The Ekalaka eagle. [volume] (Ekalaka, Mont.) 1909-1920, 1914-06-12
Religious
Too Many Lazy Christians.

" "0'y Lazy VnFl8tian8.
Many are asking, When will the re-
vival strike the church?' That d..
Ponds on the people in the church,
Billy Sunday gets results because he ia
everlastingly on the job. He breaches
Sunday and week day, frequently three
times on his rest day. The church has
too many lazy Christians. Some OF
them stir up sufficient energy to pray
for a revival, but very few are willing
to work for one, writes Norcross in tho
Philadelphia Ledger.
Work is the only thing that really
counts. Jesus said, "By their works ye
shall know them" He did not say,
Eye shall know them by what they tell
you"
The church is the mightiest enter1
prise in the universe, a gigantic COM
pany, which is in business to say
souls from perdition, and every church
member is Il stakeholder. Gods work
would be bankrupt if it depended upon
the money and energy put into it by
many so called Christians.
Men who are splendid hustlers in the
business world do absolutely nothing
for the kingdom Of God except to
warm 4 pew on Sunday.
The church must be filled with a
spirit Of service. 1t must serve the un-
churched. Its members must go out
into the streets and alleys Of our great
cities and bring in those who have not
seen the light. The First Presbyterian
church of Pittsburgh is engaged in this
kin of work. 1t is a downtown
church, surrounded by tall office build,
ings and department stores, and if its
members We're lazy it would be in O
hopeless" location.
But the First Presbyterian church Of
Pittsburgh has a club Of SOC scrubwo-
men who labor in those office buildings
and another of 400 salesgirls from the
department stores. 1t has q club of
300 poor mothers, and in numerous
ways this church is a mighty influence
for righteousness in the heart Of the
city of Pittsburgh. The Rev. DIR. Matt
land Alexander is the pastor. All hon.
or to him!
The master came to minister unto
men, to serve them. His church should
follow his example. What service does
the average church give to HUMANITY
that portion of humanity which never
enters its doors? Little or none. Two
prosy sermons each Sunday, Il few
drowsy prayers and q dose of music
by a choir, which believes high art
consists of being unintelligible while
rirr %hnA 80, Inv, %ho oCrn
service impresses a workingman who
enters a church for the first time.
The church must wake up! 1t must
put some vim and life into its serv-
ices. 1t must adapt itself to the
twentieth century.
For Il generation many church lead
ers seem to have been obsessed with
an idea that they had little or moth
ing to do other than conduct services
on the Sabbath. The Christian who
engages in the Lords work only on
Sunday is wasting s~iX-seventhS Of his
time. Many churches remain dark
during the week, with the exception OF
a prayer service on Wednesday or FRI
day evening. These buildings repre-
oA NAc A1AcNAo SNpNAANAIuAS VI ~NP@
ital. Their ministers receive good sal-
aries and they enroll from 200 to 1000
members each. The shutting down Of
these big plants six days out Of seven
is Il waste Of capital-spiritual as we'll
as financial.
The church should be open every
night in the week to render some kind
Of service to its community. The
church should be made a social CEN
ter. 1t should be the rallying place
for boys and girls, young men and
young women. The church which Is
filled with this spirit to serve others
will never complain that people now
adays are Indifferent to the church
and everything it stands for"
The church needs a new vision.
y.