MR No. 27—Counsels Relating to Certain Phases of Our Medical Work
[Release requested by the General Conference Medical Department for these statements which would give guidance in the study of certain phases of our medical work.]
(1MR 66)
A Distinctive Work
The Lord gave me special light in regard to the establishment of a health reform institution, where treatment of the sick could be carried on on altogether different lines from those existing in any institution in our world. It must be founded and conducted on Bible principles, and be the Lord’s instrumentality, not to cure with drugs, but to use Nature’s remedies. Those who have any connection with this institution must be educated in health-restoring principles. Letter 205, 1899, p. 1. (To Dr. J. H. Kellogg, December 19, 1899.)
(1MR 66.1)
Not to Be Run Like Other Institutions
We never proposed to establish Sanitariums to have them run in nearly the same grooves as other institutions. If we do not have a Sanitarium which is, in many things, decidedly contrary to other institutions, we can see nothing gained. Letter 72, 1896, p. 1. (To Brother and Sister Maxson, November 5, 1896.)
(1MR 66.2)
Established to Educate the Public
The blessings that attend a disuse of tobacco and intoxicating liquor, are to be plainly pointed out. Let the patients be shown the necessity of practicing the principles of health reform, if they would regain their health. Let the sick be shown how to get well by being temperate in eating and by taking regular exercise in the open air.
(1MR 66.3)
It is that people may become intelligent in regard to these things that 67sanitariums are to be established. A great work is to be done. Those who are now ignorant are to become wise. By the work of our sanitariums, suffering is to be relieved and health restored. People are to be taught how, by carefulness in eating and drinking, they may keep well. Christ died to save men from ruin. Our sanitariums are to be His helping hand, teaching men and women how to live in such a way as to honor and glorify God. If this work is not done by our sanitariums, a great mistake is made by those conducting them.
(1MR 66.4)
Abstinence from flesh meat will benefit those who abstain. The diet question is a subject of living interest. Those who do not conduct sanitariums in the right way lose their opportunity to help the very ones who need to make a reform in their manner of living. Our sanitariums are established for a special purpose, to teach people that we do not live to eat, but that we eat to live.
(1MR 67.1)
In our sanitariums, the truth is to be cherished, not banished or hidden from sight. The light is to shine forth in clear, distinct rays. These institutions are the Lord’s facilities for the revival of pure, elevated morality. We do not establish them as a speculative business, but to help men and women to follow right habits of living. Letter 233, 1905, pp. 9, 10. (To Dr. and Mrs. D. H. Kress, August 9, 1905.)
(1MR 67.2)
Spiritual Welfare of Patients
In training workers to care for the sick, let the minds of the students be impressed with the thought that their highest aim should always be to look after the spiritual welfare of their patients. To this end they should learn to repeat the promises of God’s Word, and to offer fervent prayers, daily, while preparing for service. Let them realize that they are always to 68keep the sweetening, sanctifying influence of the great Medical Missionary before their patients. If those who are suffering can be impressed with the fact that Christ is their sympathizing, compassionate Saviour, they will have rest of mind, which is so essential to recovery of health. Letter 190, 1903, p. 3. (To Elder A. G. Daniells, August 28, 1903.)
(1MR 67.3)
Head Physician to Be Free from Smaller Responsibilities
The head physician in any institution holds a difficult position, and he should keep himself free from smaller responsibilities; for these leave him no time for rest. He must not gather to himself work that he should not do. He should have sufficient reliable help; for he has trying work to perform. He must bow in prayer with the suffering ones and lead his patients to the great Physician. If as a humble suppliant he seeks his God for wisdom to deal with each case, his strength and influence will be greatly increased. With a sense of God’s pure truth in his heart and mind, he is better qualified to perform critical operations, which mean life or death to the afflicted ones.
(1MR 68.1)
A personal religion is essential for every physician if he would be successful in watching the diseased. He needs a power greater than his own intuition and skill. God would have physicians link up with Him, and know that every soul is precious in His sight. He who depends upon God, realizing that He alone who made man knows how to direct, will not fail as a healer of bodily infirmities. Letter 205, 1899, p. 8. (To Dr. J. H. Kellogg, December 19, 1899.)
(1MR 68.2)
There Must Be a Manager
Of all places, health institutions should not depend chiefly upon the physicians as directors. They need all-sided men, of impartial judgment, to plan and execute. The Board is not to let things go in a haphazard way; 69for something results from all our movements. There must be a manager at the Health Retreat, or it will become demoralized. Letter 71, 1896, p. 6. (To Brother and Sister Maxson, August 12, 1896.)
(1MR 68.3)
Work of Manager to Stand by Itself
The position which Dr. A insisted upon holding was that of Superintendent or Manager. Here the mistake was made. This office should never have been given him. His time and labor, devoted to his patients, is all that one physician is capable of carrying. He has thought that he should stand as Dr. Kellogg has had to stand in the [Battle Creek] Sanitarium. But if he does his work faithfully in instructing and educating the workers, in treating the sick, and in answering the calls which will certainly be made upon him from outside patients, and which it is the duty of every physician to attend to, if he ministers to the suffering ones, this is all that he can manage. The business and financial management should not come upon him; for things will be neglected that ought to be done, and others devised and entered into which should be left alone. The superintendency is a work that should stand by itself. A judicious superintendent should be secured, who will have the supervision over everything in business lines. He should have power, after consulting with the board of directors, to scrutinize the business management in the bills made out for the guests.
(1MR 69.1)
There has been a mistake made in this line. Strange movements have been made in these matters. There has not been altogether wise dealing in this respect, and the institution has had to suffer in consequence. There should be a complete understanding of the outgoes and incomes. A bookkeeper, one who is not a physician, should be engaged to keep the books.
