The Harrison times., 1912-05-25

puOny, OUT III many cases Oue
LII chord Is lacking-the peniten-
tial note. The Christianity OF
many people Is a complacent contem'
plation-not a sorrow for sin and an
agony Of moral aspiration. The creed
Of the multitude is: God is In his
heaven, all's right with the world and
u.s." This mood Of superficial con
tentment Is not that with which god
Illness" Is Joined In the beatitude and
declared to be great gain" but Is
really a state of Indifference with re-
spect to such ideas as atonement and
regeneration Hence we find that,
while crowds jostle one another on
the sunny way to the halls OF Gala
phas, or even the Temple courts, the
pathway to dark Gethsemane tempts
but few-here and there Magdalene
or a contrite publican whose vital
powers have burned almost TO the
socket-and yet Jesus Christ spent
more time, at least more congenal
hours, with publIcans than he did
with Pharisees, and hardly ever re-
rerred to the Sadducees except TO eX.
pose their shallow philosophy and
their still shallower hearts, Somehow
the Bible does strike the Tenitential
note-soU chow its promises are most
ly to humble and contrite souls
It Is worthy to note that two re-
nowned preachers, both Engllshmen
1t happens, have lately sounded a
warning against the spirit Of SNUG
Pharisaism which seems to possess
large sections Of the modern church
Thus DR.. ], H. Jowett says; Every
thing is not right among us. We are
busy, but we are not impressive, We
may interest but we do not con
strain We may tickle mems palates
but we do not make them feel the
bitterness Of sin" So Rev Charles
Brown rebukes the modern church for
its self.rlghteausnes and "unctuous
rectitude," for II has no outgoings Of
selfdenying and selrgiYirg service 10
the people without who need help
"There are churches absolutely desti'
tute Of any passion In this direction y
he declares There are multitudes
OF our church members who do not
care, They never give a thought to
the subject They belong to church
as they belong to club, They pay
their seat subscriptions, they expect
their reserved place, they go to hear
their favorite preacher; and II ends
there"
Warning Worth Heedlne,
These warnings are needed, though
the indictment may easily be made
moro severe than the facts warrant.
II behooves us not 10 berato others
In respect OF sell'rIghtoousness and
"elder brother" unc0ncern for the
prodigas, whether returning or unre'
turned bnt to look into our own
hearts to se whether they are sepul.
chres Of pride instead Of sanctuaries
OF penItcnce Yet we must not be un
mindful Of certain drifts Of the times,
In which the leaders Of the church
are In danger Of being caught It
may be, as the Christian World Gon'
dom thinks, that preachers have al
lowed thoIr personal and professional
interest IN tho fascinating intellectual
problems Of theology and criticism 70
defect them TOO much from the line
Of preaching directly TO the heart and
mind of average modern Congrega.
tons" II Is not fair to blame only
the preachers for such loss Of the unc'
tIon Of a prophetic message for the
churches In the long run, and for the
most part, have Just sueh preaehera
aB they want and as they make, and
none others, II Is time not for
mutual Misunderstanding, much less
for mutual recrImInatIon, between
clergy and laity, but for general
searching Of heart, for prostratIon be.
for the cross Of Christ, for confession
OF sin ms well M confession Of faith,
and for the taking Of such docIe
and toachable attitude before tho
Master OF us all Ns win preserve the
church from either pharisao heresy
or Sadducean self'indulgenee.- -zIon's
Herald Boston, Mass
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vi. onn.an,. AL.