering zeal and purpose of the mass of Christian believers now on earth. That precisely is the critical question... it is possible now, as never before in the world’s history, to preach the Gospel to all the nations” (Regions Beyond, June 1888:168) [Italics his].
In October 1888, Pierson published an editorial entitled “A Crusade for Missions” in which he called on pastors to set themselves apart for a special ministry of missions devotion. “The evangelization of the world is a problem so grave and so great that it demands men, in a peculiar, if not an exclusive sense, devoted to it. The church needs to be aroused, quickened, stimulated, to new endeavor, prayer, consecration, giving, if we are to overtake the present generation with the gospel” (Missionary Review, October 1888:721). Because the local church was the key link in this chain, it was pastors who needed to carry this special burden if the task was to be completed.
In January of 1889, Pierson published his landmark “Christian Missions as the Enterprise of the Church, “ the article that most fully embodied his philosophy for reaching the world by the year 1900. Pierson wrote,
Christian missions represent the most colossal undertaking ever presented to the mind of man... Here are fifteen hundred millions of perishing people to be overtaken with the gospel message, if at all, within the life-time of a generation. Yet Christ says to a comparatively few disciples: “Give ye them to eat,” and yet what we have seems hopelessly inadequate provision for such a vast multitude. But there is the authority of the King; He certainly will not command what is impossible or even impracticable. With proper organization and distribution of this multitude into companies; with our few barley loaves brought to Him to be blessed, broken and multiplied as broken; with simple faith in His power and presence, and with implicit obedience to His Word, we may not only feed all these millions, but find fragments left in abundance; for the gospel provision strangely multiplies as it is divided (Missionary Review, January 1889:7).
Pierson then continued with the theme of celerity of movement, saying that part of our loyalty to Christ’s commands is to carry them out immediately. He yet again gave the example of Ahasuerus’ decree and the haste with which it was borne to everyone in his realm. This he contrasted with how the church was treating Christ’s commands.
We have not yet felt that the King’s command is urgent and the King’s business requireth haste. Were true, sound, sensible, practical business principles applied to this problem, no hindrance would be huge enough even to delay the prosecution of the work solemnly committed to the Church of Christ. And once more we record our solemn conviction that, with thorough organization, sanctified resolve and practical co-operation throughout the Church, the gospel may be preached as a witness, not only among all nations, but to every living creature, within the lifetime of the present generation, or even before the present century closes (Missionary Review, January 1889:8) [Italics his].
Pressing this last point home, Pierson revealed the true conviction of his heart, “This thought of a possible proclamation of the Word of life to every living creature before this century closes, we have sought to trumpet forth by tongue and pen for twenty years; and it has never yet been shown to be either impossible or impracticable. It can be done; it OUGHT to be done; it MUST be done” (Missionary Review, January 1889:9) [Italics his].
Finally, turning to some simple calculations, Pierson once again underscored the feasibility of finishing the task by the year 1900.
There are, perhaps, in round numbers, thirty millions of Protestant church members in the world. Could each of that number somehow reach thirty-three of the unsaved, the whole thousand million would be evangelized; and could each be brought to give one cent a day, our missionary treasuries would overflow with over one hundred millions of dollars every year. Of course we cannot depend upon enlisting in this work all church members. Nominal Protestants include millions of mere professors, members of state churches, formalists and ritualists, and millions more who, while they profess to be disciples, are actually immoral and infidel. But let us suppose that there are ten millions of true disciples who can be brought into line, and who by systematic effort can be made to furnish men and money for this work, even with this tenth part of Christendom the world may be evangelized before the twentieth century dawns...We repeat, that it is our solemn and mature conviction that before the close of this century the gospel might be brought into contact with every living soul; for if we could so organize and utilize ten millions of disciples as that every one should be the means of reaching with the good tidings one hundred other souls, during the lifetime of this generation all the present population of the globe would be evangelized; or, if the sublime purpose should inspire the whole Church to do this work before this century ends, each of this ten million believers has only to reach between eight and nine souls every year for the twelve years that remain (Missionary Review, January 1889:12-13) [Italics his].
