Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-23
DEADHEADS ARE
IN The CHURCH
REV. c. C. PIERCE SPEAKS IN
PLAIN TERMS
Pastor Says That the House of Wor-
ship Should Be Shelter for the
Young and Fold for the
Helpless

"The church has too often been more
emily power for the conquest of the
world. 1t has been too frequently a
collection of deadheads each with a
free ticket to glory rather than a band
of living soldiers fearlessly fighting
with the invincible weapons of truth
for the redemption Of the world from
injustice. error and SIM
The foregoing were expressions made
by Rev. c. c.. Pierce, pastor of the
Memorial Baptist church, yesterday
morning. His subject was "The Uni
versal Reign of the Truth" He said:
Daniels vision of the stone cut
from the mountain and growing until
1t filled the entire earth is only a pic
ture Of the growth and destiny of that
kingdom of the truth which God is es-
tablishing through the ages and which
is ultimately to be universal and su-
preme. The church as it exists today
needs to get the inspiration of this
vision and demand its fulfillment.
This is what has not been done.
"The church may be a nursery for
the weak and a school for the ignorant,
but 1t ought at the same time to be
gymnasium for the development of
spiritual athletes. 1t should be a shell
ter for the young and a fold for the
helpless but 1t must be a rallying place
for the strong and the training ground
for soldiers of the living God. There
are plenty who will sing with great
vigor When the roll is called up yon-
der I'll be there but what the age
needs most is men and women with
enough OF the spirit of Christ to per-
form the difficult, prosaic, self-sacri-
ficing, dangerous and soul trying SER
yicea of life down hera
Need Actual Workers
"It is a very easy matter to sing as
a great many of us do. at the top of
our voices, i want to be an angel but
what is needed most at the present
moment is somebody to do the things
that must be done If this world lost
in ignorance and sin is ever going to
be saved.
"The presence and power of a truly
spiritual living and active church.
actuated by the spirit of the Master.
can be traced in any city or commu-
nifty as clearly as a stream of water
can be traced across the wide and
otherwise barren stretches of Califor-
MIA desert. The church of the future
is going to triumph through the prac-
tices of the actual methods of Jesus.
We have failed often dismally through
our theories and our theologies, but
we are going to triumph gloriously
through sacrifice and love.
1.-THE living church of the future can
no more sit down in elegant buildings.
in polite and complacent ease, feasting
it's soul on the comforting assurance
that it's sins are all washed away In
the blood of Christ while there is one
unclaimed wanderer in all the wide
world than a loving mother can lie
30 xNIna faf
Youngest and weakest member of the
household has through her own care
lessness and neglect wandered out into
the cold and darkness and death of a
winter night.
"a church actually living out of it's
professed love for the world will silence
criticism and overcome all opposition.
Such a church will not merely theorfze,
but will act; will not only pray, but re-
form; not only fight, but win the VIC
tory.
"And such a church will reconstruct
society along altruistic lines. There is
absolutely nothing else for 1t to do.
Christ is to be the Redeemer of the
whole world. His kingdom is to fill
the earth. He is not only to be su-
Irene in creeds and sermons ana the
ological seminaries and churches, but
in the wide world of activity. His king
dom is TO come dllu MS Will ID W pS
done on the earth.
everywhere, whatever emphasis men
may give to the problem. however
much they may diverge as to the par
ticular part of the work that must be
done first, and however much they
may disagree as to the methods to be
first employed, are certainly coming
to see that the social regeneration of
humanity is the great and growing and
absolutely imperative need of the hour.
"After nineteen centuries OF the dis
heartening failure, so far as the world
wide realization of the ideals of Christ
Is concerned, humanity is slowly
awakening to the consciousness that
the sublime petition Of the great Mas
ter. THY kingdom come, thy will be
done on earth as 1t is In heaven pre-
sents a divine ideal which humanity
has a right to attain and which 1T has
not attained. Slowly as this old world
wheels on it's axis and comes more and
more into the shining of the sun II is
turning it's face toward the sunlight
of Gods purposes"