(1MR 69.2)
Experienced Men Needed
The wages offered should be such as will secure the best kind of help. Nothing will be saved in narrowing in this line. Loss will be sustained if inexperienced men become superintendents or managers in the business lines of the institution. It would have been wisdom if there had been an all-round man in business matters to work in the Health Retreat, one who would be prepared to do outside work, and answer the calls made. Then Drs. B and C could have filled their proper positions as physicians, and leave the work of managing to those better calculated to do that class of work. Thus thousands of dollars that have been expended, might have been saved. This devising and planning of men, and running the institution after their own ideas, has increased the enormous debts upon the institution....
(1MR 70.1)
Let one take hold of that institution who has had an experience in business lines, one who conscientiously loves God, and who can give time to consider the various propositions made by physicians to eat up the means which should go to lessen the great debt under which the institution is a reproach. Let all who have a burning desire to ape the institutions at Battle Creek, to build, build, make the most of what they have already....
(1MR 70.2)
He [Dr. Kellogg] could serve in several lines. But he has been warned that he should not carry the responsibilities that he has carried in the past, not because he has not capabilities to do this, but because the work is so large, because it is increasing in importance, and the delicate and responsible business of dealing with suffering humanity is overwhelmingly large. For him to thus occupy his mind and his time so largely in common business lines is heavy work for a man who is already burdened too heavily. Yet he has not seen how he could withhold from making plans that would advance the work, 71and his counsel is sought largely in lines that another should have wisdom to carry forward.—Manuscript 31, 1897, 1-4. (“Managers of Sanitariums,” April 6, 1897.)
(1MR 70.3)
The Responsibility of Managing
Dr. C has perseveringly worked to hold everything under his control. No longer is he to be allowed to select men to fill official positions in the institution. Only in pretense have the younger men acted as directors or managers. Dr. C is not pleased to have as managers any others than those who will work under him. No longer is the Sanitarium to be thus managed. This order of things is hurting the reputation of the institution, and must be changed. God cannot work through unconsecrated agencies.
(1MR 71.1)
The responsibility of managing an institution established by the Lord is not to be placed wholly upon the head physician. He is not to have a controlling voice, except in his own department as physician-in-chief. The Sanitarium here needs the help of men who will understand what is expected of them, and who will do their duty, whether Dr. C is favorable or unfavorable. Letter 178, 1901, pp. 3, 4. (To Brother Sanderson, August, 1901.)
(1MR 71.2)
Cooperative Effort
There should be no persons of limited experience and understanding placed as directors....They should have had at the very commencement—When Dr. B came in there, they should have had a firm, strong, decided man; but he would not have such; no, sir; he would not have a manager at all; he would not come in unless he could manage himself. So it was with Dr. A—just the same. The great mistake was in not having a fully authorized, appointed manager. If they had had one, the institution today would stand very much higher than it does. But he would not have one. He was going to be manager himself. He was 72fully sufficient and equipped, he thought, to be a manager. Well, he was out of his place in being a manager. It was not his place, nor your place—you are physicians. It is your business to take the physicians’ work. They should consult together—the manager consult with the physicians, and the physicians consult with the manager, and have a thorough understanding of how things should go. The physician should consult the manager in regard to the facilities that they must have in the Sanitarium; and when the physician sees a lack, anything that is not as it should be, just communicate to the manager, and have a perfect understanding,—drawing in even cords all along.—Manuscript 82, 1901, 19, 20. (From an interview with Dr. and Mrs. A. J. Sanderson, held at Elmshaven, August 25, 1901.)
(1MR 71.3)
Head Physician not Qualified to Manage
In the Sanitarium here we see the great danger of the head physician supposing that he must be superintendent and manager of everything in the institution. We see the results of this here, although within the last twenty years the Lord has sent message after message to correct this supposition. It is not according to the Lord’s order to lay so many responsibilities upon one man. God has a work for the physician. He is to work under His supervision, and is in no case to suppose that a physician is qualified to be superintendent and manager, and to make a success of this extra burden-bearing, at the same time doing the work that he should do as a physician....
(1MR 72.1)
There is a special work committed to the managers of the Sanitarium. The physicians have a serious responsibility resting upon them, and should have connected with them men of experience, men of prayer who are faithful to the trust which is given them, whatever that trust may be. They are to be subject to one another. All things that are questioned they are to take to the Lord 73in prayer. They are to treat with deference and respect those whom God shall appoint to unite with them in their work, just as they would like to be treated. Let superintendent, physician, manager, and matron be up and doing their appointed work; for soon their opportunities will be past, and the recompense will follow. Letter 136, 1900, pp. 3, 11, 12. (To Brethren Sharp, Caro, and Kellogg, October 29, 1900.)
(1MR 72.2)
Strengthened against Temptation to Withdraw and Establish Private Practice
The work of the true medical missionary is largely a spiritual work. It includes prayer and the laying on of hands; he therefore should be as sacredly set apart for his work as is the minister of the gospel. Those who are selected to act the part of missionary physicians, are to be set apart as such. This will strengthen them against the temptation to withdraw from the sanitarium work to engage in private practice. No selfish motives should be allowed to draw the worker from his post of duty. We are living in a time of solemn responsibilities; a time when consecrated work is to be done. Let us seek the Lord diligently and understandingly. If we will let the Lord work upon human hearts, we shall see a great and grand work accomplished....
(1MR 73.1)
If ever there was a time when our work should be done under the special direction of the Spirit of God, it is now. Let those who are living at their ease, arouse. Let our sanitariums become what they should be,—homes where healing is ministered to sinsick souls. And this will be done when the workers have a living connection with the great Healer.—Manuscript 5, 1908, 2, 5. (“The Medical Missionary Work, February 23, 1908.)
