The Savannah morning news., 1901-06-17


Touch and Contact With the Peo-
pie, They Should BE Men of Pure
Lives and Characters-Their Pow
er Strong Either for Good or Evil.
The Lawyers Failure to Be Con-
sistent ReIigiOnists ExpIained-A
Physician who Prays to the Great
Physician Wanted.
Rev DIR. John D. Jordan preached at
the First Baptist Church last night a
sermon upon Some reforms Needed in
Savannah"
The sermon, which was delivered to a
large congregation, dealt principally with
the lives and conduct of four classes of
professional men. These were the teach
ers, dentists. lawyers and physicians of
the community. The sermon had refer
ence not only to the manner in which
the members of these professions should
conduct themselves, but with the ways
in which they should be regarded and
treated by the people with whom they
come in contact, and upon whom they are
dependent for a living.
The scripture lesson was taken from
from the chapter containing Pauls ad-
monition: mo man liveth to himself
and no man dieth to himself"
DR.. Jordan began his sermon with the
statement that it is scarcely possible to
over-estimate the power of influence and
example.
"A good deal has recently been written
and said,'' he continued, upon the evil
effects on Savannah and its people of
gambling, Sunday liquor selling and the
corruption of the ballot. Indeed, 1 have
had some little to say on these subjects
myself. But to my mind there is a
graver evil yet to be confronted and over
come
1T is the evil that has given me more
mental anguish than any other; that, dur
ing my entire ministerial career, has done
most to cloud the vision of my hope; it
is the evil of careless and Indifferent
church members.
II am more troubled concerning those
within than 1 am by those without the
church. If every man and every woman
within the church were what they should
try to be, if they were working in one
right, there would be a mighty force to
conquer the evil that is without"
Dr. Jordan criticized the careless and in
different church members, who would not
attend its services who would not con-
tribute to its support nor the support of
the various objects of charity and benev-
olence that it fostered; who, while call
ing themselves church members, lived and
acted as though they had neither love-
lOxro 11xr -.
Christ.
THE need of the hour" said the
preacher, sis for more self-sacrffcing,
conscientious, true church members AS
long as we have women bound by close
ties to some other organization or more
welded to the ways of the world than
they are to the church, we have a force
within that stands more in the way of
righteousness than the gambling rooms
and saloons without. As long as we have
men in our churches who patronize sa-
looms on Sundays and spend their money
in gambling houses, so long we will find
IL exceedingly difficult 10 remedy these
evils.
II want to discuss briefly the influence
upon the community of four classes of
its citizens, the doctor and the dentist,
the lawyer and the teacher.
have high respect for all of
them do not undervalue or
underestimate their power and influence
in the community. Give me the members
of these four classes united in one solid
body for truth, honor and righteousness.
and it will not be long before l show you
the forces of sin broken, shattered sunk
en-. When these classes of our citizens
are arrayed against law and purity and
good government, they are a mighty
force for evil"
DIR. Jordan first took up the teachers.
He believed. he said in the complete
separation of church and state; more. ne
believed in the complete separation of
college and state. But he believed in
the education given in Christian colleges
and of UNCONVENTIONAL Christian colleges
in those institutions supported and con-
Quoted by the denomna tons, rather Inan
in those supported and conducted by the
state. The state. he said, has no Bible
and no conscience and says no prayers.
He did not think it the proper director
of the education of the young.
But, leaving aside the question of col
legiate educa ton, let us deal rather with
things closer home, with our own COM
mon school system My ideal of a teach
er is wonderfully Christian man or wo-
man. l care not how intellectual he may
be, If he is lacking in spirituality, he falls
short of the ideal. If l were guardian
and about to select teacher for my
ward, / should first ask, How is this
teacher spirituality Not even the preach
er has the opportunity or the advantage
Of the teacher in influencing for good or
evil the minds of little children. Their
influence comes some times between even
the parent and the child. 1 have been a
teacher myself and Il have never con-
trolled the thoughts and actions of any
persons as did those of my pupils. How
important it is that the teacher should be
pure and exemplary in life and charac-
ter
The dentists of the city, DIR. Jordan
discussed principally as they were affect
ed by the demands of their patients that
work be done by them on Sunday. He
said he had discussed the question with
a number of dentists and they had told
him they were obliged to work on Sun
day on lose their patients. Church men,
bers even insisted that this be done and
there was nothing for the dentist to do.
however much he disliked to descecrate
the day or desired a rest, but to do the
work or lose a patient he could i'll afford
to lose. DR. Jordan besought the men
of his congregation to stop a practice he
denounced as evil and pernicious
Have you ever noticed" he continued.
how few lawyers there are who are reg
ular. consistent, devoted church MEM
bers? And yet the law is founded on the
word of God. The functions of the law
yer and the preacher used to be united
in the same person, but times have