The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-03-20
THE VOICE OF THE PULPIT
PERFORMANCE, NOT EMOTION, THE
TRUE TEST OF wELL-DOING.
BY Rev. Daniel f. Bradley, ID. D.. Pas
tor of the Park Congregational
Church, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Co. and do thou Iikewise-Luke <. 81.

life. He had been a keeper of the COM
mandants, punctilious in his regard for the
conventional duties of the society in which
he lived, but he was not satisfied with
himself and desired something better. And
when our Lord told him that he must love
God and love his neighbor he asked: who
is my neighbour" Then follows the wonder
full story of the Good Samaritan. which not
only reveals to the man the fact that every
human being is his neighbor, but also that
the performance Of any self-denying serv-
ice TO another is the method by which men
attain to real, enduring, permanent life.
There is question commonly asked,
How much emotion is required in sin
cere Christian; how much feeling?" Jesus
practically answers it when he says, Go
and do as the good Samaritan did Emotion
is not required here but performances of
duty.
Many people are troubled because they
have not ''the right feeling" They conceive
It necessary to havessome marked enthus-
1asm, some intense emotion, some strong
wave OF feeling that will lift them up out
OF the ordinary routine of life and senti-
ment, sweep them along and land them
xully and finally within the charmed circle
Ear De 1t from me to underestimate the
value of such emotions when properly con-
trolled and directed. The great wise evan
gelists have rendered distinct service to hui
man life. Their work has been of far
reaching influence not only in the Chris
tiaaization, but in the civilization of the
american people. There are times and oc-
casions where religious sentiment may be
aroused for good, but they should be care
1uly centrasted with the merely mechani-
cal effort of stirring up religious emotion,
resulting in forced, unnatural and value
less arousing of such sentiments as must
necessarily be ephemeral because they are
unnatural.
There is an important place for evange-
hzation Of the sensible sort, and we would
only guard against the thought that comes
as a hindrance to many souls-that only I'M
der the stress of such occasions, only under
the influence of the emotions so aroused
can there be any true earnest Christian life
Nature gives us an illustration of the diff
ference. Like springtime in the temperate
zones, genuine revival comes after a win
ter of cold, dead life; but where the life
moves on steadily and strongly, doing it's
duty the year round, like vegetation in the
tropics, no such revival is necessary or nat
ural, but always the bloom and fruitage OF
Christian service and devotion is present
and apparent.
In no case did Jesus require of anybody
who was trying to find the way of life that
he should develop full set OF Christian
emotions and feelings-not once. Every
time 1t is some objective thing they are to
do, some service to render, some neglected
command to obey. That was the recipe for
eternal Life, that was true religion, accord
ing to the author of religion, to go and do
the duty next to you. for our Lord. who
-
through and understood psychology better
than any metaphysician. since His time,
knew that the sentiments ought to follow
and not to lead the WILL and that the truest
feeling is not that which appears upon the
surface in temporary excitement, but that
which lies deep in the heart to back up a
purpose which is reasonably formed. Senti-
ment might enable Peter to swear undying
fealty one hour yet it did not keep him
from cowardly denial All hour later. But a
purpose formed after experience and trial
did enable that same Peter to stand up
heroically and face the world for the Mas
ter's sake.
The fact is, religion has been weakened
in these later times because it has been
made a matter Of sentiment and not of
obedience to God and His moral law; be-
cause it has not rested upon the unques-
toned character and authority of Christ,
but upon the emotions aroused by things
collateral and incidental to these. The
strength of the old reformers, the Puritans
and the Pilgrims and their spiritual pos
terity was not in feeling, but in loyalty to
duty and obedience to the divine law. Lat
terly we have reacted from their stern posi-
tion, which was, perhaps, much too stern
and Unconditional but we have reacted too
far, and we must go back; and believe we
are going back to the recognition of the
Fact that the embracing Of religion is not
an experience of joy or ecstacy much
a change of will and purpose and life, rest
ing upon rational grounds, and that he who
fears God and tries to do His will is
cepted Of Him, no matter how he feels
about it.
A good Christian is made just as a good
scholar is made-by daily performance of
the task set before him, a matter of
habit and routine. You seldom see our boys
and girls swinging their hats and cheering
in enthusiasm over algebra and history and
grammar. It sometimes happens that the
scholar will so learn to enjoy his study
by and by that he becomes an enthusiast
in it, but the Flooding and the digging and
the patient continuance in well-doing usual
~ pTSCGOG SuCl l6SliuSS VI SIlHuSldStus
Men and women do not wait to be stirred
by intense emotions before they undertake
the ordinary duties and obligations of life
For the most part they do their work with
out much manifest feeling. The worlds
best work, the most of its heroic work, is
done by habit almost automatically. Men
and women train themselves for service un-
til that service becomes a matter of course
Just so one enters upon his life of nobest
service and self-denial, not upon the high
tides of emotion, but because it is right to
follow the Master, to make all the life
count in the blessing and the helping of
other men.
The firemen in great city do deeds of
heroism almost daily that make you thrill
with admiration, but their work is done
with nerves that are as steady as If made
Of machinery. A fireman will risk his own
life in the most gallant manner possible,
without giving a moment to the thought of
ais gallantry in saving another. 1t has come
TO be the regular order for him. Is he then
an unworthy lfe-saver because he has no
special feeling? The locomotive engineer
sacrifices himself to save the trainload Of
passengers behind him simply because it
is his duty as he conceives it, and he has
not time to feel the significance of it.