(1MR 73.2)
Neither Just nor Righteous
During the past four years one of our doctors established himself in the city of _____, just a little distance from our Sanitarium, and began to 74build up a private sanitarium. This was not right, and has been to the injury of our Sanitarium, which has always had a struggle to make a success and to accomplish the work which the Lord designed it to do. The action of the one who established this private sanitarium was neither just nor righteous. Were he to continue to do as he has done in the past, constant difficulties would arise. He draws patients away from the Sanitarium established in the order of God. More than this, he allows his patients to have meat, while the workers in our Sanitarium have always endeavored to show their patients that they would be better off without meat.
(1MR 73.3)
The question is, What shall be done? Here are two institutions, one endeavoring to hold up and follow the principles of health reform, and the other allowing its patients to indulge in the use of flesh meat, and because of this, drawing patients away from the first institution. The matter is to be treated in a fair, Christlike manner. When the one who has established himself so close beside the Lord’s institution, is converted in heart and mind, he will see the necessity of carrying out the principles of the Word of God, and will harmonize with his neighbors. If he cannot blend with them, he will go to some other place. There are many other places to which he could go....
(1MR 74.1)
Let not our physicians think that they can set themselves up in private practice close beside our sanitariums. To those who have done this the Lord says, Are there not many other places in which you could have established your plant?
(1MR 74.2)
The Lord speaks to all medical missionaries, saying, Go work today in my vineyard to save souls. God hears the prayers of all who seek Him in truth. He has the power that we all need. He fills the heart with love, and 75joy, and peace, and holiness. Character is constantly being developed. We cannot afford to spend time working at cross purposes with God.
(1MR 74.3)
There are physicians who because of a past connection with our sanitariums find it profitable to locate close to them; and they close their eyes to the great fields neglected and unworked in which unselfish labor would be a blessing to many. Missionary physicians can exert an uplifting, refining, sanctifying influence. Physicians who do not do this abuse their power, and do a work that the Lord repudiates. Letter 233, 1905, pp. 8, 12. (To Dr. and Mrs. D. H. Kress, August 9, 1905.)
(1MR 75.1)
Our Work Founded in Self-Sacrifice
In view of the large work that is to be done, our laborers should be willing to work for a reasonable wage. Even if you could obtain large wages, you should consider the example of Christ in coming to our world and living a life of self-denial. Just at this time it means very much what wages are demanded by the workers. If you require and receive a large wage, the door is thrown open for others to do the same.
(1MR 75.2)
It was the demand for large wages among the workers at Battle Creek that helped to spoil the spirit of the work there. Two men led out in this movement, and they were joined by three or four others, and the result was a union in a course of action which, if followed by the majority would have destroyed one of the characteristic features of the work of this message. The cause of present truth was founded in self-denial and self-sacrifice. This selfish, grasping spirit is entirely opposed to its principles. It is like the deadly leprosy, which in time will disease the whole body. I am afraid of it. We need to take heed lest we outgrow the simple, self-sacrificing spirit that marked our work in its early years.
(1MR 75.3)
You will not find it difficult to exert a wide influence in the sanitarium at _____. If you will act an unselfish part, not requiring the wages which you would naturally suppose you must draw, the Lord will sustain you in your work. If, on the other hand, you ask for a high wage, another, and still another, will think that they have a right to demand just as high a wage as you; and by this means the money will be used that should be expended in building up the work of the cause of present truth in other places.
(1MR 76.1)
In making important decisions we should study every side of the question. We are ever to remember that we are given a place in the work to act as responsible agencies. Some would follow a worldly fashion in the drawing of their salaries; but the Lord does not view matters as these men view them. He views our duties and responsibilities in the light of Christ’s self-denying example. The gospel must be so presented to the world that precept and example will harmonize.
(1MR 76.2)
Our sanitariums are not to be conducted after the customs of the world. It is not to be considered necessary that even the medical superintendent shall draw a large salary. We are the servants of God. Letter 370, 1907, pp. 1, 2. (To Dr. and Mrs. D. H. Kress, October 23, 1907).
(1MR 76.3)
Not to Demand a Stipulated Sum
Christ gives to all the invitation, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” If all will wear Christ’s yoke, if all will learn in His school, the lessons that He teaches, there will be sufficient means to establish gospel medical missionary work in many places.
(1MR 76.4)
Let none say, “I will engage in this work for a stipulated sum. If I do 77not receive this sum, I will not do the work.” Those who say this show that they are not wearing Christ’s yoke; they are not learning His meekness and lowliness....
(1MR 76.5)
It is not being rich in the wealth of the world that increases our value in God’s sight. It is the meek and the contrite that the Lord acknowledges and honors. Read the fifty-seventh chapter of Isaiah. Study this chapter carefully; for it means much to the people of God. I will make no comments upon it. If you will study it carefully and prayerfully, you will become wise unto salvation. Letter 145, 1904, pp. 6-8. (To a “Brother,” April 5, 1904.)
(1MR 77.1)
Counsel on a Percentage Proposition [Note: This excerpt is from a letter of counsel addressed to Elder J. A. Burden, manager of Loma Linda Sanitarium, written in response to his request for counsel. We quote here from his letter of October 9, 1905:
“Dear Sister White”,
(1MR 77)
“I wrote Brother White the other day in reference to a recent proposition from Dr. _____, outlining the plan on which he would be willing to connect with Loma Linda. In brief it is this: a definite salary a week, a percentage on the surgical work, and a contract for a term of years. He suggested $25 a week salary, 30 per cent on the operations, with a five-year contract, and one month a year off for study and improvement at his own expense. He says his desire is not to make money, but he is anxious to improve himself for the benefit of the work.”]
(1MR 77)
In regard to the proposition made by Brother _____, I look at the matter as you do. We cannot afford to start out on the high wage plan. This was the misfortune of the people in Battle Creek, and I have something to say on this point. We have before us a large field of missionary wok. We are to be sure to heed the requirements of Christ, who made Himself a donation to our world. Nothing that we can possibly do should be left undone. There is 78to be neatness and order, and everything possible is to be done to show thoroughness in every line. But when it comes to paying twenty-five dollars a week, and giving a large percentage on the surgical work done, light was given me in Australia that this could never be, because our record is at stake....
