St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1886-12-11
A DELICATE SUBJECT.
How Tt Was Handled by Rev. r.
y De Witt Talmage, D. D.
elm tie Matter of Church Attendance.
Should @he Wife Go with the Husband,
&he Husband Go with tie
Wne:"-A Great Question,

"tShouM She Wife Go to Church with Her
Husband, Or the Husband with His Wife?,
He took fSr his text Genesis 10: 80: "Let
there be no strife, pray thee, between me
and thee, ana between my herdmen and thy
herdmcn; for we be brethren. Is not the
whole lsRd before thees" The sermon was
as follows:
Uncle and nephew, Abram and Lot, both
plous, both milionaires, and with such
large flo@4zs Of blcating sheep and lowing
cattle that their herdmen got into fight,
perhaps about the best pasture. or the best
water privilege, or because the cow of one
got hooked by the horns Of the other Not
their poverty of opportunity, but their
wealth. was the cause of controversy be-
tween these two men. To ABB am, the glo-
rious Obj BedOuin sheik, suck controversy
seemed absurd. It was Ike two ships
auarreiing for sea room in the middle of the
Atlantic Ocean. There was vast reach
OF country. corn fields, vineyards, harvests
and plenty Of room in illimitable acreage.
''NoW,' says Abram, ''Let Us agree to diff
fer. Here are mountain districts, swept by
the tonic and sea breeze, or with wide reach
ing prospect, or there is the plain of the
Jordan, with tropical luxuriance. You may
have eltnarn
Lot, who was not as rich as Abranl, and
might have been expected to take the sec
ond choice, made the first selection, and
with lnodcsty that must have made
Abram smile, said to him: ''You NAV
, have the rocks and the fine prospect; | will
take the VALLEY Of the Jordan. with all its
luN9rianee OF corn fields, and the river to
water the ii0cks, and the genial climate,
and the wealth immeasurable. e." So the
controversy was forever settled, and great
souled Abram carried out the suggestion of
the text-"Lot there be no strife, I pray
thee between thee and me, and between
my hcrdneG and thy herdmen. Is not the
whole land before theeln
Wen, in this, the last quarter of the nine
teenth century and in this beautiful land,
which was called America after Americas
VespucFu8, bat ought to have been called
Columbia, after IT, discoverer, Columbus,
we have wealth of religious privilege and
opportunity that is positively bewildering.
Churches OF all styles of creeds, and Of all
styles ef governments, and all STYLES of
worship, and all styles Of architecture
What opkience of ecclesiastical opportuni-
ty! Now, while in desolate regions there
may be esiy one church, and it must be
that or Tasthing, il the opulent districts of
this country there is such profusion that
there ought to be no difficulty in making a
selection. No fight about vestments, or
between ihurgcal or non-liturgical adher-
cnts, or as to baptismal modes, or a handful
Of water as compared with riverful. If
Abram prefers to dwell in the heights,
where he can only get sprinklng from
the clouds, Let him consent that Lot have
all the Jsrdan in which to immerse him
self. "Iset there be no strife, I pray thee,
/. between nae and thee, and between my
nerdmeA and thy herdmen Is not the |
whole laeA before thee?"
Especially is itunfortunate when families |
allow, at the breakfast, or dinner, or tea |
table, aagry discussion as to which is the |
best church or denomination, one at one
end of tho table saying he could not endure 1
the rigid doctrines of Presbyterianism one !,
at the other end responding that she never |
could staaa the forms of Episcopacy; and
one at eno side of the table saying he did
NOT understand how nybody could bear the
noise in tao Methodist Church. and another
declaring all the Baptists bigots. There
are hundreds Of families hopelessly split on
ecclesiast4cism and in the middle Of every
discussion on such subjects there is kind
ling OF Indignation, and it needs some old
father Abram to come and put his foot on
the loaded fuse before the explosion takes
place, and gay: "Let there be no strife,
pray thee, between me and thee, and be-
tween ray herdmen and thy herdmen. Is
Rot the whole land before thee?"
| undertake subject never before under
taken in any pulpit, for it is an exceedingly
delicate subject, and if not rightly handled
might give serious offense; but I approach
it without the slightest trepdation, for I
am sure have the Divine direction in the
matters propose to present. It is ire
mendous question, asked all over Christen-
dom, often asked with tears and sobs and
heart breaks, and involving the peace of
families, the eternal happiness of many
souls: In the matter of church attendance
should the wife go with the husband, or the
husband 60 with the wife?
First, remember that all the evangelical
churches have enough truth in them to
save the soul and prepare US for happiness
on earth and in Heaven. I will go with |
you iatO any well-selected theological
library, and will show you sermons from |
in all denominations that set |
forth man as sinner and Christ as de-
llycrer from sin and sorrow. That is the
whole Gospel Get that into your soul and
you are fitted for the here and the here
after The world has twenty-six letters in
its alphabet, and there are only two letters
in the Gospel alphabet-S and c; s stand
ing for oar sin, standing for Christ, our
rescue, blessed be His glorious name for
eVefI Ia any church where you can
learn these two letters, and all
they stand for, you ought to be edited and
happy
There are differences, we admit, and
some denominations we like better than
others. But suppose three or four of US
make solemn agreement to meet each other
q week from now in Chicago on important
business, and one goes by the New York
Central railroad, another by the Erie rail-
road, another by the Pennsylvania rail-
road, another by the Baltimore & Ohio
railroad. One goes this way, because the