The Washington herald., 1909-04-24
The Extended Life.

amazing interest Of laymen in the mis-
slonarv cause is that they are content
with small life. circumscribed by the
hounds Of their own secular business The
spirit Of the times iqaDels them 10 seek
cosmopolitan influence There has been
prsached the doctrine OF the strenuous
life and the doctrine Of the simple life.
Now. more popular than either, We hear
The doctrine Of the extended life
This twentieth century mood chords
U-ffb the spirit Of the early Christian
church. Restless and outreaching' the
srst disciples sought TO bear their mes
SAGE as widely as they could They early
caught a vision OF a church life which
was one. whether expressed at home or
abroad. They who abode by the stan
should share in the honor and reward
equally with those who went forth to fight
The missionary enterprise was the
church's enterprise and not the peculiar
undertaking Of the missionary himself
This appears plainly in the story record
I'd IN the Book Of Acts. and it depicts the
hormsI condition for a church
WON AND WINNING
The first formal and organized mission
arv expedition Of the Christian church
= related in this Lesson. Significantly,
the story begins with a statement Of the
condition Of the church AT Antioch, which
had become 2 center Of Christian activ-
itv. though il in itself was the result o.
missionary endeavor. Il may yet again
harpen. as il happened in those early
dsvs and often since. that the new cen
tiers created by aggressive extension work
became in turn the main headquarters OF
Christian power, and influence Antioch
rad a strong church. with prophets and
teachers. II was a representative COM
pany Of believers. numbering both the
bfgb and the humble On its roll were
such DISTINGUISHED names as saul and
Rarnabas and Simeon and LuciGs, and
the foster-brOther Of HeTOd the Tetrarch.
The last named indicates how one man
NAV follow folly and his brother seek
wisdom.
The Antioch church was. at home,
strong IN the missionary spirit This IS
the biz. concern Of pTesent-day Christen-
dom Once Christians prayed for open
doors in the pagan world. Now there are
more omen doors than the church is will
ing 70 enter. The one great problem OF
ChriStian extension to-day is the PROB
lem Of the home church; her interest in
the broader work, her devotion and her
spirit OF sacrifice. One may read many
signs that the providential awakening OF
Tie non-Christian world. and the wide
flung. doors Of opportunity. are being fol-
lowed by a widespread moving upon the
hearts Of Christian people by the spirit
Of God. so that the consciousness Of
ChristendOm is being aroused 10 tht
meaning OF these new times
\ few days ago there met in Toronto
the first national missionary congres.
ever assembled anywhere FOrty-twC
hundred strong men. representing every
part Of the Dominion and every walk il
life. came together 20 consider what I:
Canada-s duty as a nation toward tht
evangelization Of the whole world :
similar congress is projected for the Unit
ed States. 10 be held in St Louis mex
March such facts as these deserve Z
be written in the same category with th'
annals Of the missionary movement tha
began at the Antioch church
SOME SENT MN.
No more important task ever engages Z
church's thoughts than the selection o
her missionaries. It used 10 be a some
what casual matter. Whoever was move,
TO offer himself was accepted for foreigl
service To-day the great denomination
are more particular in the choice Of thei
foreign ambassadors than are the grea
nations. The churches can better affOr'
TO place IN their biggest metropolitan pUl
pits second-rate men than they can af
ford 10 send such men 70 the nOn-Chris
tan world The Antioch ChUrcH had
wholesome sense Of the gravity OF its Un
dertaking when II Obeyed the call 20 So
apart Barnabas and Saul for foreign ser
vice
out Of the heart Of this strong and stra
tegic church were plucked its two leadinl
members that they might 60 forth on
mission. II was a call Of God. Then. a
now. the call came 10 the picked men
Only such are qualified for missionar.
service. This is no mere career wher
men NAV ind a life work and an inter
estng occupation. It Is a mission reserv
ed only for those who have felt the con
straining impulse Of the Divine spirit
That saul should become a mIssionar
was written in his very character II
had the imperial vision and the pIonee
heart He himself expressed his dee
purpose when he said: Being ambition
10 preach the Gospel. not where Chris
was already named. lest should bull
or another mans foundation Most Q
Us know noble spirits to-day possesse
By the same ambition.
DIVERSIFIED FORCE
It takes many forms Of ability to q
complete missionary work. This fir:
company consisted Of Saul and Barnaba
and John Mark. the last filing the role Q
reporter and general assistant The pres
ent-day missionary propaganda has nC
yet got TO the point Of sending out a jour
nalistic historian OF contemporary mis-
sionary effort for the sake OF the churc
ar home. Thus early began the mission
ary practice Of diversity OF effort Eve
as an army mas many forms or service
infantry. cavalry. artillery. signal corp
engineering corps-so the modern nj:
sionary advance has many lines % ar
proach. There is the preaching mission
airy. the teaching missionary. the healin
missionary, the mechanic missionary, an
the author missionary. al seeking tn
same end by various routes. This Is wi.
dom. Even when a frontal attack woul
faii. victory may be accomplished by
flank movement There IS such a thin
as missions by indirectiOn- This is
branch Of missionary science as y
largely h:ndeveI0ped.
AFTER HIGH AND LOW.
A roUnd-the-wOTld journey IS a me-
episode in these days OF travel facilitie
being very much less hazardous than Il
expedition which This first missiOna'
force undertook, although the latter Occl
pies very small space on our big map
Later on We shall see what was involve
IN PauTs many travels in the way OF De
sonal hardship and danger From Ant
och the missionaries went down to Il
coast enbarking at SeieUcia for Cypru
Salamis being their point Of landin
Thence they journey overland some