(1MR 77.2)
We must stand in the counsel of God, every one of us prepared to follow the example of Jesus Christ. We cannot consent to pay extravagant wages. God requires of his under-physicians a compliance with the invitation, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:29, 30). Letter 309, 1905, p. 4. (To Brother and Sister J. A. Burden, November 1, 1905.)
(1MR 78.1)
Physicians as Well as Ministers Called to Self-Denial
I feel impressed to write to you this morning, and ask that you be sure to treat all men with equity. I have been instructed that there is danger of your taking a course with some physicians that will be an injury to them. We are to do all in our power to encourage ministerial talent, and also that of physicians by giving them every consistent advantage, but there is a limit beyond which we should not go.
(1MR 78.2)
When we were trying to find a physician to act as medical superintendent of the Loma Linda Sanitarium, one experienced physician consented to come upon certain conditions. He stated a certain amount for his services, and said that he would not come for less. Some thought that, because it seemed so difficult to find any one, we might invite this physician on his terms. But I said to Brother Burden, “It would not be right to employ this doctor, and pay him so much, when others who are working just as faithfully receive 79less. This is not justice, and the Lord has instructed me that He would not approve of such discrimination.”
(1MR 78.3)
The Lord calls for self-denial in His service, and this obligation is binding upon physicians as well as upon ministers. We have before us an aggressive work which requires means, and we must call into service young men to labor as ministers and as physicians, not for the highest wages, but because of the great needs of God’s cause. The Lord is not pleased with this spirit of grasping for the highest wages. We need physicians and ministers whose hearts are consecrated to God, and who receive their marching orders from the greatest Medical Missionary that has ever trod this earth. Let them behold His life of self-denial, and then gladly sacrifice, in order that more workers may engage in sowing the gospel seed. If all will work in this spirit, less wages will be required.
(1MR 79.1)
Some have failed on this point. God has blessed them with ability to do acceptable service, but they have failed to learn lessons of economy, of self-denial, and of walking humbly with God. Their demands for high wages were granted, and they became extravagant in the use of means, they lost the influence for good they should have had, and the prospering hand of God was not with them.... Beware of placing too great confidence in those who demand high wages before they will engage in the Lord’s work. I write you this as a caution. Letter 330, 1906, pp. 1, 2. (To Elder S. N. Cobb, October 23, 1906.)
(1MR 79.2)
Extravagance and Influence
Among our ministers, physicians, teachers, and canvassers, there is need of an entire surrender of the mind, the heart, and the soul to God. All have their appointed work.
(1MR 79.3)
Let not the careless, immature plans formed by Dr._____ be followed. Moving in the light of his own counsel, and following his own ideas and plans, he is inclined to incur unwise expenses, and to undertake enterprises that will absorb, but not produce. Before investing means, he should carefully count the cost. When he has a greater depth of true piety, he will not spend money so freely in an effort to appear great in the eyes of influential men of the world....
(1MR 80.1)
Let no one suppose that braggadocio will give influence to God’s workers. Neither dress, expensive homes, nor stylish living gives character to the work. But a meek and quiet spirit is in the sight of God of great value. Religion does not make a man coarse and rough. The true believer, realizing his own weakness will guard himself at every point, and place his whole confidence in God. True Christian godliness cannot be forced; it is the outflowing of an honest heart....
(1MR 80.2)
God calls for minute men, praying men, practical men. Expensive, outward show does not elevate men and women in the eyes of sensible people. It is not right for a physician to make an extravagant outlay of means, and then charge exorbitant prices for performing small operations. God looks at all these matters in their true light.—Manuscript 34, 1904, 2, 3, 5. (“Instruction Regarding the Work of Doctor Caro,” March 13, 1900.)
(1MR 80.3)
Not Display and Style
Let our physicians study the life of the great Physician, who traveled on foot from place to place. The multitudes who followed Him did not realize that they were listening to the greatest physician who ever ministered to the necessities of humanity. “If any man will come after Me,” Christ said, “let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). 81Those who consent to follow the self-denying Redeemer will be instant in season and out of season.
(1MR 80.4)
We sincerely hope and pray that you will not spoil any one of your physicians by offering large wages. Let the work be carried on in such a way that many will be given the opportunity of becoming physicians of souls and bodies. Letter 336, 1906, p. 2. (To the Brethren in Responsible Positions in Australia, October 25, 1906.)
(1MR 81.1)
Two Important Interviews Regarding Physicians’ Wages
[Late in 1913, the leading brethren of the Pacific Union Conference conferred with Mrs. E. G. White at her “Elmshaven” home in regard to the remuneration of our sanitarium physicians. The first interview was held on Thursday, December 4. A stenographic report was made by Elder C. C. Crisler, and is filed as Manuscript 12, 1913. The ribbon copy bears a handwritten note of endorsement by Mrs. White in these words: “This is correctly presented, and I repeat this for the benefit of others. May the Lord help us and teach and guide us at every step in our difficulties.”
(1MR 81.2)
A partial report of this interview and a second interview held a week later follow.—A. L. White]
(1MR 81.3)
The First Interview
Present: Mrs. Ellen G. White, Elders F. M. Burg, G. W. Reaser, W. M. Adams, J. H. Behrens, C. L. Taggart, A. G. Christiansen, W. C. White; Also C. C. Crisler.
(1MR 81.4)
After introductions and greetings, Elder White said in part, “All day yesterday we were considering the interests of our various schools in the Pacific Union Conference. In these schools located at Angwin, Lodi, Fernando, Armona, and Loma Linda, there are between six and seven hundred students in 82training. We were encouraged as we took counsel together regarding these schools.
