The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-04-24
TO The BUSINESS men.
An Interesting Sermon at st. Paul's
Church by Rev, J. Wesley
Hill.
The Problem of Being an Earnest
Christian and Active In
Affairs.
The Fair Rivalries of Trade not Forbidden
by the Command of the Great
Master.

Notwithstanding the Indictment weather'
81 Pants church was filled last evening to
hear the sermon of Rev. j. Wesley hlli'
upon The Relation of Religion to bnsi-
meas" Many of Helena's business men
we're noticed scattered through the
congregation, and all were greatly
interested in the plain. practical
nresentment of The subject matter. The
congregations at these Sunday evening
services have become 40 large that many
are turned away each night. and the re-
mark has frequently been heard that tine
church, If possible. should be enlarged TO
accommodate those who desire to attend
Thu large sacred orchestra has become a
permanent thing, and music OF a high Or
der ia discoursed at all the evening serv-
ices. as we'll as at the meeting for men
only" in the afternoons. The pastor an
nouncsd that next Sunday afternoon he
would talk on "a Night in Helena's Opium
Dens," and in the evening preach to she
laborine men on The Dignity OF Laoor.
On his occasion he took for the text, NOT
slothful in business. fervent IN
spirit, serving the Lord no
mans 1o:11. He said in part:
as Spirituality and seculsrity are supposed
to be foes. How TO combine religion Win
business, to keep up the spirit OF sincere
piety. amid the stir and distraction of prac-
tical life, is one of the difficult problems OF
Christianity. The ~atmoephereo OF the ssfees
and the counting room is very different
from that of the communion table. Pass
ING from one to the other has often seemed
a. if a sudden transition from a tropical to
a rolsr climate, from genial sunshine to
freezing cold. The question is. how is 1t
possible to connect the Christian and the
commercial world.
The problem ia to be an earnest, agrees
sive Christian and an active. dlligent busl-
ness man-to keep a high plane Of spiritual
ity and a high plane of commercial activity
10 be a devout Christian and a sue
cessfnl business operator at the same time.
In ancient times, a certain class Impressed
with the thought of an eternal world ana
the necessity of preparing for 1t, sought
refuge from the world by flying from IL
into q monastic life. where in clolsteFed re-
treat. thew could forget all secular claims,
And Worship God in spirit and truth. Bot
in our own day, whore business and reiiR-
ion conflict, another device is employed to
sbrogate the difficulty, a device which II
less superstitious is more venial and time
serving. refer to that spirit which eager
for this world 10 not willing to lose the
next hence. under the adage, Everything
in it's own place. it treats business and re-
licion as " entirely different things, as
two creditors whose claims cannot be
Inundated at the same time; and so as a re-
suit the week days are occupied with onsl-
ness. and religion Is crowded into the sun
day.
"Now the idea as set forth in the text is
something very different from any of these
notions. 1t seems to imply that religion 10
not 30 much q duty as a something that mas
to do with all duties, not q tax to be paid
periodically, but a ceaseless tribute to HIM
who is not only the object of our worship
but who is the end of our life and being.
This problem of harmonizing business and
religion cannot be solved by doing bust
ness in a half hearted, slipshod way. Idle
ness ia death; activity is life. Laziness IS
neither good business nor good piety. Ii
pnaws at the vitals of business until it be-
comes a hollow shell, and it likewise preys
upon the powers of the man addicted to it,
until he 10 transformed into a helpless i'm
beetle, and every good grace or noble am
bition withers beneath its cold and deadly
breath. Poverty does not imply piety, nor
il it necessary that the man of great wealth
should be wayward and wicked. The man
who sells Bibles is not excused from push
and energy, nor has he any more right to
wear a long face than the undertaken has to
wear a shroud or the tombstone builder an
epitaph on his brow. 1t is no sign that be.
cause you eas q crust of bread at home you
are feeding on the bread of life.
81 have known Christians to occupy an
apologetic attitude toward their business.
as though they were only out out for heav-
emily work and association with white
winged angels. The idea that q Christian
cannot be a business man, that be cannot
enter into the fair r%ivalties of trade. that
he dare not accumulate money and build up
. fortune, is a de!usion contrary to reason
and the elainest declarations of Gods
word. Christ says: seek ye first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness.
and all these things shall be added unto
YOU This problem cannot be solved by q
change of business. Of course, this propo-
sitlon Is contingent ulon the legitimate
nature of your business and the deg. ee OF
honor with which you execute it.
1T is said there are Tricks in all trades,
but whether this be true or not, every pur
suit has lts pitfalls along the way, ant
nowhere more than III business should the
scrlptural admonitlon be needed. Let hin
that thinkcth he standetb take heed lest h'
fan One is liable to slip on the pulpi
stairs RS we'll as on the steps Of the cham
Der of commerce.. The trouble i
less with the stairs than with orr feet
The study has ita temptations as we'll u
the counting room, the closet no less tina
the bank vault. This adjustment betwee,
business and religion cannot BIS made b
lowering the standards of truth and right
eousness. or our determination to maintni
those standards. We da3e not d~etrcsa re
ligion to the level OF business; if we cnnnc
elevate our secular life to the plane {
Christian principles we should not dra
spiritual interests down to the level of tt
material. But the question arises, how CT
worldly interests ba adjusted to spiritu
concetns? How can the secular be LITE
up to the religious? Ny answe is. tbrouc
the power of a great love to Christ. a me
NAV look upon his business from thr,
st%andpoints. the professional, the scientii
and the Christian. The first is of none
the second OF scholarship and tho third
Christianity. He who. in toe love
Christ, goes about his calling finds no di
ference between lts diudgery and Christii
services.
The stone cutie sees nothing in rock b
so many cubic feet of hardness to be C
and hammered and POLISHED. but Hui
Miller traces the footsteps of God as
once walked upon earth. The Gloucest
fisherman see in q new variety of fish n n.
Article of food for sale, but the zoolog
spells out another letter in Gods alphab
for human understanding, And so 10
for thriat tranafn, n tba harlavk fouL in