Brookings weekly register. (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1898-1903, 1900-04-12
/ THE GRUHAX|ON Of PHILIP STRONG: /
( BY REV. CHARLES M. SHELDON, &
x "Malcom
= "Rober Hardys y;
! Publishing !!
: K
BY REV. CHARLES M. SHELDON,
Copyright, 1899. BY The Aduqnce Publishing o.
Author Of I'm His Steps: What Would Jesus DoP" "Ms
Kirk" "Robert Hardy's Seven Days." Etc.

NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
with his views. Short extracts from
his talk will show the drift of his en-
tire belief on this subject:
Livery dollar that man has should
be spent to the glory Of God.
"The teaching Of Christianity about
wealth is the same as about anything
be used by the man as God would use
1t in the mans place.
1.-The accumulation of vast sums Of
money by individuals or classes Of men
has always been a bad thing for So
ciety. A few very rich men and a
great number Of very poor men are
what gave the world the French revo-
luton and the guillotine.
"There are certain conditions true
Of society at certain times when it is
the Christian duty of the rich to use
every cent they possess to relieve the
need Of society. Such condition faces
us today.
"'The foolish and unnecessary eX-
penditures Of society on it's trivial
pleasures at time when men and
women are out Of work and children
are crying for food is a cruel and un-
Christian waste Of opportunity.
eff Christ were here today, l be-
lieve he would tell the rich men of Mil
ton that every cent they have belongs
to Almighty God, and they are only
trustees Of his property.
"'The church that thinks more Of
fine architecture and paid choirs than
of opening its doors to the people that
they may hear the gospel is a church
that is mOrtgaged for all it is worth
to the devil, who will foreclose at the
first opportunity.
"'The first duty Of every man who
has money Is to ask himself, What
would Christ have me do with it? The
second duty is to go and do it after
hearing the answer.
off the money owned by church
members were all spent to the glory
of God. there would be fewer hun
dred thousand dollar churches built
and more model tenements.
eff Christ had been a millionaire,
he would have used his money to build
up character in other people rather
than build a magnificent brownstone
palace for himself. But we cannot
imagine Christ as a millionaire.
"'1t is as true now as when Paul said
it nearly 20 centuries ago. THE love of
money is root of all kinds of evil"
1t is the curse of our civilization, the
greatest god Of the human race today.
"'Our civilization is only partly
Christian, for Christian civilization
means more comforts; ours means
more wants.
eff a mans pocketbook is not con-
verted with his soul, the man will not
get into heaven with it.
"'There are certain things that mon
ey alone can secure, but among those
things it cannot buy is character.
"'All wealth from the Christian
standpoint is in the nature Of trust
funds, to be so used as the admins
traitor, God, shall direct. No man owns
the money for himself. The gold is
Gods; the silver is Gods. That is the
plain and repeated teaching Of the BIZ
BILE.
"Tt is not wrong for a man to make
money. It Is wrong for him to use 1t
selfishly or foolishly.
"The consecrated wealth of the
men of Milton could provide work for
every idle man in town. The Christian
use of the wealth of the world would
ba
"'Most Of the evils Of our present
condition flow out Of the love Of mon
ey. The almighty dollar is the god of
Protestant America.
"If men loved men as eagerly as
they love money, the millennium would
be just around the corner.
"'Wealth is curse unless the owner
Of it blesses the world with it.
""If any man hath the worlds
goods and seeth his brother have need.
and shutteth up his compassion from
him, how. dwelleth the love Of God in
himY
"'Christian socialism teaches a man
to bear other peoples burdens. The
very first principle of Christian social
ism is unselfishness. 29S'>+f s.'.
"'We shall never see better condi-
tion of affairs in this country until the
men of wealth realize their responsi-
bility and privilege. .~, ....
"'Christ never sa!d anything against
the poor. He did speak some tremen-
dous warnings in the face Of the selfish
rich. N''a>f. ...... = >i'.
"'The only safe thing for man of
wealth to do is to ask himself, What
would Christ do with my money II he
had it?'
ut would be impossible to describe
the effect of the Rev. Mr.. Strong's talk
upon the audience. Once the applause
was SO long continued that 1t was q
full minute before he could 60 on.
When he finally closed with tremen-
dous appeal to the wealth Of Milton to