(1MR 81.5)
“Today we must enter into consideration of sanitarium problems, particularly the question of the wages we should pay to physicians and surgeons. We have in our St. Helena Sanitarium a god-fearing physician who has won the confidence of all his associates,—a man whom God has blessed greatly in his ministry to the sick. He wants to remain, and everybody wants him to remain; and he feels that it would be right for him to remain if his brethren could grant him a wage about twice as large as that paid to our average workers. He loves to give freely, and he wishes to have funds with which to live and to use for this purpose. We are much perplexed, and we would be glad to know if you have any light on this matter.”
(1MR 82.1)
Sister White: “If he is granted considerably more than other physicians, they will come to believe they are not treated right unless they have more also. We must move cautiously and understandingly, and not allow wages to creep up so high that many will be tempted. There may have to be a coming down rather than a going up, in physicians’ wages, because there is a great work to be done. Unless you have some clear light from the Lord, it is not advisable to pay one man considerably more than another doing a similar work. For, if you do, the others will think it perfectly proper to expect similar high wages. We must look at things on all sides, and it is of no use for us to think that we can offer a successful worker a high wage simply because he may demand it. We must, rather, consider what we can afford to do at the present time, when the fields are opening upon which we shall henceforth have to expend much more means than we have spent hitherto. These are matters that will test the faith of our people.”
(1MR 82.2)
W. C. White: “they do test our faith, Mother,—especially when a group of workers have labored with a man until they have learned to love him and admire him, and they believe that he can do better work than any other man. Then it is natural for them to think that it is wrong for the brethren to withhold from him that which he might use to advantage. They think, ‘What is a thousand dollars, or fifteen hundred dollars, extra, when life is involved?’ They say, ‘Here is such and such a case that he has just brought through, and there is another whose life he has saved;’ and they feel as it it would be awfully mean of us not to meet his requirements. They say, ‘There is no one who has to work and suffer as does a surgeon. Think of the hours of arduous labor, of anxiety, of mental anguish, they have to endure, when a precious life is hanging by a slender thread.’
(1MR 83.1)
“But, on the other hand, in considering this matter, we must remember that other institutions are influenced by our action. We see a poor struggling sanitarium situated in a beautiful place, in a position to do a large business, and with every prospect of making money if only they can have a brilliant physician; and they can get a good physician if they are encouraged to pay only three or five hundred dollars more than the wage scale recommended. They say, ‘If you will only let us pay a few hundred dollars more than you have advised, we can gain five thousand dollars to cover this small additional expense for wages.’ And thus it seems—when we look at it from a business point of view.
(1MR 83.2)
Sister White: “You see there is a selfishness that underlies that, that the Lord is not pleased with. We must work harmoniously. It is through harmonious action that our work is to be carried forward, and some will have a very hard time. Some will have an easier time. But all these things will have to be taken just as they come, and the workers must remember what Jesus 84gave in coming to our world. I think of it over and over and over again, and it seems to me that we can do an excellent work if we set a right example. But if we desire that which the most of our brethren cannot receive, this injures our influence. One brother says, ‘Such and such a brother has a certain wage, and I must have a wage to correspond.’ And so the wages will climb, and keep climbing, higher and still higher. The fact is, that the wages of some may have to be lower and still lower in order that we may meet the extensive requirements of the work that is before us in warning the world....
(1MR 83.3)
“As we bring ourselves into right relationship with God, we shall have success wherever we go; and it is success that we want, not money—living success, and God will give it to us because He knows all about our self-denial. He knows every sacrifice that we make. You may think that your self-denial does not make any difference, that you ought to have more consideration, and so on. But it makes a great difference with the Lord. Over and over again I have been shown that when individuals begin to reach out after higher and still higher wages, something comes into their experience that places them where they stand no longer on vantage ground. But when they take the wage that carries on the face of it the fact that they are self-sacrificing, the Lord sees their self-denial and He gives them success and victory. This has been presented to me over and over again. The Lord that seeth in secret will reward openly for every sacrifice that His tried servants have been willing to make....
(1MR 84.1)
“In years past, when this subject of wages has been under consideration, I have told my brethren that the Lord knows all about the spirit that prompts us to action, and that He can turn matters in our favor at times when we do not expect it. As we set a right example, the blessing of the Lord will rest upon us. I have seen the Lord work in many ways and in many places to help 85the very ones that view these matters in the right light and set a self-sacrificing example. And, brethren, as you labor earnestly, prayerfully, humbly, in the spirit of Christ, God will open doors before you. The people will see your self-denial.
(1MR 84.2)
“At times when my brethren have come to me, seeking advice as to whether they should demand a higher wage, I have told them they might gain a little means by asking for higher wages, but that the blessing of God will accompany those who follow a different course. God sees the self-denial; the Lord God of Israel sees every motive; and when you come into a hard place, the angels of God are there to help you, and to give you victory after victory.
(1MR 85.1)
“I have been very clear in counseling my brethren not to demand large wages, for this is not the impelling motive that leads us to spend our energies in the work of soul saving. We are not to let the wage question stand in the way of our responding to the call of duty, wherever our service may be required. The Lord can bring matters around so that a blessing will attach to our labors far exceeding any compensation we may or may not receive; and He will give to His servants words to speak that are of the highest consequence to perishing souls....
(1MR 85.2)
“In the future, our work is to be carried forward in self-denial and self-sacrifice even beyond that which we have seen in past years. God desires us to commit our souls to Him, that He may work through us in manifold ways. I feel intensely over these matters. Brethren, let us walk in meekness and lowliness of mind, and put before our associates an example of self-sacrifice. If we do our part in faith, God will open ways before us now undreamed of....
(1MR 85.3)
“If someone proposes something that is not in accordance with self-sacrificing principles on which our work is based, let us remember that one stroke of God’s hand can sweep away all seeming benefit because it was not to His 86name’s glory.”—Manuscript 12, 1913, 1-4, 7-11, 13, 17. (“Interview at Mrs. E. G. White’s Home,” December 4, 1913.)
