Jeff Adams

Dr. Oswald J. Smith

In our Summer study of The Mission you have heard me speak often about the challenge of the least-reached – those who have never had enough understanding of the message of Jesus Christ to either intelligently accept or reject that message. Let me share the story of how I first came to understand the principle of giving priority to the least-reached.

Dr. Oswald J. Smith was pastor of The Peoples Church of Toronto, Canada many years ago. He was already an old man when I had the chance to hear him speak. Not only did we hear him, Cheryl and I were fortunate to chauffeur him around a couple of times when he spoke at the church we attended in Wichita, Kansas. I’ll never forget the imposing figure of his tall, thin frame, the majesty of his voice or the passion for The Mission that oozed from the pours of his being. He was the one I heard say on repeated occasions, “Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice until everyone has heard it once?” Dr. Smith was also the one who introduced the “faith promise mission giving” system that is still used by many churches to this day.

One of my favorite memories of Dr. Smith illustrates the pure and simple character of this old Presbyterian minister. Cheryl and I had been invited to accompany the pastor of our Wichita church to take Dr. Smith to dinner following an evening service of the mission conference. The pastor took us to a very nice restaurant. It was not opulent, but clearly the pastor wanted to give Dr. Smith a fine meal in appreciation for his ministry in our church.

Our Canadian visitor was not one for chit chat and projected a serious and formal style that was not unusual for his generation and culture. I don’t want to give the impression that he was stuffy or aloof. He was very nice, caring and genuine. But at the same time he was quiet and reserved. Give this nature, we didn’t think much about it when we noticed that Dr. Smith only had something to drink at dinner.

After a pleasant time discussing missions over dinner, it was our lot to take Dr. Smith back to his hotel while our pastor headed home. Just a few hundred yards from the hotel, Dr. Smith suddenly asked me to stop the car. I did, of course, and as he quickly slipped out of the passenger’s seat he said that he would be right back. Not really understanding what was happening, Cheryl and I obediently waited.

Just a short few minutes later Dr. Smith appeared once again in his three-piece suit clutching a small paper sack from McDonald’s! Humbly and somewhat sheepishly, he explained to us that he was just too embarrassed to have the church buy him such a nice meal. He knew that we were trying to raise a large missionary offering that week and he did not want to do anything to take away from that project. He would never expect anyone else to do the same, and never implied an ounce of judgment toward us who enjoyed our meal that evening. He simply was a man who lived by his principles.

Cheryl helped him with book sales and we ended up with quite a library of his books that he gave to us in return for her help. He was a remarkable man in many ways. There is much information available about his life, but you can get a good overview of his life here.  His influence on my life would be incalculable. He was succeeded by his son Paul who continued to build upon his father’s foundation. I was also blessed to spend time in his presence.