Oh my friends, we are loaded with countless church activities, while the real work of the church, that of evangelizing and winning the lost is almost entirely neglected.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the contrast between the many activities of the church and the essential mission of evangelism, which is often overlooked.
Oswald J. Smith's quote emphasizes the tendency of religious organizations to focus on numerous activities and programs, while the fundamental purpose of the church—spreading the message of faith and reaching out to those who have not yet embraced it—remains largely ignored. This statement serves as a reminder to prioritize genuine outreach and mission work over mere routine and tradition.
In practice
During a sermon, to encourage the congregation to focus on outreach activities.
God does not have to come and tell me what I must do for Him; He brings me into a relationship with Himself where I hear His call and understand what He wants me to do, and I do it out of sheer love to Him... When people say they have had a call to foreign service, or to any particular sphere of work, they mean that their relationship to God has enabled them to realize what they can do for God.
Let me say that it is not a question of us getting more of the Holy Spirit, but rather of the Holy Spirit getting more of us.
Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice, before everyone has heard it once?
Christians believe that true worship is the highest and noblest activity of which man, by the grace of God, is capable.
It is not always those who have the most eminent gifts who are the most successful laborers for God. It is generally those who keep up closest communion with Christ and are most constant in prayer.
I'd rather be able to pray than to be a great preacher; Jesus Christ never taught his disciples how to preach, but only how to pray.
It is imperative that the Christian, at the beginning of his pursuit to understand what true worship is, gets it clear that the object of our worship is to be God and God alone.
We shall not adjust our Bible to the age; but before we have done with it, by God’s grace, we shall adjust the age to the Bible.
We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the psalms, and that the habit of celebrating the greatness and graciousness of God yields an endless flow of thankfulness, joy, and zeal.
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