The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1899-10-26
(DaHVille DAILY Bee !

winston sermon the other day when
he was telling how to get a messape
to God.
When he asked the question how
many could stand up and say that
there was nothing Ion the wiren be-
tween them and Rig ght-about fiftv in
the audience arose. That was goodly
in member the face of the proposition
that if they had lied, or slandered
any one they could not get message
through unless they had done all
possible to right the wrong.
There are many good men within
the church-thousands upon thous-
ands-but the great trouble in these
days many men join the church for
effect. The politician joins the
| church, the merchant joins the church
not all of them for effect, but many
OF them 90 into it cold bloodedly and
deliberately, and what hurts the
church is that this fact is known. 1t
Is no uncommon thing to hear a
church member swear; it is nothing
uncommon to smell whiskey upon
their breath-but those same pious
pretenders will get up with unblush-
| ing etfrontery and claim that in their
souls they are as pure as light and as
| stainless as a star
The minister rebukes them and ad-
| mOnishes them-but his denunciation
| is mere generalities-it consists of a
broad shot into camp, and those hit
know better than to squirm, and SO
| they let 1t go at that. Why, when
| the preacher knows that some of his
fold is straying from the pastures,
he does not get up in the pulpit and
say John Smith-stand up. You
are drinking liquor; you are swearing
and you are lying and are cheating >
But the preacher dare not do that.
Sam Jones will come along and abuse
people at long range; tell what an
onery set some churches have in
them, but even your Uncle Samuel
never Gnames his man. Why? Be
cause the fellows who take license to
do these things and still remain in
the church are the big guns; the fell
lows who pay the most pew rent; the
ones who have the bank accounts
and il would not do to offend them.
| Unluckly preacher he, who would
dare be guilty of such gross conduct.
The preposterous idea of calling
down the distinguished fellow-citizen
who has plenty of the long green.
1t would never do, for the preacher
on his limited salary would be in
vited to receive a call to some other
seaport.
| And TO win md
slandering people, the woods are full
of the slanderers and backbiters and
many of them belong to churches and
try to make out that they are little
saints all by themselves.
As we have said before we hope
the Evangelist will do much good in
his war on sin, but when he lays
down the platform that men must
not lie or SANDER or play cards OF
drink whiskey or dance-well, he is
going to have a slim. audience if only
those free of such vices are admitted.
There will be plently of smooth fell
lows come in chewing a Glove and
that they love their neighbOrs much
as themselves; there will be all sorts
of false pretense-but the fellow with q
bank account and the pull will do as
he pleases, despite all warnings anc
all Observation-Disclosures the ministers
have not the moral courage to church
the black sheep.
And as we have before insisted the
minister is not to blame. Let him
set out to sprinkling carbolic acie
here and there and he would be 4
preacher out of a Job.
The whole trouble is that the church
the same as secret many benevoleni
societies, is used for an end. 1t i:
not what the creed promises nor is il
for any good that may be rendered
society, that many people protest.
is simply cold proposition, How
much will it benfit me? What is the
programme?
And men join church for what there
is in it, and thus church members
who ale honest and sincere and reall,,
good. must take the blame for har
boring known scamps and trlcksters
: If there could be some way to weet
out hypocracy; to kick out the dis
semblers; to black-ball the unworthy
then the church would be a greater
power for good than it is to-day-ant
evangelists and preachers would moi
be troubled by asking men the ques
ton if they had lied or slanderec
their neighbors. 1t is not to be sup
posed that man who really ant
truly had the goodness OF God in his
heart would be suspected of slander
ing his neighbors or lying to the harm
of them. But it seemed at Winston
that many church members could not
say that the wires were free-so they
went up and were prayed for.
The orthodox preacher does no
offer absolution for pay-and h
should be bold enough to have it un
derstood that men could not belong
to his congregation who felt that al
they had to do was to lie and slande
their neighbors throughout the weel
and ask for forgiveness and praye
on Sunday.
And YOU will find as you go alon!
the brier-grown path of life tina
many good man and woman ha
been pulled down to degradation b.
the liar and hypocrite and slandere
who paid the biggest pew rent. Thi
is hard thing to believe--but if yo'
will sift the history you will find tha
f | it is a fact.
= Any young man can pay court to