The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-01-24
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ABUSING THE CHURCH.

ABUSING THE CHURCH.
This is the revival season. It is the time of
year when the professional evangelist is the
busiest at work; when the large union meetings
are started, and when, in town and city, great
religious awakening is expected, and worked
for with more OF less success. Without stop
ping to inquire into the philosophy of these
special revival efforts at particular season
Of the year, merely saying that, unquestion-
ably, they are founded in sound reason and
in the attributes of human nature, there
are one or two phases which a secu-
lar newspaper may properly allude to.
because they affect the general public,
public that fairly recognizes the great value
of the church to society and to the state.
The first thing that strikes an outsider who
has a high regard for the church, is the fact
that, as a rule, these revival efforts are in
augurated with a series of bitter and almost
unqualified attacks upon the church. The
statements made in the pulpits about the
churches, which are repeated and possibly ex-
aggerated by scoffng tongues are of a char
acter to do the greatest possible damage, to
not only weaken public confidence in and re-
gard for the church and church members, but
to chill, and repress, and disgust great many
of the most intelligent and thoughtful church
members who listen to them. It certainly
docs not belong to an outsider, and to a secu-
Lar agency, to enter an appearance for the
church, and to defend it from the sharp and
bitter thrusts leveled against it by its
friends and even its ordained opponents; but
we feel like doing it, because there seems to
be necessity for it in the interests of society
and the state if not of the church itself. 1t
may readily be conceded that the church is
not yet without spot or blemish; th at it is not
what it should be, and that at any given time
its membership is not in the best possible
condition for aggressive work. This is but to
say that its membership is human. But we
do not believe that the condition of the
Christian church to-day, or of any branch of it,
OF of any particular society in it, is such as to
warrant the slurs and innuendoes and open
denunciations INDUCED in by professional
evangelists particularly, and which are taken
up and greedily repeated by scoffers and
scorners. Take 'Sam" Jones as an instance.
His first discourses were devoted al
most exclusively to bitter and sarcastic
exposure Of the foibles or sins of supposititious
church members. The newspapers printed
the reports of these low bred, low toned dis
courses under such head lines as "See How
He Roasts the Christians" etc., ad nauseam.
Not long ago an evangelist stood in the pull
pit of one of our leading city churches and
membership sharper and more pointed than
if he had been talking to collection of jail
birds 1t is altogether too much the rule for
preachers and special workers to expend
themselves in an entirely abnormal
effort to "scold" and dragon the
churches up to presumed point
of devotedness and efficiency Only the 9TH
er day it was solemnly stated that the Metho-
dist Church was losing its power over people
because all Methodists did not kneel in
prayer! AS though religious power and re-
lgious life depended upon bodily posture
AS well say the power of church resides in
the cut of coat the color of dress or the
shape of bonnet.
AS it seems to US, there is nothing gained
by this everlasting scolding and denunciaton.
IL the church is not what it should be-and it
is not-let the preacher in the pulpit draw it
to higher life, not dragoon it or beat it with
a bludgeon, to the edifcation of irreligious
lookers-on and to the bruising of the
spirit of well-meaning but fallible
people. Such words as are often
found in the mouths of preachers and evan
gelists would sound very outre coming from the
lips of the Divine Teacher. He had a whip of
scorpions for proud spirited, arrogant, self
righteous hypocrites. whose hypocrisy He
could infallibly detect; but the bruised
reed he did not break. nor quenched the
smoking fax. We do not believe the church
is what some of it's ordained apostles say it is.
Looking over the broad field Of the world to-