The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-05-01
az WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

liz.
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
One explanation given for the pres
ent amazing interest of laymen in the
missionary cause is that they are not
content with a small life, circum-
scribed by the bounds of their own
secular business. The spirit or the
times impels them to seek cosmopol-
itan influence. There has been
preached the doctrine of the strenu-
GUS life and the doctrine of the sim
pie life. Now. more popular s1 nan
extended life.
This twentieth century mood chords
with the spirit Of the early Christian
church. Restless and outreaching'
the first disciples sought to bear their
Message 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 stuff should share in the honor
and reward equally with those who
enterprise was the church's enterprise
and not the peculiar Undertaking or
the missionary himself. This appears
plainly in the story recorded in the
Book OF Acts. and 1t depicts the nor
mai condition for church.
Won and Winning.
The first formal and organized mis-
Bionary expedition of the Christian
church Is related in this lesson. Signi-
Hcantly, the story begins with state
ment of the condition of the church
at Antioch, which had become a CEN
ter of Christian activity, though 1t In
itself was the result of missionary en-
deavor. It may yet again happen, as
It happened in those early days ana
often since, that the new centers
created by aggressive extension work
became in turn the main headquar-
tors of Christian power and influence.
Antioch had a strong church, with
prophets and teachers. 1t was rep
resentative company or belieVers'
numbering both the high and the
humble. On its roll were such dis
tinguiehed names as Saul and Barn
abas and Simeon and Lucius, and the
foster-brother Of Herod the Tetrarch.
The last named indicates how one man
may follow folly and his brother seek
The Antioch church was. at home.
strong in the missionary spirit. This
is the big concern of Present-day
Chrfstendom. Once Christians prayed
for open doors in the pagan world.
Now there are more open doors than
the church is willing to enter. The
one great problem of Christian extern
sion today is the problem OF the
home church: her interest In the
broader work, her devotion ana her
spirit of sacrifice. One may read
many signs that the providential
awakening of the non-C Christian world,
and the wide-flung doors of opportun-
ity, are being followed by a wide
spread moving upon the hearts of
Christian people by the Spirit of God.
so that the consciousness of Chris
tendon is being aroused to the mean
ing of these new times.
A few DAYS ago there met in Tor
onto the first National Missionary
Congress ever assembled anywhere
Forty-two hundred strong men, rep
resenting every part of the Dominion
and every walk in life came together
to consider what Is Canada's duty as
n nation toward the evangelizatton or
the whole world. A similar congress
is projected for the United States. to
be held in st. Louis next March. Such
facts as these deserve to be written IN
the same category with the annals or
the missionary movement that began
at the Antioch church.
Some Sent Men.
No more important task ever en-
cages a church's thought than the
selection of her missionaries. 1t used
to be q somewhat casual matter. VINO
ever was moved to offer hlmseI was
accepted for foreign service. Today
the great denominations are more
particular in the choice OF their Tor
eign ambassadors than are the great
nations The churches can better al
ford to place in their biggest metro
politan pulpits second-rate men than
thew can afford to send such men 10
fine non-Chrfstian world. The Antioch
church had a wholesome sense or the
gravity of it's undertaking when II
obeyed the call to set apart BarnapaS
and Saul for foreign service.
out of the heart of this strong and
strategic church were plucked its two
leading members, that they might go
forth on q mission. 1t was a call or
God Then, as now, the call came TO
the picked men. Only such are qua!-
flied for missionary service. This is
NO mere career where men may flnd
n life work and an interesting occupa-
fion, 1t is a mission, reserved only for
those who have felt the constralnlns
impulse of the Divine Spirit.
That Saul should become q mis-
sionary was written in his very char
acter. He had the imperial vision
and the pioneer heart. He himself
EXPRESSED his deep purpose when ne
said: "Being ambitious to preach the
Gospel not where Christ was already
named, lest should build on another
mans foundation" Most OF US know
noble spirits today possessed by the
same ambition.
A Diversified Force.
II takes many forms Of ability to
do complete missionary work. This
first company consisted of Saul and
Rarnabas and John Mark, the last
fiIling the role of reporter and general
assistant The present-day mission
arv propaganda has not yet got tc
the point of sending out a Journalistic
historian of contemporary missionary
offort for the sake of the church al
home. Thus early began the mission
arv practice of a diversity of effort