(1MR 85.4)
The Second Interview
[Partial report of interview of elder E. E. Andross with Mrs. Ellen G. White, “Elmshaven,” Sanitarium, California, December 12, 1913, 2 P. M.]
(1MR 86)
Elder Andross: “I thought I would like to ask your counsel, Sister White, a little further about the matter we were considering the other day,—the matter of wages of employees, especially physicians, in our institutions. If you have any further counsel for us with reference to the wages that our physicians should receive, we should be glad to hear it.”
(1MR 86.1)
Mrs. Ellen G. White: “If our physicians set themselves to demand higher and higher wages, the Lord will not prosper them. Over and over again this has been presented before me, during the night season. The Lord desires us to stand in a position where we can look to Him for guidance, and rely on Him for light, and follow on to know Him, whom to know aright is life eternal.”
(1MR 86.2)
Elder Andross: “The question confronting us now is, what wages should we pay our physicians? You know some of them feel that we are not dealing with them liberally; that they ought to receive a very much larger wage than they are now receiving—larger than the wage received by ministers and other workers in our cause. They urge that they can earn a large wage in worldly practice—a much larger wage than the minister could earn.”
(1MR 86.3)
Sister White: “Yes; and they will have the temptation continually before them. But in the matter of encouraging our physicians to set their own wages, we must be very guarded. I am sorry I am not able to present this matter fully as it has been opened up before me in the night season. I hope to be able to say more in the future regarding this question; but I can say 87now that I must continue to bear my testimony against the idea that men may be permitted to set their own wages. Let a man begin on this line, and Satan will help him wonderfully....
(1MR 86.4)
“Our brethren in positions of responsibility must come into harmony on this matter, and not regard any man as so indispensable that he must be allowed whatever he thinks his services are worth. No one should cherish the idea that he is to be exalted above his brethren who are doing as faithful service as he is. We must have correct views on the wage question, if we expect the Lord to continue to prosper us in our work. Those who persist in following their own way, contrary to the counsels of their brethren, will find that they are on losing ground, and they will finally fail.
(1MR 87.1)
“From the beginning, our work has been carried forward on self-sacrificing principles. Over and over again we have proved the value of these principles. And when men have attempted to turn from the way of self-denial, they have not prospered. The Lord has not blessed them in any such course. Let us be true to God in this matter, Elder Andross....”
(1MR 87.2)
Elder Andross: “Some of the brethren feel that a wage considerably in advance of that which the ministers receive, is for them a very small wage; it is not anything in comparison with what they could get out in the world; and so they do not count it a large wage at all. They say, for instance, that forty or fifty dollars a week is a very small wage for a competent physician and surgeon to receive; that this may be a large wage for the ministry, but not for them because of their superior earning power. This is the way they reason.”
(1MR 87.3)
Sister White: “Yes, but I wish to say decidedly that we cannot maintain any class of workers in the policy of setting their own wages; and if they are led by God, they will not continue to do it. These matters have come up 88often in the past, and if I had the time and the strength, I could find in my writings many things that have a direct bearing on this very question; and the outcome of following such a policy has always been against our cause, and not in favor of its progress....
(1MR 87.4)
“I have gone through experience after experience that has taught me that the enemy of our work would be pleased to see introduced a policy regarding wages that would bring us into trial. God is not in any arrangement that permits a man to specify how much he should receive. When one says that he cannot labor in one of our institutions unless he is treated just so and so, why others will feel at liberty to make similar demands. It will not do for us to adopt any policy that will open the way for such results. When this question has been up for consideration in times past, the Lord has given clear light over and over again, that no man be permitted to mark out the exact course he is to pursue; for to allow this would bring the cause very soon into a state of confusion. God will help us, if we walk in the light of His counsel.
(1MR 88.1)
“We are coming into a place where the enemy will use against our work every advantage that it is in his power to use. We must all depend wholly upon our God, and be in a position where we can follow on to know the Lord, that we may know His going forth is prepared as the morning. In the past, when this matter of large wages has come up for consideration, the Lord has overruled many times, and men have been saved from falling into a snare of the enemy. When men have urged their seeming necessities, we have dealt faithfully with the principles underlying rewards in God’s service, and a blessing has attended our efforts. Our brethren have been led to see what the result to the cause would be in a little while, if we acceded to their requests, and they have wisely chosen a better way.”—Manuscript 14, 1913, 1-4, 6. (Report of Interview of E. E. Andross with E. G. White,” December 12, 1913.)
(1MR 88.2)
A View of Threatening Danger
[Portion of a letter written December 24, 1890, addressed to Dr. J. H. Kellogg.]
(1MR 89)
I am alarmed at the outlook both for the Sanitarium and the publishing house at Battle Creek and our institutions generally. A spirit has been manifesting itself, and strengthening year by year in the institutions, that is of an entirely different character from that which the Lord has revealed in His Word should characterize the physicians and workers connected with our health institutions, and the work of publishing. The idea is entertained that the physicians at the Sanitarium and men in responsible positions in the publishing house are not under obligations to be controlled by self-denying, self-sacrificing principles of Christianity. But this idea has its origin in the councils of Satan. When physicians make manifest the fact that they think more of the wages they are to receive than of the work of the institution, they show that they are not men to be depended upon as unselfish, God-fearing servants of Christ, faithful in doing the work of the Master....
(1MR 89.1)
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Heaven was purchased for men at an infinite price, and no man will enter the portals of bliss who has not through self-denial and self-sacrifice proved the quality and genuineness of his life for Christ and suffering humanity.
(1MR 89.2)
God will require a return from men in proportion as they set a value upon themselves and their services, for they will be judged according to their deeds, and by no less a standard than they themselves have established. If they have accounted their talents of so great value, and placed a high estimate upon their abilities, they will be required to render service proportionate to their own estimate and demands. O, how few have any real acquaintance 90with the Father or with His Son Jesus Christ. If they were imbued with the Spirit of Christ they would work the works of Christ. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).
