The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-07-10

|
OF their fears.
by combining these disassociated ideas,
| Christian Endeavnr has created new
| IDEA, Which has required a new word-a
word which is found only in the very
latest d1ctionary-the word 1nterde-
nomlnational; ACCOMPLISHMENTS
which Is not sectarianisr on the one
| side or care-nothing ism on the other.
Mind your prefxes, Christian Endeavorr,,
ers; not Jun nor "non," but Inter"
Closely linked with this idea of Inter
UNCONVENTIONAL Fellowship is that other
| great idea of International Fellowship.
Look at these intertwlned nags! Ihey
| intenseIlove for our own t1ag-the stars
and Stripes, cold Glory II we live in
the United States, the Union .Jaok, II we
| live in Canada or Great Britain. Inter-
| linked as theysare, they tell of our world
wide brotherhood. Our Society is an ar
| duration meeting which mover sdjourns,
| a peace-with- honor convention that Is
always in session. On these banners is
written: Loyalty and Brotherhood, one
and inseparablel"
Second. Again, if our platform ia cor
rect, Christian Endeavor stands for self
governed society that Ia yet wholly gov
erned by it's own church. know of no
way of
DEVELOPING RESPONSIBILITY
except by bearing responsibility. That
man and that society will always be a
dwarf and weakling that is ever managed
by some one else. In comparison with
such man, Mr.. Caudle behind the bod
curtain will be Independent and self-re-
specting.
Eacn society Of Christian Endeayor is
in sense INDEPENDENT. 1t works out it's
own problems. It is responsible for its
own success or failure. 1t lives or diss
according to its own Inherent worth. 1t
manageszits own matters. 1t elects its
own officers. 1t plans its own campaigns.
But it is always subordinate to it's own
church, and seeks to find out and obey
the wishes of its own church and pastor.
Let me here take occasion to pledge
myself to the Christian public, If 1 may
be allowed to speak in any sense as rep
Iesen tative of Christian Endeayor. No
United Society and no convention. no
union. and no committee of evangelism,
good citizenship, or missions, shall legis-
late for or seek to control any society In
the wide world.
More and more strongly every year is
this principle of Christian Endeavor es-
tablished, which indeed has been funda-
mental from the beginning-that each
society owes allegiance to is own church.
Some churches have taken advantage OF
this principle of su bordination to compel
their Christian Endeavor societies to
commit suicide, TO go out Of existence, or
| to label themselves with "a local or scotia
rian name. Is this entirely fair? l ap-
peal confidently to the Christian public
of the future, to the sense of Justice In
| the church at large for my answer.
| Nevertheless, and In spite OF the advan-
| tage sometimes taken of this principle,
| Christian EndeaVor has proclaimed the
banns once over these two, apparently
dissinilar ideas-Self- government and
| Subordination. 1t has married these dis
associated thoughts, each of which is in :
complete without the other; each OF
which is puny and weak without the
other; each of which Is oomplemented
and supplemented by the other. 1t has
| married them, and has written on the
| Intel of their door: obedience and
| Independence, one and iEgoparable."
| Third. Again, our platform en- braces
| PATRIOTISM AND HUMANITY.
Patriotism is name that is used to
cover multitude Of sins. sit is the last
resorG of designing knaves," said john
son. 1t has been made to stand for par
tisanship and to mask hideous corruption
1t needs to be married to ano5her idea
|
Endeayor has attempted to do.
| Our patriotic fervOr was born at the
same time as our missionary fervor.
| Good citizenship and missions have gone
hand in hand. America for Christ"
had not ceased to echo before we took up
the org ''Christ for the world Good
citizenship has too often meant in the
lands where it's slogan has been sounded,
"America for the Americans" Canada
for the Canadians "Great Britain for
the British "Japansfor the Japanese. 4"
Christian citizenship means something
more than this. 1t means our country
for Christ, and Christ for the world. l
means good rulers and good laws. 1t
mems the abolition of the saloon. 1t
means prohibition wherever we can get
| 1t. 1t means Sabbath observance. 1t
means in6exible opposition to all upright
eousness--not simply that America may
| be the greatest nation on which the sun
rises, not simply that Britain's drumbeat
may be heard around the world, but
above all, that ellis Kingdom may come,
and His win may be done, on earth as it
is in Heaven"
| By Christian Endeavor, then, we marry
the too-ofbsn disassociated ideas, patriot
| ism and humanity. Christian Citizen
ship and Christian Missions, one and
inseparable.
| Fourth. Our Christian Endeavor plat
|
it stands for Spiritual Power. These two
great ideas, alas havestoo often been set
over against one another. They have
been divorced and sundered far. Come
Christian Endeavor, thou whits-robed
pescemaker, and pronounce the banns
which shall make organization and spir-
itual power forever onel
TWO WINGS ARE ESSENTIAL
to the bird that would soar toward the
sun. Organization is one wing, spiritu-
atty il another. A poor. broken ged
eagle is that church or society that fails
to use both wings.
| Organization without spiritual power
is the perfect engine standing upon the
track with no fire under the boiler, nc
steam in the pipes. 1t is a dumb, dead,
impotent thing.
Spirituality without organization is
the fire upon the prairie, kindling blaze
but driving no wheels, turning no tur
bines, energizing no whirring looms OF
flying shut6les. This, too, is an inpo-
| tenn eve nescenG thing. But Spiritualitv