The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-05-08

city ought to arouse and awaken the best that
Is in us.
What. then. must be the attitude Of the
Church and of the Individual Christian to the
city in which he lives?
First the city summons the Christian to a
faithful discharge of civic and political OBJ
legations. That must be q part of his Chris
tan conservation. There is no such thing as a
good Christian who is negligent and indiner-
ent citizen. We are gradually learning that
lesson. Good men now are ashamed to adopt
the attitude of Indifference to civic obligations
and say Il pray thee, have me excused But
there still some who shrug their shoulders
and ask What is the use?" The answer Is, In
Yankee fashion another question: DO you be-
lieve that the majority of Baltimore voters are
wilfuly ignorant or morally bad? And II not,
when things go wrong is it not because the good
and the well-nformed inactive and indif-
ferent?"
The Christian in the city has a splendid
chance to deal with affairs of government at
first hand and in close grip. He must learn to
seize his opportunity. He must, in doing so, be
open minded. He must learn to separate civic
government, in large measure, from hatlohai
party politics. The tariff, it has been said, has
no more to do with city government than the
Westminster confession
Again, the good Christian is well-ln1ormed
citizen He does not wait until election day 10
exercise his civic responsibilities, Because 100
many of do wait. we have Deen Iather oit-
terly disappointed in popular primaries TO go
further back the Christian citizen realizes the
power OF public opinion He (why not she!)
helps to create this force for righteousness by
keeping informed public questions. He
tries to know something at first hand about all
agencies of public betterment He has his
eyes and ears open-also his mind! He knows
something about the social question, the move
ment for the correction of vice. the saloon prob
lem the work of the public service commission.
He belongs to the City club or to some other
organization that will give him the information
without which his vote ceases to be a Christian
exercise of the franchise.
The Christian citizen will help in some So
ciety engaged in the work of social uplift and
protection: the Playground association the Fed
Grated Charities the Children's Aid society,
the Prisoners Aid association, the Boys club
of his church, recreation centers, neigh
borhood movements of every sort He will know
something about the modern gospel of pre-
vention which tells that 1t Is easier to keep
people from going to the bad than to save
them after they have gone; that when near a
children's playground there is dangerous
precipice over which the little ones are con-
stantly falling it Is better to build parapet to
keep them safe than to erect hospital where
they may be cared for after they hurt"
In all this have ben inquiring what the
individual Christian ought to do in the city.
not what the Church as corporate society
should do. That is because individual faith
fulness necessarily comes first. The churches
in their corporate capacity, can never do any
thing until their members aroused, IT,
however. we can get a large number of church
people Interested in these things; If they begin
to work for civic and social righteousness: If
their hearts are fired with enthusiasm for the
city's welfare: and if enough of them get this
eager and intense interest-then because they
are members of the Christian body and because
they will dominate the life of the organization
ways will be found for the Church whole to
speak its mind
OF course the Church will have to distin-
guish between moral questions and purely po-
liticai and economic questions. Because almost
all problems mixed problems-partly re-
lgious and partly economic: partly questions of
methods we'll of morals-we must move
with caution in our corporate capacity; but
1t is usually better to make mistakes than to
do nothing. AS the mass of Christian people
become Christian citizens, 1t is going to be in
creasngly impossible for any church, as a
church, to abstain from community work. Per-
sonally as an Episcopalan. / would rather
have our diocesan convention spend two days
in thrashing out such questions, however heated
the arguments and however much of misunder-
standing might follow, than that its sessions
should be concerned only with the minute de-
tails of routine business. And what I hope for
at least, is that just we have time set apart
for the consideration of missionary work so
may have evening to consider social well
fare and civic righteousness.
In the meanwhile let us remember-we
Christians-that the Church is not a vague
entity. 1t is just ourselves, you and I. We
have right to sit down and bemoan the
Church's inactivity. 1t is your neglect; my neg
lect. You and l should be alive to the city's
needs. You and l. If alive will not be
like the psalmist who held his tongue and spake
nothing. We will cry aloud. We will
municate our enthusiasm to others. We will
become centers of knowledge and zeal centers
of influence to mold the character of our
neighborhood and change the city's life.
We will begin right in churches If
we cannot do anything else. will make them
friendly churches where people know each
other. The warmth of friendliness will give an
enthusiasm for fuller Christian life That
in turn will make an increasing number OF
warm hearted Christians, And that will make
our city city of God.
The Church and the City, Phillips Brooks
says that where men thickest, there is the
place for the Christian to feed and use his
Christianity. 1t is a joy and privilege to live
in great city; only-the Christians in the CITY
above all others. needs to know that his re-
hgion must not submit to be shut up into tech
nicalities it must claim all life for its own
Rev Charles Fiske, in the Baltimore Eveneng
Sun.