(1MR 89.3)
He who judgeth righteously has said, “Without Me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). All talents, great or small, have been entrusted to men by God, to be employed in His service....When they demand exorbitant prices for their services, God, the judge of all the earth, will hold them to the measure of their own overrated estimation, and require of them to the full extent of the value they put upon themselves.
(1MR 90.1)
As they judge of their worth from a money point of view, God will judge of their works, comparing their services with their valuation of them. Unless converted, no one who thus overrates his ability, will ever enter heaven, for his personal influence in the service of Christ will never balance the scale of his estimation of himself or of his demands for his service for others. Selfishness and self-glorification are becoming the curse of our institutions, and leavening the whole camp of Israel....
(1MR 90.2)
Binding about the Work of God
He who is selfish and grasping, eager to take every dollar he can get from our institutions for his services, is binding about the work of God; verily he has his reward. He cannot be accounted worthy to be entrusted with the eternal, heavenly reward in the mansions Christ has gone to prepare for those who deny self and take up the cross and follow him. The fitness of men to enter the blood-bought inheritance is tested during this probationary life. Those who have the spirit of self-sacrifice manifested in Christ, when He gave Himself for the salvation of fallen men, are those who will drink of the cup and be baptized with the baptism, and they will share in 91the glory of the Redeemer. Those who make it evident that the love of Christ controls their spirit and actuates their service, will be deemed fit subjects for the family above.
(1MR 90.3)
We are all to be tested here in this life to prove whether, if admitted to heaven, we shall repeat the same course that Satan pursued there. But if the character which we develop during our probation is according to the divine Pattern, it qualifies us to receive the welcome, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant....enter thou into the joy of thy Lord” (Matthew 25:21). But on the other hand, if men desire to be highly esteemed among men, if they are seeking for the highest positions, and demanding the highest remuneration they can obtain in this life, they will have just such characters in the future life. All heaven will pronounce them unfit for the kingdom, disqualified for any position of trust in the great work of God in the courts above. Our institutions are instrumentalities ordained of God, and the principles of equity, justice and righteousness must be maintained in them with fidelity. The work in which we are engaged must be done by men who are ordained of God as was Christ, to go forth with the spirit of sacrifice for the salvation of a lost world. This is the spirit that should characterize medical missionary work anywhere and everywhere....
(1MR 91.1)
Unity among Medical Workers
I have been burdened as I have been shown by the Lord the great want of unity among the medical practitioners. They act as though the prayer of Christ did not embrace them, and they do not seek for oneness. The physicians should labor together in love and unity. None should be envious or jealous of their brother physicians. Methods of practice should not be allowed to create enmity, distrust and variance. The real cause lying 92at the foundation of variance is the narrow mind, the Pharisaic spirit, that is brought into the life. Let the physicians give evidence that they are Christians, saying, “We are brethren, to meet in the same mansions by and by. We will strengthen one another in God.”....
(1MR 91.2)
Present no Bribes or Flattering Inducements
It is required in those who labor in the cause that the heart be enlisted in the enterprise, that they may give their services not merely for wages, not for honor, but for the glory of God, the salvation of lost man. If it is evident that the heart of man is not enlisted, present no bribe, offer no flattering inducement, to obtain the service of any physician; offer that which is reasonable, that which corresponds with the principles the Lord has unfolded in the establishment of our institutions and no more.
(1MR 92.1)
Satan who claims to be the prince of this world, represents himself as very rich, and he can outbid you, and the larger you make your bribe, the larger he will make his. The world is Satan’s agent to do his work. You will know whether or not a man is a Christian, for actions speak louder than words or profession. The spirit that characterizes the action represents the man, and the work will be in accordance with the mold he gives it. God will have it made manifest by test and trial who will stand connected with Christ in the end in the great plan of salvation. We are to act as reformers in every branch of our work; for then Christ works with us.
(1MR 92.2)
Matthew’s Example
Christ has purchased us at an infinite cost, and today He lifts His hand, and calls our names as He did the name of Matthew as he sat at the receipt of custom. Jesus said, “Follow Me” (Matthew 9:9). Matthew left all,—all his gains,—and followed his Lord. He did not wait and stipulate a 93certain sum reaching the amount he had received in his former occupation, before he would render service, but without a question, he arose and followed Jesus. Under test and trial, many professed Christians must yet make it manifest whether they have subdued the traits of the carnal nature, or whether they are as a whited sepulchre, fair in appearance, but within full of impurity and defilement. A profession of Christianity is not sufficient to constitute us Christians....
(1MR 92.3)
No Exorbitant Wages
The Christian physician has no right to follow the custom of the world, to shape his action to obtain the patronage or praise of the ungodly. He should not accept exorbitant wages for his professional services, for the reward is awaiting the faithful and true. He has no more right to minister to others requiring a large remuneration than has the minister of the gospel a right to set his labors at a high money value, but only in accordance with consistency and mercy and the value of his work....
(1MR 93.1)
Those who think much of their remuneration for their services, reveal the fact that they have not laid the foundation for their spiritual life on the sure Rock, or they have lost the spirit of the truth, and have forgotten that they are purged from the old leaven with the priceless blood of the Son of God. They have become so devoid of spiritual discernment that they place the sacred and the common on the same level. The Lord is not honored in their hearts, and the principles of the religion of Christ are not woven in the character. They go through a cold, formal service that they call religion; but Christ is not formed within, the hope of glory....
(1MR 93.2)
Fixing the Standard for Physician’s Pay
The question as to whether the medical profession is to be controlled by Christian principles in regard to compensation, or by the selfish standard of the world, has long been ignored, but can be ignored no longer. Shall the pure elevating principles of Christianity be exemplified in the physician’s life? Shall his practice come under the rule and supervision of the church? Shall he practice self-denial for Christ’s sake? or is it only for a few men of more common occupation to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, while merchants, lawyers, and professional men, go free to follow the bent of a selfish will? Is the world to see no representatives of Christianity in the medical profession? and in the men who occupy positions of trust in our institutions? ...
