A Heart for Individuals

OHE
OivE
AHeafifff
Indidduals
ISSUES:
OnlyGodcanopenyourheartto rec-
worthandsignificance
ognizethe
ofeveryindividual.Thenyoullbewillingto investyounelfin oneoutof a crowd.
N E i ND IV ID U A LH E LP IN CA N OTH E R _W H .A TW E
d_!_g!g!9-one," or whatI like to call "giving individuai,
personajaftenhon"-is at the veryhean of the Navigator
emphasis.DawsonTrotrnan,who foundedThe Navigaton, epitomizedit morethan anypersonI haveevermel
I cameto know the Lord in my 6rstyearofjunior collegein Caiifomia-In that
first yearI rememberonlyonepersongjvingme anypersonalhelp in the Chris.
tranlife-someone whotook aboutfrveminutesge5rrggest
that I readthe Bibie.
The secondyearI helpedget a Christiangoup goingon the campus,and.the
followingyearI wentto a Bibleschoolin LosAngeles.I wasthoughtof asa young
fellowwho wasgettingalongarrly wellin his Christianlife.
Therein Los Angeles.througha seriesof events.I met DawsTrotrnanandgot
into a Bible classhe heldeachmorningat 6:i5 in his office.In tlre meantime,
unbeknownto me.the pastorof a churchI hadattendedSotme electeddirector
of an annualsummerconference.
So I gotthepastors'advisory
committeefor the
conferenceto approveDawsas the conference
speaker.
I had neverbeento a conference
in my life.and whenit cameto runningone I
didn't know beans.For instance,I didn't know how to makeannouncemenls.
I
madethem. but no one listened.So Dawstook me off to the side and qaveme
somehelp on how to makearnouncemenE.
lllu<tt.lmn ht I)A\11) SCHIEDT
by lnrne Sanny
?,
lqc.llF
trlffFF\
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I
T his wasa f am i l y c o n fe re n c e ,a n d I
thoughtweoughtto havea littlediscipiine;
so I imposeda curfex'.When one cabin of
tlre
kidswasout b'llmidnighlI announced
next da1'tlratthel' had violatedtlre curfew.
Then the whoieissuebiewup in my face.
hadbeenheldannuallyfor
This conference
a b o ut f if t eeny ear s .a n d th e p e o p l ew h o
c.ame
hadneverheardof acurlew.But Daws
steppedin andcalmedthingsdov"n.andgot
tire reiru backinto my handsagain.
T hen one af t er n o o nh e s a i d ," S a n n y ,
how wouldyou like to haveprayerwitl me
tomorrox'moming?"
I said I wouldlove to. and xked what
time.
He said:"Fivee's1..1."
Isaid. "Pardonme?"
Yep, he me.antfiveo'clock.I wasto meet
him on a linlesandbardownat the edgeof a
creek.
I got tiere atfive.Dawswasalreadythere,
and had a little fire goingon the sand.We
hada coupleof hourstogetherin the Word
and in prayer.Then he said,"How about
tomorrowmoming?"I said,"Cood.I'll be
here."
Af t er a c oupleof th e s ee a rl y m o rn i n g
prayermeetings,Dawssaid."How would
youlike to havea timeof prayerdownby the
creek after the meetin! tonight?" So we
wentdo*n and had anotier hme ofprayer.
Down deep in my heart there were certainthingsplaguingme.andI wantedsomeone I could talk to aboutthem.I wasn'tthe
kind of guv to go aroundopeningmy heart
to jut an),body.In fucL therehad beenno
one whom I felt free to reallytalk with. But
therewith Daws. I thoughLHae's a msn interested enough in me to giue me help, to
inuest his time in me-maybe hae's a mon
to whom I can open my hear7.And I did,
and he helpedme.
L^aterthatsummerI got a letterfrom him
in whichheaskedmeto throwin mylot with
him and cometo work withThe Navigators.
After a lot of prayer.I agreedto work with
him and livein hishome.Thiswasin the full
of 1941.andfor fifteenyearsI got that kind
of help from DarvsTrotman.I'll be forever
to invest
indebtedto him for hiswillingness
tjme in me individuallvand personally.
calledbackto myhometownto helpa friend
of mine who had a high schoolministryin
Modesto.California.I wasto be theresixpro
teendavs.helpingto setup a follow-up
gramin his minis4'.
