Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-05-01

institution in the whole country. And yet
1t is the verdict of all experience that the
most difficult place to be a Christian is in
the family. Perhaps because there we are
removed from restraint and our natural self
comes out The natural self, it is found in
a vast number of cases, is not very pleasant
part cf us.
Being Christians Under Pressure.
It is notorious how much better Christians
people are in the church and In society than
they are right at home in their own families.
And so the family affords a test of Chris
tianity. If Christian is not good Chris
tian at home, he is not good Christian
anywhere; because the chances are that the
face of the Christian is put on for the bene-
fit of other people. He does not need to put
on anything at home; there we see exactly
what he is.
sent to the printers list Of books the
other day which desired to commend for
Lenten reading. The title OF one book was
Ethical Christianity" Tho printer got
the wrong word, and called 1t Ethereal
Christianity" There IL q great deal Of
ethereal Christianity in this world, which
is all up In the air. which does not count in
practical life. The kind of Christianity
that we want is ethical Christianity, which
touches every hour in the day, and guides
the man and woman in the homeliest house.
hold duties as much as 1T does in the wor-
ship of the house of God.
Now, what are the characteristics OF the
Christian in the family? One characteristic
of the Christian in the family Is the spirit
of courtesy. The Christian religion lays
more stress than some people are aware OF
on good manners Our Lord himself en-.
forced the importance of politeness. He
rebuked the man who failed in some OF the
details of Oriental etiquette, who brought
him no water to wash his feet.
Good Manners in the Home
Blessed are the people who have good
manners, He said In the Sermon on the
Mount. "Blessed are the meek" We read
it in our English version. Blessed are the
gracious people who have courtesy and good
manners. Everybody knows how much
more polite people are in society than they
are IN the family. Everybody knows how
many people seem to keep all their good
manners for their mere acquaintances, and
have all their bad ones for those whom they
ought to love best Everybody knows the
lack of courtesy between husbands and
wives and between parents and children.
It is not wonder that many children fail
in this matter of courtesy, they have such
A great many parents expect their chill
| dren to be courteous and polite to them
when they never think of being courteous
| and polite to their children. We have q
great inspiration and help in the fact that
our Lord lived all our life from the begin
| ming, and He said: "Inasmuch as ye have
done it unto one of the least, ye have done
| it unto Me-" The treatment given to little
children He counts as treatment given to
Himself. The Christ-Child lives in every
| family. The trouble is that We let famili-
| arity swallow up courtesy. One OF the
duties of the Christian in the family is to
be on watch against that-against letting
familiarity, as Sir Arthur Helps said, swal-
low up courtesy.
The Spirit OF Fretful FaultfndinE.
Another characteristic of the Christian
in the family Is the spirit Of forbearance.
The Christian bears and torbeara The
Christian forbears many hasty Judgment,
keeps back even the thought of criticism,
and thereby abstains from many hastily
spoken word that would make i'll feeling.
There is nothing more friendly that can be
done by one friend to another than the Civ
ing of earnest and wholesome criticism,
| when it is necessary. But criticism ought
never to touch anything that is unnecessary.
One of the evils of domestic life is tretful
and exasperating fault finding. The Chris
tian in the family will forbear from it. The
Christian will remember that all the people
in the world are different. We have not
learned that in the church yet, and We have
| not learned it in the family. We need to
learn it in both places. It is perfectly true
that other people may differ from us in tenn
| permanent, in ways of looking at things and
in ways of doing things, and yet may be
Just as near right as we are. It will be a
great help to family life if 1t can only be
| realized that people are different.
One more Characteristic of the Christian
in the family of which will speak is this
that the Christian in the family is charac.
| terized by the spirit of unselfshnesa Un.
selfshness is the very heart of the Chris
tian reli zion it is not possible for one to
be a Christian and be selfish at the same
time
Living to Be wa,eed On.
We are Christians in proportion as we are
| unselfsh, in proportion as We think OF
others before ourselves. The ideal Chris
| tian in the family Is known by his constant
I solicitude for others by his desire to bring
some contribution of his own to the happi-
| ness and the interest of the household. So
many people in this world seem to live for
the purpose of being waited on! They
seem to feel that they are the centers of the
universe, and that everybody else ought to
be doing something for them all the time.
But the Son of Man came not to be minis
tered unto but to minister, and He desires
all those of US who try to follow Him to
have that spirit in our hearts never to
think of what people do for us, but all the
time be planning things to do for them.
And then the Christian, with this spirit
OF courtesy, and of forbearance, and OF un-
selfshness, lives all this Christian life for
the sake of Jesus Christ and in the name of
Jesus Christ, and in the strength of God.
And he uses ell the spiritual agencies of his
family life that he can find that will help to
minister to the spiritual growth of all the
members of the family. Every day is the
word of prayer Joined in by all the family
together, so that the children are taught
that there is such thing as religion in the
world, and that it is not meant to be locked
up in the church on Sunday night, but to be
used all the week. When the family are
gathered at the table there is recognition
of God, the giver Of all gifts, that religion
may be brought close to common living.
What kind Of life would the Lord Jesus
Christ live in your family? The answer to
that question tells us what kind of Chris
tian we ought everyone OF US to be in the
family. GEORGE HODGES.