Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-07-07
A PLEA FoR HOME M1ss1oNs.

|
,ponsible for more misdirected effort than
The Ole above quoted. Ever since the days
Of Judson, the foreign missionary field has
been the ambition of the youthful clergy,
and the especial care of the church of Amer
lea. Millions have been expended in fit
ting out missionary ships and preparing
young men and women for work among the
heather. The flower of the ministry-men
imbued with extraordinary fervor and zeal
in the cause of religion, endowed with ex-
ceptional mental vigor, favored with the
highest intellectual culture, have gone to the
Indies, to China, and to Japan to preach the |
gospel to the ben1ghted heather in the hope |
that the results would find favor in the sight |
of the divine master. They have endured
hardships untold, braved disease the most |
loathsome, faced death in every form, and
have remained steadfast in the faith, earnest
in the effort to hasten the spread of
Christia nifty. They are noble band, de.
serving of crown of glory for their deyo
ton to the cause.
But did any of these men ever stop to ask
the que stion if the foreign missionary field
was the best one-the one most likely to be
productive of good-to which he could de-
vote his efforts? Did he ever cast his eye
over America and see the fields already
white for the harvest, and the fewness of
the laborers? Did he ever think that the
fruits of foreign missionary effort were far
from commensurate with the cost? The
truth of the matter is that the foreign mis-
sion field is cultivated by the churches to
the detriment of the cause at home, fact
which is abundantly proven by the slow
progress of religion, and the giant strides
of crime, infdelity and irreligion.
It may be argued that there are enough
preachers of the gospel and to spare in this
country. True. In numbers they are equal
to the task of evangelizing the whole world;
but in capacity they are nonentities. Those
clergymen who seek the foreign field are
vastly superior to those who remain at
home. They go to preach new doctrine to
peoples who have been trained in the reli-
gion of Confucius, and Buddha and Brahma,
and find men there with whom they have to
contend who are the equals of any in the
world as !ogicians and in theologic research.
They, therefore, prepare themselves, as an
athelete does for a race, for the combat
possess themselves of the strongest points
in their own dogmas, fortify themselves
against attack, and acquaint themselves with
the weak points of their enemies. Those
WI at tho
self-security begotten by the general accept
ance here of the doctrines of Christianity,
and content themselves with the requirement
of few stilted phrases and dogmatic plati-
tudes which they amplify and alternate to
such degree as to leave their congregations
in condition of perpetual intellectual famine.
And when they meet an opponent they fall
before his logic and scientific knowledge, as
surely as sprat falls victim to a whale.
Such combat is like unto a conflict between
giant and apigmy. There are not half a
hundred clergymen in the country who are
equal to maintaining controversy with a
well-read devotee of science, and when such
essay to argue, they only bring the cause OF
religion into ridicule.
The results of foreign missionary work
are not commensurate with the efforts put
forth. The cost of maintenance is prodig-
ious, the sacrifice of life is immense, the
conversions to Christianity are few. "But,
it will be asked, edo you not estimate the
of gold?' Certainly. But the soul of /,
Hottentot, or Hindoo, or Chinaman, i!
not of greater value than the soul of civ
llized American and we contend that if th,
same effort, the same earnestness, the sam,
singleness of purpose were employed in tn.
cause of religion at home, the fruits woult
be quadrupled. There is field enough a
home for every Christian effort. In ever
large city there are thousands and tens o
thousands of people who never hear tn
gospel preached, and are as ignorant of tn
plan of salvation as the most benighte
Hottentot in creation. Yet these are Above
to go down to death under the YER
shadow of the sanctuary. And ther
. are others who are rapidly driftin
. into infdelity for the reason that they ca
i, find no representatives of religion who ca
= or will explain the seeming Inconsistent.
of the scriptures to their satisfaction, an
reconcile revelation with reason. The scri]
Q ture does not forbid foreign missionary wor
IS but rather encourages it, but that encourag
II nent is no warrant for neglecting hon
70 missions. Foreign work should not be e.
IS couraged to the injury of the interests
Is religion here, for we have scriptural authori
re for the assertion that eff any provide not f
n his own, and especially for those of his ov
n house, he hath denied the faith, and is wor
" than an infdel.' We want in our hor
ir missions some of the self-sacrifcing spir
is the mental vigor, the earnest devotion th
n characterize the foreign missionaries. '
l. protest against the ministry being improve
to ished by the exodus of all its most brillia
Is intellectual lights to foreign parts. We wa
is them to shine upon us little, especially
is their efforts would doubtless be rewarded t
N better than in foreign lands. We want tho
se who will seek for the lost in the lanes a