I di scovWh e nI arri ved.to m1' di smay
eredthat my friendhadlinedup eighteen
meetjngsfor me in thosesixteendays.and
they were*'ith seventeendifterentgroups.
I saidto him. "You c:n't followup people
like thal You don'tjustwavea magicwand.
You don't just tive them one p€p talk and
get them down to business
automatically
41616svin! on for Chrisl You'vegot the
andI'll takethem.But
meelingsscheduled.
in betweenlimes.wh;'don't you let me talk
i n d i v i dual lw
v i th someof your keyyoung
people?"He agreed.
The fint privatetalk waswith the sb.rdent
b o d yp r esi dentofa hi gh schoolof2.500
students.After we had talkedfor a while.I
asked,"Tell me.do you readyourBible?"
I THOUGHT
.MAYBE
HERE'S
"How is he doingin hrsprayerlife?"
"Well. he'sone of m!' bestfellows."
I sajd."L€t me tell you how he'sdoing."
Afur Idid. I said,"L,ook,you preachto him
tw i cea w eek.but you' vegot t o get som e
knowhowhe's
timewith him individualll'to
gettingaJong."
The nerl youngfellow I met witlr wasthe
presidentofthe youthgroupin a neighboring high school.Ben had given him four
S cri ptureversecards to m em or izesix
monthse.rlier. fu we talked. I askedhim
how he w"s getting along on tiese.
"Oh," he said,"l lost them."
"Why didn't .vouask for anotherseP"
"Well, I rn'as-l don't know-l wasjust
kind ofafi-aidto."
"Doesanybodl'everaskyou ho*'you're
gettingalong with them?"
"No."
WhenI sawBen,I said,"Ben, slx montls
agoyou gavethis boy thesefour versesto
memorize.Tell me, how is he getti ng al ong on them?" Ben didn't
know.I said,"You'vegot to get individual,personaltime with someone if you'regoingto followhimup,
if he'sgoingto grow.The tragedyis
that this guy is about sevent-v-five
versesofS cri pture behind r ight
non'.Just think, if he had kept up,
right now he could haveseventy-five
versesof Scripturewritten on his
heart,availableto the Holy Spirit
da;-or nighl But look whatyou've
robbed hi m of. Y ou pr eachedat
him. but you haven'tgotten to him.
He needsindividual,penonal attention."
Then I talked with a young lady who was
supposedto be the key Christiangirl in her
high school.Shewalkedin and sat down.I
said."Hox'are you?"
"Oh," shesaid."not too tood."
"What's wrong?"
"Well-my boy{riend."
"What'sthe mafterwit} yourboyfriend?"
"Well. he goesto junior college,and he's
backl i dden.and I' vebeent r yingt o help
him."
So welalkeda little bit abouthow mucha
good-lookinghigh schoolgirl can help a
backsl i ddencol l egefel l ow- which isn't
much in spiritual things.And after a little
whileI said."How oftendoeshe comeover
to seeyou?"
" N earl l ' every ni ght." It wasn't long
before tears w ere streaminf ,down her
cheek x shecriedoversin that wu taking
placein her life.
Then shesaidthrough her tears."l want
victory,I rally do! But I don't know anyone
to go to."
[:ter on I gotwithBen."Ben,I foundout
that thi s gi rl goesto w her et he Bible is
WHOMI CAI'J
OPENMYHEART!'
"Yeah."
"When do you re:d ilr"
"Well, beforeI go to bed at nighl"
"How much do you read?"
"Oh, usua.lly
a chapter."
"Do you readit everynighgr"
"Well. almosteverynighl"
" Y o u meanyou mi ssa ni ght now and
then?"
"Well,yes."
" H o w manl 'ni fhts a w eekdo you thi nk
you miss?"And wewentinto that a little bil
Then I sajd."Tell me aboutyour prayer
life.Howmuchtime do 1'ouspendin prayer
everyday?"
He sajd."Do we haveto go into ths?"
" Ye p ."
How Is HE GeTTNcALONG?
