Medical Ministry
Essential Qualifications for Management
Our health institutions are of value in the Lord's estimation only when He is allowed to preside in their management. If His plans and devisings are regarded as inferior to plans of men, He looks upon these institutions as of no more value than the institutions established and conducted by worldlings. God cannot endorse any institution unless it teaches the living principles of His law and brings its own actions into strict conformity to these precepts. Upon those institutions that are not maintained according to His law He pronounces the sentence, “Unaccepted; weighed in the balances of the sanctuary and found wanting.” MM 164.2
The man at the head of any work in God's cause is to be a man of intelligence, a man capable of managing large interests successfully, a man of even temper, Christlike forbearance, and perfect self-control. He only whose heart is transformed by the grace of Christ can be a proper leader. MM 164.3
Those who act as managers and overseers in our sanitariums are not to make the world's policy their criterion; for the sign of God, as defined in Exodus 31:12-17, is to be revealed in all its comprehensive meaning. The proper observance of the Sabbath day by all connected with our sanitariums will exert an untold influence for good. Every medical institution established by Seventh-day Adventists is to bear God's sign before the world prominently, without disguising the facts in any way. We are to voice the message of the third angel flying in the midst of heaven with the everlasting gospel to proclaim to the world. We are to bear aloft the banner on which is inscribed, “The Commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” [See Sabbath Observance, Section 11.] MM 164.4
The Use of Means
The men in positions of trust should regard the means they handle as God's revenue, and use it in an economical manner. When there is an abundance in the treasury, they are not to invest it in adding building to building in places already provided with memorials for God. Hundreds of other places are in need of this money, that they, too, may have something established to represent the truth. All parts of the Lord's vineyard are to be worked. MM 165.1
The power to use and disburse the Lord's money is not to be left to the judgment of any one man. An account must be given for every dollar expended. God's means is to be used at the proper times and in the right places, that it may be a blessing, and also an object lesson of how He works, in accordance with principles of equity, justice, and righteousness. MM 165.2
All Ye are Brethren
No one man is ever to set himself up as a ruler, as a lord over his fellowmen, to act out his natural impulses. No one man's voice and influence should ever be allowed to become a controlling power. Those who oppress their fellow workers in our institutions, and who refuse to change their manner of treating helpers under their charge, should be removed. As overseers, they should have exerted a superior, refining influence for the right. Their investment with power makes it all the more necessary for them to be models of true Christianity. MM 165.3
I am instructed by the Lord to say that position never gives a man grace or makes him righteous. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Some men entrusted with positions of responsibility entertain the idea that position is for the aggrandizement of self. Let no manager think that all minds must be subjected to his mind, that all wills must be subordinate to his will, and that all methods must be laid aside for his methods. Greater injury cannot be done to any institution than by allowing such a man to remain in his position, after proper test and trial. It is a sin against God to permit unfaithful stewards to remain in positions of trust; for the Lord's people are liable to be misled by their unfaithfulness.—Manuscript 154, 1902. MM 165.4