Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-08-27
Religious Laziness.

NOTHING succeeds without hard
work. Religion and church enterprise
are no exceptions. To be sure the
truth and the Spirit have power, but
both work through means, and their
power is greatest where the means are
best used. The churches are suffering for
enterprising preachers-men who, in
stead of being mere sermonizers, wake
up to an earnest and forcible presenta-
ton of truth each week. The churches
are also suffering for working pastors,
men who not only 60 through the form
OF a social call once a year, but who
plan and organize and reach out after
people-putting the same push into
ministerial effort that the merchant
does into successful trade. There is no
other profession with such grand op-
portunities for hard work, or which has
given brighter examples of good work
accomplished but there is also no
profession offering greater temptations
to laziness; In the common parish the
minister can go through the forms of
his office, and if he is cautious and
sympathetic, the dear, good people
will feel he is doing all he can, while
the truth is, as little hard work put into
trade or mechanics would ruin man.
A multitude of churches suffer because
of lazy pastors, who are simply literary
gentlemen, pious loafers, with no down
right earnest purpose. If some of
them were compelled to succeed or
starye, it would be means of grace to
them and their churches; but the good
people continue to support them,
though Zion does languish, and thus
they make a sermon a mere bridge to
span the Sabbath-wasting their time
in goodish talk and theological dream
ing. Where one minister suffers from
Overwork, a dozen churches are dying
for the want of a working pastor.
This is more true of church-members.
There are a few in every parish who are
willing to work, and do work. You hear
of them among the poor and sick; you
find them in the prayer-meeting and see
them in all church activities. They are
always willing to do more than their
part. You can rely upon them every
time. But the majority of professors
seem surprised that you should expect
any work from them. They come into
church to enjoy religion, not to help
others-to be saved, not to work. AS
for visiting the sick, feeding the poor,
gathering in destitute children or speak
ing to the unsaved, they never try it
shave no gift for itn-and so pay their
money, hear the sermon, enjoy the sing
ing, try to be respectable, and call that
religious living, without making a single
personal endeavor to do good from one
years end to another. 1t is surprising
what easy Christians smart bsiness men
make. A set of merchants who can run
a bank or q mill, and make trade pay,
and know how to manage corporations,
will let a church run down for the want
of little religious enterprise, and very
likely call upon the women and chill
dren to help them out.
A community of Christian farmers
who know how to improve stock and
make farm pay, who on hard soil will
get good living and keep their own
houses neat and trim, will let the house
of God become shabby and the church
die out, because as farmers they work.
but as Christians they do not work.
What our churches and our communi-
ties most need is not more talent, or
more truth, or more money, or more
opportunities, but downright and up
right earnest work. 1t takes but few
people, little money and small cul-
ture to build up church when the peo-
Pile have mind to work. The curse of
the church to-day is a lazy membership,
seeking to be saved without work, for
getting that faith without works is dead.
Golden Rule.