"Well, not x muchas I oughtto."
v er t he y e a rs .a n d th ro u g h
I foundout that hespentma1'be
a minute
variousexperiences.
my con- to a minuteanda halfin prayereachnight
victionon the importanceof beforehe got into bed.
Later I talkedto his youth leader.Ben.
one- t o -o n e m i n i s try h a s
"Ben. there'syour ke1'fellow-a Christian.
deepenedmore and morealthoughI mustsaythatthe visionfor it clean-cutguy,athlete.studentbodypresigets dent of 2.500studenls.Tell me, hov''is he
doesnotalwal's
stayclear.lt sometimes
doingin readinghis Bible?"
bluned.
"Oh, all right I guess."
Iwas
lifewithThcNavigators,
Earlt'inm-'-
preached.and shegoesto Sundayschool,
to Sundaynight
to Sundayrnomingseruice.
yout h m eet ing,t o Su n d a yn i g h t s e n ' i c e ,
nightprayermeetings;
and to Wednesdav
night youth group
she loes to a Saturday
meetin$,and goesto fwo meetjngsa week
whereyou preach.And yet the eft'ects
of all
of these are beingvirtuall)'nullified by the
sin taking placein herlife.And the first person who eversatdownand look an individual, personalinlerestin her wasme. and
so to me she pouredout this tale of woe.
Now, Ben. you'rea greatpreacher,but you
didn't get to thatproblem."
After a weekof this, Ben beganto get the
picture.
GOo PICXEDHIM OLT
then a quafierto six.and then five"t}irn',
but i t sti l l i sn' t ti me enough.I just f eel I
al
ought to get up and sun mi devotrons
five""Soon I foundout as weil tlat he was
reviexingf*-oor tlree hundredmemorized
versesa da1.
Cod hx done
To meit'sastoundingwhat
with that fellow.I wouldneverhavepicked
him out for iL In facLl'vequit pickingout
peoplefor whatGodwantsto do w'iththem.
B ut I am getti ng i n my hear t an ever increasingvisionof thepossibili ti esof auerg
i ndi vi dualasa channelof blessingunder
the tr:aruformin5lpowerof Chrisl
What I'm talkrngaboutis not an ideaor a
formula-lt's sometlringthat hasto get hold
o( -vourheortIn Luke l8:3i43, Jesu waswalkinginto
tow n, and there w erecrowdsof people
around.Then a blind be€garcalledout to
Jesus,and he stopped."What do you want
me to do for you?"Jesusasked.
"Lord I Hantto see,"the beggar
said.
And Jesusheaiedhim.
Jesus
In the very nex t passage,
sarlZacchaeuthe tar collectorin a
tree abovethe crowds,and Jesus
sai d," C omedownim m ediat eiy.I
musi stayat your housetoday."
As someonehasput it, the beooar
wasoffthe roadandin the ditch:the
rich manwasup a treeand out on a
l i mb.A mi d the thr ongsof people,
Jesussawi n both of t hem m en of
worth and possibilitres.
Jesushad a
heartfor people.
You and I needto get holdof this.
And the onlywayI knowto do it is to
geton yourkneesandaskGodfor iL
.Asa youngChristian,DawsTrotman heard a ser m on one night
about havinga passionfor the losl
wayto get',iratpassionis
and ho* the onl."to pral-for it. So after he hoppedon his
motorcycleto headhome.he took a little
detouron a countryroad.stopped.parked
the motorcvcle.wentout in tIe woodsa little ways.and got down on his kneesand
pnyed: "God. giveme a hearlfor the losl"
Tonight-beforeyougo to bed.askGodto
giveyou a hart for people.a reaj visionof
of an individual"
the worth and signincance
of only ls ever)'personol Inej.
timablevalueto Cod.buteach
personhasgreatpossibilitjes
as a channel of bl essi ng,
becauseof l he transformi ng
powerof Chrisl A lot of us forgetthis. We
don'tharea visionof wharCodcando with
a person.
