Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-03-20
JESUS GOAL WAS
A BETTER SOCIETY
World Is Childish Today in Its De-
sire For Reforms, Says
W. I. Ellis
CHURCH LOST LEADERSHIP u?
Some Folks Not Pleased With
Saviour Because of His
Democracy
The International Sunday School Les
son For March % Is lessons by
the Way; Luke 13:1S-S5
(Rv William n. Ellis,

books. knows that the greatest theme
under present discussion is, Where
are we going? What is the meaning
Of this tremendous social upheaval?
Will the world unrest, with all
| it's new political, economic and So
cial theories, lead to chaos, or to
better order of humanity?"
All Of which is to say ''Is the king
dom Of Heaven coming?" There Is a
wider deeper interest In this ques-
ton than when Jesus Himself travelled
on foot over His little world, talk
Ing everywhere about the kingdom.
Our own new experiences lead us to
comprehend, perhaps better than did
our fathers, how dominant was the
kingdom note in the thought and
teaching of Jesus His goal was
nothing less than a new and better
order Of society-a kingdom wherein
the ideals and sovereignty of God
held sway.
There is not a political or social
reformer before the world to-day,
neither Lord George nor Woodrow
basic scheme for the betterment Of
human life as that which Jesus pro-
claimed. All that Is wise or worthy
In to-day's social urge is but COM
ing to their own Of the teachings
Of Jesus. Pity the blindness of the
person who can see no relationship
between the utterances and practices
Of Christ, and the upheavals that are
going forward before our eyes to-day.
These are kingdom-coming times, be-
yong the compass of our minds.
By Law OF by Growth?
What child wants, he wants
right away Only the mature can
wait patiently for the fulf1llment Of
a desire. We are we'll advanced in
our understanding Of life before we
begin to grasp the great truth Of
the patience of God.
Candidly, we are to-day childish in
our attitude toward social reforms.
We want them enacted into laws as
soon as we have sighted them, The
latest theory must be rushed on to
the statute books. Social reformers
blithely turn their backs on the long
experience Of the race, and demand
that the very newest idea Of the most
radical theorist shall be put into
general practice at once. whether
that idea be human eugenics Of a
cattle-breeding type or anarchy in
child life, masquerading as q new
educational method. Our light and
easy disregard Of the principle of
natural growth has crowded our State
| laws with immature legislation, our
schools with fads, and our literature
with extravagances that make the
judicious grieve.
| No hasty or ill-considered reforms
were launched by Jesus. In the ut
terances concerning the kingdom Of
God which form the present Sun
day School lesson, He likened it's
growth to that Of a mustard seed or
to the spread of leaven in meal. IT
began small, but 1t was to grow
large. At first rejected teaching in
an obscure Roman province. of a man
subsequently executed as q criminal,
| 1T later became the dominant power
Of the world. To-day two-thirds of
mankind are under nominally Chris
tian rule. The genius OF the king
dom is working out in a new world
order. The best brains of earth are
to-day engaged in promoting human
welfare; which is to say, they are
servants of the kingdom.
| Nobody who expects to hold any
rating as thoughtful person now
deSpises the day of small things in
the kingdom. The shallow and
supercilious scepticism of IngersoI no
longer has any vogue. Everybody
perecives that the tree which to-day
affords shelter and fruit to the weary
millions is of Christ's planting The
essentially Christian character of the
present social reform is admitted.
Jesus is acclaimed as the real leader
Of the hosts of progress, and His
songs sung in political conventions.
Leaving Ont the Church
A new note is being sounded in
the present discussions Of the deeper
tendency of our time Most persons
religious. Men and women are hun
CRY for spiritual satisfactions But
question was raised in q recent i'm
portant and suggestive symposium in
the North American, Philadelphia,
wherein leaders of thought made ans
wer to the inquiry "Is revival of re-
ligion impending?" Most of the re-
plies gave Judgment that something
like a revival is either coming or else
is already here. But, some discerning
men queried, "Is 1t not coming outside
of the church 2" Broadly speaking, has
the church abdicated her religious
leadership? Is not the world running
ahead of her inspiritual perception
and progress? Are are new express
sions and interpretations Of the days
religious mood vocalized by others
than the leaders of the church, to the
men who are supported by the church
and whose whole time belongs to the
| church?
That was what had happened in
the time Of Jesus. The ecclesiastical
! leaders crucified. Him because He did
not conform to their encrusted meth
! ods and interpretations. but was a
living voice OF vital truth-and
truth is ever expanding and growing,
like the kingdom which is it's Gus
todian. More than once in her long
history, human thought and human
service has outrun the church, and
| 1t has needed cataclysm to bring
the latter up to the times.
Very searching In this kingdom
idea. It penetrates the consciences
of all alert church officials and MEM
bers. The kingdom Is ever growing,
and taking on new forms and enlarg-
ing its approach to new conditions;
is the church? Consider how in
stinctively downtown churches. amid
altered neighborhood conditions, seek
for an endowment fund, in order to
perpetuate the old order. If, as some
contend, and as certain English en-
dowments clearly illustrate, an endow-
ment Is the hand of dead past on
living present would 1t not be better
to turn some of the energy that the
church now spends in raising endow-
ments into vitalizing the present mem
bership? A really alive church is al
WAYS equal to the problems of its own |