The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-04-22
AstO Church Officers.

It is quite common thing to hear
individuals who are not church men,
bers, laying at the door of members OF
the church, and especially church Of
ficers, responsibility for much OF the
rotteness and crookeduess that per-
meates society.
The complaint comes up. sometimes
like this: "Look at 80 and 80, he Is a
front seat at every service and has the
mouth in everything that the church
does. Yet everybody knows that he is
not to be trusted in an ordinary busi-
ness transaction, his reputation for
common honesty is not good, and be
does things that would be condemned
in men who make no such profession.
How do you expect the people to be
any better than they are with such
men as this for leaders,"
We would not be understood as try
ing to defend any kind of improper
conduct in any church member or any
church official, and we agree with the
commonly accepted notion that
church members and church officials
should so conduct themselves as to be
lit examples for other people in all
matters relating to correct and righte-
GUS practices. This is too plain a pro-
position to admit of contraven tion; but
we submit that it is the duty Of every
one to put common sense behind the
purpose for which people generally
point out the unworthiness of church
members or church officers, viz: the
Justification of themselves,
There is no question of the fact that
ell church members and church Of
ficers should be honest and upright in
all their dealings and clean aud
correct in all their conduct; but in
cases where they do not measure up to
these conditions we are unable to see
where or how their failure should be
any justification of their examples.
While it is true that unworthy
church members and unworthy
church officers are discreditable to the
churches to which they belong, they
are still more discreditable to them
selves, and there is no good ground to
charge responsibility against the
churches. AS a matter of fact not Cne
of the different Christian denomi-
nations as such stands for thing
that is wrong or questionable. AS a
matter of fact, the tenets Of all the
Christian denominations are sound
and wholesome and the failure of the
individual to live up to those tenets
must not be held as a reflection upon
the tenets. but upon the individual.
And as for the man who complains
against the church because individual
mem bers there of are recreant in their
duty, we think be, should quit COM
plants against the church, and apply
them more directly against the moral
turpitude of the individuals COM
planned of. And it will be better even
to leave off this until he becomes of
the church himself, for if he is dis
satisfied with the kind Of people of
which the church is made up, he GER
taiuly cannot hope to work much of
revolution from the outside. Instead
Of waiting for the church to become
better, it would be a better move on
his part to join and undertake from
the inside such reforms as he thinks
are needed.
But with it all do not let it be
understood that the people who COM
pose the church are all what they
should be. There is plenty Of mean
ness and hypocrisy in the church.
There are church members and church
officers who do not hesitate to serve
the devil in the livery of heaven. 1t
has always been so and will be so
always,-Yorkville Enquirer.