BeforeI metCharlieRiggs.he hadworked
for seven!'earsas a roughneckin the oil
The sociaigraces
fieldsof Pennsylvaniaweren'tparticularlyprominentin hislife.
withoutstuttering.If
He couldharCly'talk
you askeda personnelboardto consider
him as a trainer of.counselorsfor, of all
th i n gs,the B i l l y C raham C rusades,he
Tmoto Erenrrrv
wouldhavebeenlast on the lisl
B u t God pi cked hi m out. A nd he has
hat'sinvolvedin havinga
hundredthousandpeoplein
one-tooneministryto in- trainedseveral
d i v i d u a l s ?:v l o s tp e o p l e p e rsonalcounsel i ngal l over the w orl d
a re l o o k i n g fo r a l i s t o f
s te p si n a fo rm u l a , b u t
what I want to sbe<sis far deeperthan thal
It ' s m or e t han a fo rmu l ao r o u tl i n e ,o r a
good idea that someorganizationhappens
to propagate.
T he f ir s t t hing y o u ' v eg o t to h a v ei s a
hearl ior people-a vision of tle worth of
everyperson,and a visionof the possibilibes of tiat pe6on as d channelfor Cod to
use.
In everyonetherearecertainbasicdrives.
But underlyingeverything,deepestof all,is
a deep desirethat lifeshould havemeani ng- t hat it s hou l db e s i g n i fi c a n !.Wh e n ever this drive is suppressed,
whether in a
ghetto or undercommunismor elsewhere.
it smoldersuntil thereis a revoltand the lid
blows off.
There is in eachof usan inner urgeanda
d is s at is f ac t ionu n ti l w e re a l i z e th e re i s
meaningin life.till wearetied into eternily. th ro ughhi s w ork w i th the B i l l v C raham
till we're hookedinto ultimaterealitv.The team.
WhenCharliefirstcameinto m1'home.
re2son for this is that God himselfintends
I
I had scheduled
a Bible
for every singlelife to havemeaningand wasdisappointed.
-ia-:€--^^^
classfor sen'icemen.
and onlv one servicerLc.
)lts,llllr@
Do you know that everyone-you,your manshowedup-Charlie Riggs.Oneman!
In thoseda)'sI didn'trealizetheimporlance
neighbors.yourrelatives
-eu eryone-wls
made in the imageof God.witJrpersonaiity of helpingjust one fellor.'.I r*asforcedinto
and with moralchoice.and that thesecapa- IL
He wouldcometo thesemeetings
andsit
bilities go on forever?
andrugged.
If all other livingcreatureson this entjre withouta smile.tough-looking
earth shouldsuddenlydisappear,it would We wouldhaveour Bibleclass.and then he
ZenoLr
be lessof a lossthan ifjust one humansoul wouldleavc.
e need t o have such a
ceasedto exisl
But it wxn't longbeioreCharliecamein
heartfor individualsthat
At night whenvou tum out the lightbut o n e ni ght and sai d." Lorri e" (he al w al ' s
w
e' l l be willingt o invest
"let
can't go to sleep,do youre:.lizethat youare cajledme Lorrie-l don't knor^whv).
gaue
oursel
ves in one Per great
yt.ru
worth
me
out
of
of
Cod
signiFcance
and
to Cod?You meshow something
son-not just mullitudes.
m ay not f eel t ha t y o u a re s i g n i fi c a n tto the Scnpture."
I alsoremcmbcrthe nightwhenhe came but the one out of a cro wd.This is t he
anyoneelse.but ),ouaresignificantto Cod.
You are worlh somethingto him. You areof a n d s ai d." Lorri e. I' r' ebeengetti ngup to significantthing about thesefwo accounts
ralue to him.
me etthe Lord i n thc morni n! at si x.and ofJesus.He pickedone out of the crowd'
TOMGHT
BEFOREYOU
GOTO BED.ASK
GODTO GME
YOUA REAL
VISIONOFTHE
WORTHOFA}I
NDI\rIDUAL.
I ) I S C I I 'I - E S HJOU
IP R TAL
3i
When I f ir s t c am eto w o rk w i th T h e
,.,,N a vigat or s , m I r es p o n s i b i l i ty w a s to
high schoolBible
overseeabout thirr.v-five
',.i
cl u b sin t he Los A ng e l e sa re a ,a n d I l e d
three or four of theseclubs m1'-self.
lVith one club in Pasadena.
