The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1880-02-25
Aawaiialr 6azette,
what is it to be a Religious Man .

What is il TO be a Religious Man?
Christ is our great Master on this subject
His teachings are plain and practical. And he
teaches that the difference between the relig-
ious man and the non-religious man is that the
motive power of the former is love, of the lat
ter self-love When Christ was asked the way
to "eternal life (which is the way to become
a religious mamie referred to the Command
ments. And why? Because the Command
ments are the laws of such life, and what is
remarkable, they are so because they are tarS
ofIoce; they were brought down into the form
of ten precepts IN accommodation to man in
very gross, natural state of mind. That they
are simply and only laws oflove Christ express
" declares where he says, con these two CON-
mandments those of love to God and love
to man =" hang all the law and the prophets"
As an illustration of the difference between
the religious man and the non-religious man,
we have the "good Samaritan on the one side
and the "priest" and the "Levite" on the
other side, in their treatment of the man who
"fell among thieves" On certain occasion
Christ told the good non-religious mantle
man who had kept all the Commandments from
his youth up, and asked what he still lacked
that he must sell all that he had and give to
the poor We sell all that we have-it ceases
10 DC btillSlllN Ouls-NLSu We
selfish love for it as our own for love for it
as a means of use to others; and loving it as
such means is really giving TO the poor. Thus
we may keep all the Commandments, may obey
all the laws of life in external form, and yet be
non-religious men, because We do this from
purely selfish motives which fill and actuate
such life.
All of Christ's teachings are consistent with
these practical, beautiful lessons about the
Commandments. If, at times, Christ spake of
the Importance and wonderful efficacy of faith
i'll him, he meant the same thing. For faith in
Christ is faith in him as the Word ''made
flesh thus as the Truth. To thus have faith
in him is to live as he, the truth incarnate,
lived; is to do good, as he did good, "hoping
nothing in return" that's, from the love of do
ing good Thus life Of love and life of
faith in Christ are identically one and the
same thing. And such life is just what relig-
ious life is.
True, the non-religious man may claim to be
unsefsh, depending upon the form of his self
ishness. He may say: love to do others
good, and often make great sacrifices for this
purpose. He is blind; he does not know that
self is very subtle foe; that it is indeed the
great antagonist of true human life; that its
motives manifest themselves in thousand
guileful forms, often emulating even charity
herself in its modes of operation. 1t ranges,
in its motives of action, from the love of the
good opinions of others, or of putting them
under obligations, down to the grosser love of
of some tangible object expected in return.
The nOn-religious man cannot act from an IN
selfish motive; for this would, so far, make
him religious man. He may literally " sell
all that he has and give to the oor,"-he may
"spend and be spent in doing good he may
even "give his body to be burned" and yet
do it all from an underlying selfish motive.
Men are not all alike. Some love money,
whilst others love better the gratitude which
money given brings in return. Some want the
reward Immediately; whilst others will sac
ritice every pleasure day for the sake of a
happy tomorrow, or will toll and suffer for
years for the sake of laying up treasure for
future enjoyment, or will even subject them
selves to the severest penance and privation
through this life for the sake of blessed here
after This last is sometimes called "relig-
ious life, but falsely for its motive is just
as purely selfish as if the good in return were
expected the next hour. A great many people
are self-deceived into belief that they are
religious people because of a certain experience,
especially if such experience has resulted in
a change of their outward life-and even
though their inner life, their motives of action.
remain essentially the same; or if their be any
change in the motives it is only as regards the
time and character of the good things in re-
turn, these being transferred from the present
to the future life. Such people sometimes
have the name of being very pious, very self
sacrificing and very charitable, whilst the re-
wards of the "great hereafter" are constantly
filling their thoughts and furnishing fuel for
every motive.
Ifsuch, then, is the nature of self-love,
self-examination must most plainly be one of
the first steps towards becoming a religious,
loving, or God-like man; fer self-love must
be seen in its true character and rooted out
before love can take its place-you must
empty the sour wine out of bottle before you
can put sweet wine in it. And self-love is not
as foe with temporary lodgment in your
territory; it is a virulent disease affecting
every fiber of your being; is, indeed, bone of
your bone and flesh of your flesh it is a
disease that can be removed only by repentance
and the most persistent personal warfare
against it, or against the indulgences that
nourish and strengthen it; and even then its
complete determination is the work of life