The Detroit times., 1915-10-09

Billy Sunday. II he could ever be
brought 70 consent to "join the
unioa,- u . matter Of speculation
Surprisingly plain words have been
SPOKEN on this subject BY warm
supporter Of Sunday. who fear q
reaction against him and his work
on this account. Nolan n Beat. the
editor Of The Contiaeut.- in the
course Of . fullpage editorial. said:
"And nov the only question worth
the anxjsty of the church. h the
question whether the 'aeceitfulness
'of rfchss,' which Jssns Christ dread
ID 20 much. may have eorroded In
some degree the mirror In which
4an esangelts&,s soul ought to reflect
TIE image of the Lord. The seal
with which Mr. Sunday still main
tains hin financial plans against all
modincntion. now that be has dis
covered n them IN n Dorado. and
IL subtle ways In which from the
p1otfofn ~ encourages extravsgant
gifts, suggest painfully that he In
net today - indifferent TO the gilt
Ter Of gold a when he started on
his work.
Another aspect Of evangelism that
u0ublxS fxslldious folK u uhe safe
q hymn books by chosisters who
sithsr are personally Identified with
q publishing house or get commits
sions from the publisher. One OF
these associates of . famous evan
gslist makes over S50.0o0 = year.
| The authors Of the popular hymns
| get only I trifle for their work. the
amounts rang4ng from one to ten
dollars . song. more often the for
mer than the latter.
The strife Of the hymn-book sell
/ ers IL responsible for the deter iora-
tiou Of taste IN church music, which
| President Wilson and other church
men have publicly .amenfed.
Now that Is denominations. IN
affiliation with the Federal Coun-
| ellis commissioa. have evangelistic
committees Of their own, 1t 10 be-
lieved that some Of these evils may
be corrected.
!! As yet no way has been found
for dealing with the minister who
sells wildcat mining stock and un-
certain real estate. The number
Of confding persons-a ghastly pro
portion OF whom are widows--who
have lost their all through their
| trustfulness in preachers as invest
ment guides. is beyond ceftatn
knoxlsfze
A prominent lsyman was recently
! approached by q minister who has
! quit preaching and gone into the
marketing Of nut lands In the
south. When the layman pointed
ont that, NJ the highest possible
market rating. the offering was
worth less than half what the min
lister asked for ID. the latter guile
Iessly countered by the statement
that II must be good thing. or
/ e certain widow with eight children
would not have pu. her oil into Il.
Clearly. that mans customers had
been led to purchase by his r,inis-
! terial standing and by his personal
pro5ity. rather than by his business
fcnmsn.
The only proposition that offers
any deiiverance from these men
who have Identified the ministry to
80 into secular business u TO de-
privc them Of their clerical stand
!, ing and the right TO use ministerial
| titles.
II the expected revival of reii-
! gion In 10 come, all traffickers VIII
havs 70 be driven from The courts
/ ri the temple: and all attaches OF
the temple will have to be led to
give up commercin! perquisitcs.
Only an unworidly ministry can
lead the world into the church. And
not the allurements Of gain. but the
summons to sacrihce. will lead
worthy young men into the Gospel
! ministry.