(1MR 94.1)
The work of the medical profession calls for men who love and fear God. The people have long been afflicted with unconverted men, who have acted independently of the church, and have followed their own unsanctified judgment, imperiled our institutions by the unsanctified independence. But our institutions need not accept unconsecrated men and women, because they know not what better to do; for converted physicians will be raised up to take their place in the work. Unless the principles of divine truth control the physicians as they have not done hitherto, God will be dishonored, souls will be lost, and the institution established for the benefit of the sick and suffering, will not meet the mind of the Spirit of God....
(1MR 94.2)
The Example Set by Christ
Christ may be represented in the character and action of every physician, and all who claim to be Christians should expect to work as He worked, having a fair price for their services, and exacting no more, 95although they see that they could obtain more by following the selfish customs of the world. It is just as consistent for the minister of the gospel to demand an excessive salary for visiting the sick, comforting the desponding, bringing peace and joy to the oppressed, as for the physician to make larger charges for his professional visits....
(1MR 94.3)
Besides the special science required that men may be intelligent physicians, men need a daily training in the school of Christ, that they may learn to work as Jesus worked, in purity, in unselfishness, in holiness before God. In this way they will be fitting to enter the higher school of patriarchs and prophets, to associate with the redeemed and sanctified of all ages. It requires a man after God’s divine measurement to be a successful physician, representing the great Physician. He must be a continual learner; for no student is ever prepared to cease from study, even though he has graduated from the most approved course of preparation....
(1MR 95.1)
Unselfish Motives
Let the Christian physician look up in the sick room, and say, “God is here; His eye is upon me. He reads my every thought, and notices my every action. I will be a faithful servant of Jesus Christ. I will be one who shall preserve honor, honesty and truth. I will have the tenderness, the compassion, the mercy, the longsuffering of Jesus. I will comfort, I will bless this sufferer. If Jesus will work with me I will be a helper to the needy.”
(1MR 95.2)
O, what a physician may be who is a servant of our Lord Jesus Christ! The light of the glory of God may shine upon the man who thus is a laborer together with God. Christianity in the life in business transactions, in professional practices, will be as a power in the earth. “Ye are the light 96of the world” (Matthew 5:14), said Christ. The leaven of sanctification and holiness must be brought into the life and character. In our publishing house, in our Sanitarium and College, we should watch with the utmost care that we do not act from selfish motives. Life at best is short, and this little period of probation should be pure, lived with an eye single to the glory of God. We should not be double minded, now serving the Lord and again serving selfish purposes in all our plans and actions. The selfishness, the carelessness of spirit that is manifested in regard to the words spoken, the habits indulged, the maxims uttered, are all sowing seed that will yield a baneful harvest....
(1MR 95.3)
Avoid Overwork
In whatever occupation you may be, whether physicians, merchants, ministers, or men in other walks of life, you have no right to laden yourselves down with grievous heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, to be pressed under many and varied responsibilities, until you feel that you have no time to pray, and excuse yourself on the plea that you have so much to do. If you have much to do, how essential it is that you have the Lord God of Israel to stand by your side, that you may bear the yoke evenly with Him who was meek and lowly in heart. Christ says, “Without Me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). You may well be alarmed for your soul, if you allow cares to supplant the truth of God in the heart. If your associates are worldlings who flatter you, telling you how smart you are, and what great things you can do, and love this unhallowed nonsense, you may well feel that you are in peril; for your moral taste is perverted, your perceptions blunted. You have forsaken the cool snow waters of Lebanon for water that comes from another place....
(1MR 96.1)
Accounted Rich by Heaven
Worldly success, even when obtained at the loss of spiritual life, is often looked upon as the blessing of providence; but it is disaster, it is death. Better far would be poverty, the cross, self-denial, self-sacrifice, and shattered worldly hopes. Better far would be the world’s verdict, “poor,” than be written poor in the books of heaven. To be written in heaven as one who is rich in spiritual graces is of far greater honor than to sit with princes on earth, and forfeit the kingdom of God. Let it be the ambition of those who profess to believe present truth, to be written as men whose lives are hid with Christ in God, men whom gold cannot buy, who though tempted as was Moses, like him, esteemed the reproaches of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.
(1MR 97.1)
God permits men to pass under the fire of temptation that they may see if there is alloy in their characters; for they cannot inherit their heirship to the eternal crown unless they are tested and proved by the Lord. Take time to watch and pray, to assure yourselves that you have the presence of Jesus, and can counsel with Him in regard to the work He has given into your hands, as did Enoch of old. You who occupy important positions of responsibility, how much you need Jesus, how much you need to watch and pray that you may be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Will you gather business to your soul, and leave Christ out on the plea that you have not time to commune with Him? Why violate conscience? Why put such confidence in your own finite strength?
(1MR 97.2)
Temptation will come to every soul, and if you accept one temptation, stronger ones will follow, and others will be influenced by your example. Gold is not only a standard in the market, but a standard of character among men. But though the world judges by this standard, let the Christian say, 98“I am not bound to be rich, but I am under obligation to be righteous and represent my Redeemer. I will not imperil my soul by declaring I must have a certain revenue. I have purposed in my heart that I will not give Satan reason to triumph over me because I endanger my spiritual life and become the servant of sin. I will not cultivate or encourage selfishness and covetousness, for it is the ruin of the world.” Satan was vanquished when he came to Christ, with his specious temptation, offering a vast reward for the tarnishing of the integrity of the Son of God. He now seeks through the avenue of the world to corrupt the integrity of those who would overcome through the grace of Christ; but let every professed follower of Jesus say, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10). Letter 41, 1890, pp. 1-9, 11-15, 19-22. (To Dr. J. H. Kellogg, December 24, 1890.)
(1MR 97.3)