I beganto
takeSaturday's
and meetone by one with
theseguys.startingat about nine in the
morning.I wouldmeetwith one from nine
to ten.tlrensomebodyelsecamein from ten
to eleven,and so on. Therewerenine boys
altogether.When I singledthem out like
th i s, I c ould s ee ho w mu c h fa s te r th e y
se e m edt o gr ow. I c o u l d g e t to th i n g s I
couldn'tget to in the group.
In the group you can givc a challenge,
and hope that theyget the application.But
individuallyyoucanseethat theygetthe ap
olication.You can zeroin on tlrem.
I-- H.ttuy Trumbullwrote,'
I Aner myretumfromtie armvI wasa{ainin
the Sunday
freld,whichI
schoolmissionary
hadleftto go outasa chaplain.
FortenyearsI
gatherings
addressed
in numbers
ofpersons
each.
fromtenor fifteento fiveorsixthou-sand
In thisworkI wentfromMaineto Caiifornia.
andfrorn.lvlinnesota
to Florida . . .
l-ater.I havebeenfor morethanfwenfy-five
penodicalthat
yearstheeditorof a religious
hashada circulation
of morethana hundred
I
th o us and
a weekdu ri n gmu c ho f th eti m e .
Meanwhile
I havepublished
morethanthira'
volumes.
different
Yetlool<rng
backuponmywork.in all these
years,I canseemoredirectresultsof good
throughmy,individuaj
effortswithindividuals.
thanI canknowofthroughall myspokenwords
to thousands
ofpersonsin
uponthousands
n'onds
on
religiotsassemblies.
or allmyun'itten
the gagesof periodicals
or of books.. . .
Reaching
onepersonat a timeis t}rebest
I
tr *av of reachinqall tlreworldin time.
Do you havea heartfor people-enough
to tive time to one person?Where canyou
sta rt? W ho hav ey o u g o t to s ta rt w i th ?
A
r,\ uuu_v
nt -..L^1..
at
-l
-lI)
dt;
Wheredid hestart?Hedidn't lookfor the
ma y o r.H e di dn' t haveto havethe sharp
leader.
You startwherevou are with the people
God hasgivenyou.and seewhatC,odcan
do.
DsrLnsDiG THEPEAcE
eingwillingto investin oneout
of a crowdmeanswe'vegot to
be willingto get involvedwith
people'sproblems.
S ometi mesw e C hri sti ans
get
want
to
involved.We don't want
don't
the phoneto nng at nighL We wantto pull
up the drawbridge
aroundour linle home
so nothingdisturbsthe peaceof our little
s e tu p .B ut i f you' regoi ngto tet i nvol ved
w i th p e opl e.i t' s goi ng to di sturb your
peace.That'stie priceto be paid.
Cettinginvolvedwith peoplewasa big
parl of DawsTrobnan'slife.lf weweredriving on the Los Angelesfreewayand passed
a stalledcar,he wouldrisk our neck to get
backthereand help.
Duringa cru-sade
in Richmond.Virginia.
in theyearsbeforedesegregation.
Dawssaw
a black man whosecar \+'as
stalled.Daws
stoppedour carandsaid,"Comeonl" Soon
th e rew eretw o w hi te gu1' spushi ngthi s
man'scar throughthe main intersectionof
downtownRichmond.
P a u l sai di n 2 C ori nthi ans
l 2:15." 1w i l l
v e ryg l a dl )' spendand be spentfor you;
thoughthe moreabundantlyI lovevou,tie
lessI be loved."Haveyou everreallysufferedfor anybodyelse?That'swhatit means
to work with others.one to one.
Are you willingto askCod for thiskind of
a heafil If you haveit already,then you're
overthehump.You'vegonethemajorifvof
the way.Cod will giveyou idex.
As a newChristian,DarlsTrotmanwas
g i v e na S undayschoolcl assof si xj uni or
h i g h b o ys w ho had dri ven off the tw o
previousteachers.So he got alonewith the
Lordandsaid."Lord.voumadejuniorhigh
boys.You know howthe;-'rewired.Would
you give me someideason how to reach
them.and how to getyour truth acrossto
them?"And Godgavehim someideas.
Are y o u aski ngC od for i deas?B ut remember.the importantthing to starlwith is
not the idex. but theheort for people.
