Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1912-01-29

give Il wrong conception of what he
believes. if we judge him by some
thing which he has said or written.
when il is taken apart from the
rest of his speech. or the paper oi
the book in which il is found. More
than this, we must weigh the word
with the man that is back of il To-
balance what has been said Let
the example of Jesus and the whole
- His teaching. be measured Or bal
anced with these expressions which
make for asceticism and withdrawal
f.om the wJ"'j and ali Of its affairs.
Erth his ards and His acts VIII
10; then be found inco 1sistent.
our Lord did not forsake human
society. When he was invited by
rich men to dine i'm their houses. He
went and ate of the food which they
offered. He gave up no principle i'm
So doing. He doubtless did not lose
any opportunity of enforcing some
great truth when the occasion came.
but He chose the time and place in
which il was fit To speak. He spoke
sternly of the dangers Of wealth, or
rather of the inOrdinate love of mon
ey. and the dependence upon it, But
He never taught that private prop
crty was wrong. He had among His
warm friends. those who were rich
men. Even after His death, when
the disciples, as recorded in the Acts
Of the Apostles. held all things in
common, there is no reason for
thinking that this was more than a
temporary cXpedient. Ii was not
even At that time. made obligatory
upon those who joined the Christian
community. Ii wealth was given up.
il WAS Il frcewill offering. The con
dcmnation of AnaniaS and Sapphira
was not for the reason that they had
refused tn give their property To the
common cause, but because they had
lied about it and pretended To make
a fun sacrifice of all they had, when
they had not. The choice was left
to them and they could rightly have
kept in their possession 4 portion or
the whole of the price Of their land.
if il had been done openly and not
secretly and dishonesty. Certainly.
in the teaching of Jesus Christ. We
can find no command which requires
what is known as communism that
all wealth must Toe held i'm common.
= denial of the rights Of property
He does not teach all the time the
stewardship Of wealth. the sacred OBJ
lgati"n OF giving and sharing. which
find their Interpretation In the spirit
OF charity winch is better than mere
aims giving. for il is rooted in love
and the belief that Il am my broth
er's keeper"
Try and apply an this To human !
life today. There is great truth ia !
Take money think / ]
have shown that what Christ con- !
demned was not the thing itself but !
the inordinate love of it. No man. |
today. would he found 50 great fool !
as To deny the value of money. Tho |
danger is that we all. knowing its |
power. are inclined 10 put too much |
value upon il and To- place its posses |
sion above everything else. Now. I !
do not believe that Jesus Christ /
would say. To- all men today what he |
certainly did not say To the men who |
lived in Gaiilee and Judea nineteen /
hundred years ago. you must give /
up al YOUR wealth" But He would /
say it :" some men. as He SAID it 1
t. the rich Young man who came |
to Him. Go. sell all that thou hast /
and give To the poor and come and !
follow me-" Why? Because there I
are some men living in the world |
today Just like this young man They |
place all their dependence upon their !
money. II keeps them away from /
God. from all the best things i'm |
life. 1t IS an awful thing To- be i'm /
To MammOn. There are !
plenty of such men and women who |
are not free and they need this nard |
command Of Jesus To set them free !
Ii they could receive it they would /
find their way into the Kingdom Of
God from which they are now shut
cut. 1t is this dependence upon the
Injuries of life that makes us cold
and selfish and mean and petty.
linlovirg and cruel II there is any
thing Of the earth earthly, which we
care Cor so much that we shrink
in terror from losing it and would
sacrifice all high and noble things |
to keep ii in our possession-truth.i
honor, duty. affection-then we are
indeed worshipinG Mammon. the L
world and not God. This applies not
only To the very rich. hut To the
poor. 50 far as they put their de
r endence upon worldly things There
ire probably just as many sclf-in-
fulgent poor people. as there are rich
mes. There isn't much choice be-
tween the rich man who inheritS
wealth and never does anything for
anybody. who is an idler. and the
professional loafer who tramps the
Earth for living. Again. there is
The temperate example Of our Lord II
Iesus Christ. who did not refuse to
Fat and drink of His Fathers bounty. III
out He has sternly said that no II
lrunkard can enter the Kingdom of
Heaven. But the man who. through
or acquired habit. has II
est his freedom, if ne would recover
himself. must become an aScctic II
He must strictly apply the words of
he Great Apostle and taste not. II
1ardle not. touch not" All things II
hat are lawful may not be expedient
The same Apostles words are not T.