Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-07-25
In The Religious World;
(aEvEw SUNDAY SCHOOL LEssoN)
THOSE HYPocRiTEs.

THOSE HYPocRlTEs.
The International Sunday School Les
son for July 20 Is "The Wheat and
the Tares." Matt. 13:243o; 36-4a
(By William T. Ellis)
One of the stalest of stock argl.
ments against religion is that Of the
presence of hypocrites In the church,
The commonest excuse of the man
who does not want to give to Chris
tan causes or to identify himself
with the friends Of Christ is, there
are so many hypocrites In the
church" Each man utters that
truism as If he were the first to dis
cover it. The contention has no
novelty. 1t is not a condition newly
made in our own time. OF course
there are hypocrites in the church,
and there have been even since the
church existed, and probably will be
until the church visible becomes the
church triumphant.
That argument Is so old and wide
spread that Jesus once told a story
dealing with it. This parable Of the
wheat and the tares which the Sun
day schools are studying is designed
to point the moral OF how to deal
with limitations. The point Of 1t all
Is that while there are hypocrites in
the church, they are not indigenous
to the church; they do not spring
from the life Of the church: they are
an alien planting. Their existence is,
after all. only fact about themselves
and their duplicity. and not fact
about the genuine Christians. How to
deal with the whole subject Of hypo-
critics Is set forth succinctly by the
master teacher
The Weedy Wheat.
Yesterday I travelled through many
miles Of golden grain ready for the
reaper. One large field showed, plenti-
fully sprinkled through the grain,
heads Of Towering weeds. The way
faring man could not possibly mistake
those for wheat. The weeds were
clearly rank intruders, and nobody
would ever dream that they would
reach the garner. True, the weeds
would annoy the farmer, and they had
used up room and soil and vitality
that properly belonged to good wheat.
but after all they were only weeds
ana OOunQ lOT the discard.
That wise farmer had not agitated |
himself about the weeds In his field. !
He had attended strictly to the bust |
ness of growing wheat, knowing that |
the harvest would prove all. He did
not interfere with the growth Of the
tender plants in an effort to discover |
the possible presence OF weeds. He
cultivated the true grain and let the
weeds wait for the final day Of d.
vision. when they would go to waste
and the wheat would go to the barn.
Tho End Tests All.
Commonly folk become rather ex-
cited when discussing the subject of
hypocrites. There is really no need
for this. The better way Is to keep |
things In perspective and to see the
situation in it's proportions. TO hear
some persons talk, one would think
that the church is made up Of hypo-
critics. TodRy's newspaper told Of a
college president who was found dead
in house Of disrepute. Shall we
say, therefore, that all college presi-
dents are leading double lives? No
sensible person would be so illogical
as that, yet the brazen assumption of
many critics OF the church is that
because there are some .lypocr1tes IN
the church this is prima facie evil
dence that the church is wholly made
up Of hypocrites. It doesn't take a
lawyer to see the absurd
fallacy Of such an argument.
1t helps one to keep cool in con-
this matter to read carefully
the parable of the wheat and the
tares Jesus gave it for the guidance
of his friends. Doubtless he foresaw
that Jealous defenders Of the church,
like the servants Of the husbandman
in the story, would want to dismantle
the harvest field in order to get rid
Of possible tares. The Jesus way is
better. He counsels that the in
cipient harvest should neither be
trampled down nor tori up, for
the good grain would even suffer more
than the tares. He laid down the pro-
position eternally true d,at the end
tests all. Professor Thomson. author
If 1.-THE Land Of the Book" that best
realise on the customs Of Palestine.
,ays: 1.-THE Palestinian farmer, as the
line for the heading out of the wheat
approaches, watches anxiously to see
whether disguised enemy has not
,een all along growing in the midst
II the wheat, unperceived on account
# q close resemblance to It while in
he blade BY the fruit he soon recog-
lizes whether this be so or not. There !,
AN be no mistake then. AS once
,eard 1t remarked in that country, -;
the ears which God has blessed bow
heir heads, but these accused tares
tick theirs above the whole field.
FOR the tare then carries a tall light
lead OF small dark grains which in
,very respect contrast with the
veighty golden ear of the good seed"
The Time to be Patient.
Something OF the patience Of God,
Who has watched over his church for
,,oeo ,oDturioe content tn await tho