The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-08-12
THE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
DIR. CURTIS LEE LAWS.
Subject: Christianity and Business

Brooklyn, N. Y.-The Rev. Dr..
Curtis Lee Laws, in the Greene Ave-
nue. Baptist Church, preached on
"Christianity and Business" The
text was from Deuteronomy Sis:
Thou shalt remember the Lord thy
God, for it is He that giveth thee
power to get wealth." DR.. Laws said:
When a man becomes a Christian
he does not sever his relations to the
world in which he lives. He is given
to Christ by the Father as a personal
and perpetual possession, but instead
of translating him, Christ sends him
back into the very world from which
he has been saved. Christ said to
the Father: GAS Thou hast sent Me
into the world, ever so have l also
sent them into the world" But when
Christ sends the saved nan back into
the world, He sends him back as a
new man. "They are not of the world.
ever as I am not Of the world" The
Christian is in the world, but in the
world with a new motive, q new pur-
pose and a new power. Our Master
we'll knew that it would be difficult
for His disciples to be in the world
without being Of the world, and so He
prayed: II pray not that Thou
shouldst take them out of the world,
but that Thou shouldst keep them
from evil" From the beginning,
therefore, the relation OF the Chris
tian to the affairs of life has been a
problem worthy Of the most serious
study. In the early times there were
fanatics who felt that 1t was below
the dignity of a Christian to enter the
secular pursuits in which they had
formerly been engaged. They gave
up their business and brought dis
credit upon their profession by the
vagaries of their other worldism. The
Apostle Paul tried to correct this
abuse in his second letter to the Thes-
salonians. In his first epistle, in view
Of the second coming of Christ, he
had urged the people to separate
themselves from the world. Misinter-
preting his purpose, they had given
up their regular employments, and
had gotten into mischief. In the Sec
ond epistle the apostle says: "For we
hear that there are some which walk
among you disorderly, working not at
all but spending their time as busy
bodies. Now, them that are such we
command and exhort by Il Lord
Jesus Christ, that with quietness they
work and earn their own bread"
The greatest problem for the Chris
tian a is to adjust himself to the
callings and pursuits Of this life, that
he may best serve God, his fellow men
and the highest interests of his own
soul. Instead of t%ranslating us to
glory at our conversion, God leaves
US here that we may perfect personal
holiness, working out u own saliva
ton with fear and trembling. and
that we may win the world to our
new-found King. These are the two
functions of the Christian. 1t Is the
will Of God for His people to engage
in the ordinary ~vocations of this
world, that they may earn an honest
living and at the same time show
forth to the world the saving and
keeping power Of Jesus Christ.
Though 1t is the will of God for His
people to engage in the business of
this world, it can he readily seea that
there are certain limitations which
arise from our relations to God.
But, again, the Christian man can
engage in no business which will
harm his fellow men, whom he has
been sent to win to Christ. If you
are in a business which is honest and
legitimate, others will share with you
the benefit of that business. If your
gain means loss to others, then your
business is not the business in which a
Christian nan can engage. If you
cannot conduct this business your
self, you cannot W stock in it and
share in the profits of it without bar
tering your soul for gold. If you
can't conduct the business yourself,
you cannot rent your property for the
conduct Of such a business without
adding hypocrisy to your other sins.
May God have mercy on the hypo-
critics who will not soil their hands by
engaging in a wicked business, but
who will stuff their pockets full Of the
dirty money received as dividends or
rent from the conduct Of this same
wicked business.
Note now some Of the incentives to
business activity. Thou shalt re-
member the Lord thy God, for He has
given thee power to get wealth." The
money-making gift is from God. The
apostle urges us to be diligent in bust
ness, fervent in spirit, serving the
Lord. God las no patience with in
dolence and sloth. All through the
Bible the stamp of Gods approval is
put upon industry, while His curse
ever rests upon idleness. 1t is God
like to work. Our Lord said, "The
Father worketh hitherto and I work"
There is no place in Gods economy
for the idler. He cumbers the
ground.
Business activity brings wealth,
and this is an incentive which ought
to appeal to the generation in which
we are living. Wealth ought to be
desired by every man, because wealth
is a mighty factor in the world in
which we live.
Think of what wealth can do for
the individual. 1t can give oppor-
tunity to acquire high and noble
tastes. 1t can give leisure for study
and research. These in turn will
cause the mind to grow stronger and
the character to grow nobler. Wealth
can purchase length of days, and it
can secure to US the atmosphere in
which human love can blossom and
bear fruit to perfection.
Think of what wealth can do for
the family. It can surround our
loved ones with books and paintings
and statuary. 1t can provide the
highest culture for our children. 1t
car enable us to dispense a generous
hospitality and to make II homes
the centre Of a delightful and en-
nobling religious, social and intellec-
tual circle.