\4 i e of t en t hink . L o o * a t l h o l s h a rp
gug-brains, creotiuity. ideos. Oh. whot
God could do with him! But God doesn't
needthat gut"sbrairs. He doesn'tneedhis
He doesn'tneed his ideas.That
creaUvit-v.
isn't God'sproblem.His problemis getting
peopleto carryout hrs idpaq.Sure. he can
u se th os ebr ainsand th a t c re a ti v i tya n d
thoseideas.if they'rededicatedto him. But
they can also let in the way.
Once whenJesuswaswalkingalong the
D-B LT CosrLY
Nor Cor'rpLIcATE
road and waswea4'.he satdown by a wel[.A
prostitutecame out of the cilr', and Jesus T
f there'sa kel wordon thissubject
of
w
ord
h
el
pi
ng
i
ndi
vi
dual
s.
i
t'
s
the
talkedto her and revealedwho he was.She
t
shonng.Don'tmalieit complicated.
wentbackinto to\+rr,and manyotherscalne
t
Justshareyour life. What hx God
out to ask Jesusto stay in the town so they
I
blessedvouwith?What hx he done
and man;- -r'.
could hearwhat he had to sa-'-.
fo r y o u ?H o* hashe hel ped-vou?
\\' here
believed.
Where havgystl
haveyou beensuccesstul?
faiied?Sharethesethings.
Howevermuchtimeyouspendxrth him.
and w hatever el se vou do.lour t im e
togethershouldhavein it threebasicin(rein difdients.Youcanmixtheseingredients
ferentproportionsand in a dirferentorder
from time to time. but it seemsto me that
thesetlrree must be involved.
The firstistutimony. You openl;-idenhfu
xith JesusChnsl You sharehow Cod has
savedyou,and fulfilledhispromisesto you,
your prayers.Runup theflag.
andanswered
That's what Cod wanls.
Testimonyis a powerfulthing. lt brings
victor-roverSaian."Thel,overcamehim by
the blood of the Lamb and bl' L'reword of
their testimonl"'(RevelationI 2: I I ). Testimonyshouldbe an ingredientof our disciplemakingmini.sr-r.'*
all tlre wa1'through.
Jhe secondi ngredi enti s Cod'swor dPeptaiksdon't get peopledownto business
for Christ-Cod'sworcidoes.There'ssomethi ng aboutshanngfrom the Scr ipt ur es.
sharingsomethingfreshand vitaiand alive,
that strikesa fire down in-sicie.
Centeryour
time aroundthe Scriptures.
The third ingredientisproyu.l've heard
i t sai d. and I bel i evei t' s tru e, t hat you
haven'treall-"sharedyour he-artwith someone till you'veprayedwith him.
Looking back on mr-life togetherwith
Daws.the tlringi that standout increasin$y
asmountainpeaksin our relatjonshipwere
the ti mes w e prayedtogeth er - t he f ive
o' cl ockmorni ngprayermee t jngs.or t he
time we went out on a football field on a
summernight, therebeneaththe stan, and
sharedfrom the Scripturesand prayed.
As the personyou're helpingbeginsto
grorr'.help him startmovingout into minis
try. What is the ministry?lt's winnin! the
lostand buildingthe saved-makingdisciples.You'gethim to do whatvou'redoing.
E ngage i n prayer w i th him . f or t he
ministry.Linlessvou stad here.you'll get
nowhere.lt isn'tenoughto say."You ought
to pra)'about it." Pral' with him. and pral'
aboutpeopleb1'name.
I knowthis is ve4'simple-but that'sthe
wavwe x'antit. lt isn't compilcated.It just
happensto be a costJl-thing. that's all.
It *ill tearyou aparl But it will aisothrill
you. And you'll haveno greaterjoy than to
seethat personwalkingin the Truth-exceptto seehim getsomeoneelsewalkingin
the Truth. That'ssweeterstill.
]t1a-v
Cod giveyou the heart for people.
and makeyou *'illing to pour out your life
for another.
LOR\[ -5:{\;\'} Lt th.' mlcmdlti,nol pre-sidcntol Thc
,\arieol0n.
' F r,,m lrulndlu
CJlauL'r
I Ll I rk r r r I n dt t d u alt ar qu, rtcd rn Chadc<
rt{t, .{lr(' { I!flt,
Trumhull.r IdAtxl