“Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter.” – Mark 1:45
Let the Bible scholars account for it as they will, over and over again Jesus discouraged publicity, left the crowd for the solitudes, and never played up to the multitude. His brethren could not understand why He did not go up to Jerusalem and get in the public eye. He did not seek the crowd, the crowd sought Him.
All this would be quite incomprehensible to this age of ballyhoo and the despair of high-pressure advertising. The Early Church grew as one brought another, and the Lord added such as should be saved. The Gospel was its own best publicity. By word of mouth it was noised about. Today we build up a gigantic publicity after the fashion of this age, but what we advertise does not come up to the advance notices. The mountain brings forth a mouse.
God’s ways are not ours and the church did her mightiest work unassisted by radio, television, and modern advertising. The best publicity the Gospel will ever have is a new Christian out to win others. And simple arithmetic shows that if each new disciple brought another the statistics would soon be phenomenal.
Maybe we have it all figured out wrong. Think it over. ( Vance Havner)
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
