The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1903-12-08

IRON the lilies ana isn- 4
ruors OF virtue
TO the raptufes and roses Of vice.
A BAPTISM OF TRUTH.
II there il any one thing that Our New
England Congregational churches need to- (
day II is a double baptism of undnuted
primitive. rugged. barbaric, undisguised
truth. A leading memter Of the Nssss-
house OF representatives, when
asked IL the pewr were empty because the I
pulpit lacked honesty and ability, replied
Not because the pulpit lacks honesty
Ability counts more. for men now de-
mand TO be intellectually mastered. viril- !
fly IL what they want most They dislike
the Snug sanctimonious preacher.
The preacher as the representative OF
what the church ought 10 be must be
the proclaimer OF Gods eternal truth !
He must be "A teacher and the ohurch IN
becoming, IL ought 10 become great
teacher Of moral living.
II the church In TO be first and foremost
school where truth Is taught II must
be I'm the second place q prstical insti-
tuition where truth Is lived and practiced.
II individualism is one OF the great evils
against which the pulpit must preach
then II is one OF ths great evils against
which the pew must live and practice
n our ideal for society Is
kingdom. then the church must re-
veal that kingdom by it's unity
and the prevalence OF conf
mon spirit The preacher VINO
proclains the Kingdom OF God
10 a divided, disconnected church. occu-
pies about the same position that Jesus
did when he preached in Hades. We
are told that there are churches united
for unworthy purposes. People come to-
gether for social and selhsh reasons.
There is just one thinE worse than this
and that IL not 10 be united on any
basis The church ought to be body
Of which each individual is an integral
and vital member. This can only be &C
complshed I'm so far as the spritusl
overcomes and transforms the material
II H. the materialism In the church as In
the world that is at the root Of our in
dividuaism. There in no true Kingdom
without God and there Is no God in hu-
manity apart from the Kingdom. As DR..
Parkhurst once said: God and one man
can make any other religion. bur II takes
God and two men 10 make Christianity.
MUST PRACTICE Az WE'LL Al
PREACH.
Let tho church preach for its great
theme and it's lofty meesage TO soeiety,
the kingdom OF God. but II the church
is 10 he what IL ought 10 be IN must
practice .whst IL breaches In this way
and IN this way alone will II be leaven
In society. IN will be place where our
individual interests are swallowed up In
common good. Where men viii help
themselves by helping each other and
where msterlslism will be vanquished BY
a baptism OF Gods spirit
That is 10 shy that although society
may drive men to the wall. inside the
church VIII be found help and strength
10 fight the battle and that while wealth
and social position may stand first In the
minds ~ men character will be recog-
nized and advanced 70 the chief seat In
the synagogue.
II there Is one place where people
ought 10 meet on common ground and
on a basis OF equality that place IL the
church. man ought TO oe recognized
not as bank president but as a man.
A man ought 10 he received not ss
newer OF wood or drawer OF water
but as man,
sight " God another he ought 10 be
so recognized and win be so recognized
in the church OF the future.
Glass distinctions ought 10 he ruled
out OF the church and the man in the
pulpit who recognizes one family be-
cause Of It's position IN socicty and neg
lects another family because IL has no
such position ought 10 be ashamed 10
look at himself in the mirror.
The church ought 10 be ali this be-
cause the world ought TO be all this.
The principle that ought to regulate
tho world OF affairs ought not TO he
fierce, undyng. competitive self interest
but cooperation and helpfulness. Tho
idea that ought To predomnate i'm society
Is the idea OF manhood. and not money
and II the church Of God Is not 10
preach and practice this the church OF
God has neither a message nor a mission
TO this generation.
One thing more is necessary. Not only
that the church have a message and n
mission: but that IL believe I'm both. Tf IL
does then IL will believe that it's message
is sufficient for all classes and conditions
or men, the worst as well as the best II
will endeavor 20 reach all classes and con-
ditions and make the effort TO raise up
the lowest az we'll as to win the highest
\ SAD COMMENTARY.
one II the saddest commentaries on the
Christian church is the Salvation Army
and the down town mission. II is sa:c
that these institutions reach a class II
people that the churches do not Tru=
But no slum worker ever reached a ma n
so low that the church OF Jesus Christ
ought not to have been able 10 reach him.
The church ought TO he an institution SO
warm in its love OF God and man. SO
strong I'm ito sympathy for the outcast
and the unfortunate, so generous ana NO
hospitable in its relations To the putffc
that men would turn to IL in their ex-
tremity asking what shall / do TO be
saved There is On air OF respectability
about the church today that IL so prim
and neat that IL suggests a show window,
so quiet and reserved that IN resembles a
long drawn ont funeral and so cold that
ita closest analogy Is refrigera tor.
There are people who come here of An
evening look In and unless some one well
comes them they turn and go away. The
church ought 10 have an air Of respeCta
bility. but the air ought 10 be zephyr
from the South sea Islands and not a
blast from the North pole that sweeps a
man around the corner and freezes him,
while doing ~.
The church ought 10 he an institution
\ with message and that message God s
/ eternal truth. IL ought 20 be an institu-
tion With a mission and that mission the
! application OF that truth 20 the sins OF
| this day and generation.
The church ought 20 go believe both N
! its message and mission ss 70 create an
atmosphere that Will welcome the sinner