The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1911-03-16

VelOped a rather delicate situa
ton socially III the church. It il
only a recent thing that the
church In this section has been
plagued to any considerable extent
with the notion of the existence
Of a sort Of social caste. TO one
who is broad and charitable
enough to take a dispassionate
view of the matter it is clear that
this exists more ia the imaginaz
ton of some than in fact. Never
Htheless, It is to be deplored, even
as an imaginary evil, and we
should do everything possible
to stamp it out. The house of God
where His people meet should be
q place where all can feel that
they meet on a common level.
This is no place for one to esteem
himself better than others, or
where the poor and loWly may not
feel that they are among brethren.
who love them and sympathize
with them
Referring to this subject. the
editor of the Greensboro Daily
News, says in the issue of last
Sunday morning precisely what
we have wanted to say. By the.
way, this paper has become some
what distinguished for its splen-
did editorials appearing from time
to time on similar moral and re-
igious themes. But here is what
the editor of the News says:
1t is frequently asserted that the
church too often turns the cold
shoulder to the poor man and
welcomes the rich. The truth is,
however, that such is not the atti-
tude of the church as such, and
that manifestations of that sort of
todayism are not characteristic Of
the church as a whole. As a mat
ter of fact, the poor man., So
called, who pretends to have a
grievance on this score, spends
more time complaining about the
attitude of the church toward him
than he spends going to church
Most exceptions prove the rules to
which they prescriptions and it is
only a coincidence. if it is true,
that the church contains more rich
people than poor people.
The church can be nothing but
what the people who attend it
make it., and it is illogiealto plead
an absence of welcome where
presence is not only a right but a
duty. If the poor stay away
from church they are sleeping on
their rights-as the lawyers say
and their duty as well. Ft is I'M
fortunate that lines of this sort
should be drawn, but often those
who do the most complaining are
the ones who draw the lines. The
church is the poor mans home
and hearthstone and the question
of welcome" is one of the small
cts problems that shonld confront
him. To draw such lines is pay
ing more attention to the god of
mammon than to the God of Love.
On a per capita basis the fnan-
cial possessions of the churches
today are very much smaller than
many poor people" imagine
them to be. for the overwhelming
majority of the church members
are by no means wealthy, hardly
well-to-do. Much of the trouble
which has resulted in the existence
of this whole problem lies with
the people who Xhave permitted
themselves to be pushed aside, in.
stead of going quietly about doinp
their duty and asserting theil
rights in an institution which i
their own, quite as much as it be,
longs to people of wealth. The
complaint about a lack of "wel
come In the church is often only
an excuse for evading duties and
responsibilities. When a man il
faithful to his church and con.
tributes his mite-though it be
small-it is just as much his duty
to welcome the wealthy man as Il
is the duty of the faithful wealthy
member to welcome some Other
poor man. The church is one
place where there can be no inc.
quality of rights; and that fact has
helped the church to live and
flourish through ages when other
institutions have failed and de.
cayed.