Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-01-19
REDUCING SIN.

HGh UAAN" Nm.
He that rebuketh map, afterwards shall |
hnd more favor than he that f1attereth with the |
tongue. PROVERBS XXvnI :23.
Captious fault finding is not desirable |
trait in mankind. People who find nothing
to commend but much to condemn in the
conduct of their neighbors are never popular,
and are deservedly avoided. Yet there is
distinction between men who are chronic
fault-fnders and those who have boldness
and independence enough to administer q
needed rebuke for evil doing. While one is
an unmitigated nuisance to community,
the other is an invaluable acquisition to So
| ciety, for he places check upon the natural
tendency of the people to transgress the
| moral LAWS moral mentor of inestimable
| benefit. But the tendency to overlook faults
to iatter when rebuke is more appropriate
| is apparently on the increase. People
whose conduct is in every other respect
| blameless fall into serious error in this re-
spect. When they find a neighbor commit
ting an act worthy of censure, they either
pass the fault by in silence or laugh at the
swift or ''shrewdness'' displayed, and in
effect, if not in words, compliment that
which they at heart despise.
| The SUNDAY GLOBE has undertaken to be
the monitor of the Christian church-to
speak plainly of it's faults, with no DISPOSE
| ton to exaggerate them, but with a sincere
desire to reform that which needs reforma-
ton, and to bring Christians to a realizing
| - 41,o
and the master they profess to serve expect
them to beail that they claim to be-hon-
orable in their intercourse with mankind,
charitable towards the poor, lenient to those
who differ from them, and in all respects
void of offense. It has not always been a
pleasant task, for men have been found who
placed false construction upon the motives
that have prompted this course. But the
more sincere of our Christian brethren have
received the frequent reproofs administered
with satisfaction and applause. They recog-
nize the fact that many of the churches
have fallen from that pure faith upon which
they we're founded; have become engrossed
in strife for social distinction; have allow
ed the love of money to absorb too much
attention; have become weary of we'll doing.
Fearless, independent criticism and rebuke
we're never more needed. The lethargy into
which the church had fallen-the many
abuses and perversions of the faith that had
crept into Threatened it's destruction.
The reproofs administered have had good
effect, and the SUNDAY GLOBE can congratu-
late itself that it has caused an awakening
among Christians in this section that prom
ises to result in great good-in revival of
true religion and the driving out of that
which is false and hypocritical.
AS appropriate to the text we desire to
urge an awakening of Christians to their
duty in their treatment of those whose con-
duct merits rebuke. It has become alto
gether too common to overlook grave faults
and to ply with fattery those who commit
them, especially if the transgressors are lib
eral towards the church. Even the clergy
seem sometimes to forget that words fifty
spoken are like apples of gold in pictures of
silver, and often result in changing the en-
tire current Of mans life. It is easy to
convey rebuke without giving offense. A
look will sometimes suffice; few
words, timely uttered, may save
young man from career
of dissipation and debauchery, or
cure him of tendency to ribald jest and
obscene anecdote. To laugh at that which
is impure, as many Christians do, who would
feel offended if their own purity was ques-
toned, is to encourage continuance in a
course that is certain to bring suffering and
moral ruin. To commend for shrewdness
man who commits a questionable trespass
! upon the rights of another is to encourage
him to still greater acts of like character,
and when that commendation comes from
men who belong to the church, and some
times from the teachers of religion them
selves, its effect is doubly injurious.
The flatterer is unfortunately found in
every class of society. Even the best of US
are far too prodigal with praise Though
'fattery is the food of fools'' none of US
are proof against it, and for this reason
Christians, and more especially ministers of
the gospel, should remember the words of
the text, "He that rebuketh man, afterwards
shall find more favor than he that fattereth
with the tongue