Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1915-05-07
w. T. Williams


book entitled "The Social Gospel"
with the following paragraph: Jesus
has no social gospel for bad people.
His ideals pre-suppose goodness. They
are meaningless to men and women
who are out Of sympathy with God.
That Is why II is so hard to get the
gospel actually at work throughout
our social life. Sin is a fact that
cannot be overlooked by social re-
formers any more than by any one
else. Il takes sound timber to make a
sound ship; and it takes regenerate
souls to make a regenerated society.
The gospel is the message of a saliva
who accept Jesus as their Lord
From this point of view we are en-
abled to look in more than one direc-
ton, and before ignoring the SEEM
ingly hard statement it would be well
for us to consider it impartially and
intelligently. It has it's bearings and
we feel assured that we ought to
know them. Too much time cannot
be given to them. They will help us
10 steady ourselves in an age that is
so full Of hustle. Our need along this
line Is known to all. The paragraph
has made the gospel to us the most
profound and most sublime of all me-
diums within our reach. We cannot go
beyond it in any way. It covers the
vast field Of the human soul. It ex-I
plores every corner of our beings. 1t
permeates them through and through.
Nothing else is so complete as the
gospel, and nothing else Is so effec-
tive in the souls of men. The at
tention of people are arrested by it,
and the reason for this is, it appreci-
ates the worth of a human being in
the sight of God. Higher and deeper
than this we cannot go. The bounds
of our enterprises in character have
been set. They have been marked out.
and they are the ruling factors of
our lives. Never shall we be able to
20 beyond them. They are in them
selves complete, and making them OBJ
solete we cannot do.
II the Man from Nazareth had been
merely a citizen of the world He would
have taught and lived differently. If
He had been merely a social reformer
or a practical politician He would have
used other methods. If He had been
bent on gaining following His plans
His manner of approach would have
been modified, made to suit the whims
of the populace. But being as He was
The Teacher Of the truth the idea of
compromising with anything less than
this did not at any hour flash through
His mind. Under all circumstances
the truth was to Him paramount, and
it had to be honored and taught even
at the price of His life. He was aware
of the fact that Christian ideals were
for Christian people. He aimed at
making this clear, and every sugges-
ton made to Him to reduce theNpres-
sure Of His message, in all calmness
He refused to heed. He knew better
than the Pharisees and His own dis
ciples what He had in hand. He had
the revelation of God in His care and
He rejected with emphasis every op-
portunity to compromise. The truth
to Him was more precious than the
world and all it contained. He re-
fused to be side-tracked. To ap-
preciate this we must understand that
He realized that the children of men
could be like Him as the branch is
like the vine. Never did He forget nor
slight this possibility. He looked up
on Il as the natural outcome of any
one who could be induced to shape
his life in accordance with the truth.
In this we see at once the high con-
ception Jesus had of men and women.
They were to Him of infinite value. He
loved them because He saw so clear
ly what they could be. The capacity
of their nature was so great, they
could be SO much better than they
were that they were worth all He had
even His life. Nothing was toe
much for Him to do in their behalf
This ruled the manner Of His living
II controlled His wishes and desires
He saw what men and women coulc
be. Il Is true that they were wicked
impure and selfish, guilty of every
misdemeanor and crime, but to Hin
thev had a nature which could be de
veloped along the lines which Coo
had set in the early morning OF theil
creation. 1t had been appointed fo1
them to live in peace and goodwill
and this was all-sufficient to justif!
all He could do for them. The fac
that they were capable of improve
ment was to Him enough to warran
what He did and taught. "f the.
had been worth less, it is hardly i'm
aginable that He would have ventur
ed to give men the teachings tina
come from Him. He never preache'
TO birds and animals. He preached t
and He worked for souls. With God
help they could become godhke." Thi
TO Him sanctioned His purposes a
well as the methods Of His life.
The perfect Man lived in the world
bearing the burdens of His fellows an
sharin9 their woes and sorrows, do
inc alT He could for them,, but Hi
conception of life was not of tn
world. It was SO much above 1t tina
we even marvel at it today, and W
have every reason to believe tina
the more we grow the more we WI
marvel at it. This is full OF NEAR
ing. It is so much in keeping wit
what we desire to be, and SO contrar
to what we are, that the best we ca
do oftentimes is to raise our arm
in praises and amazement. Our In
provement may begin at any mon
ent. We do not need to wait Tor an!
thing to come to pass. We are aDoN
legislation, customs of all sorts, foe
and raiment, social pretige and goc
environment, education and culture
we are free to commence at once.
regenerated society is grand though
but we need not tarry in our presei
condition until that has been accon
plished. We may start upwards wit
out delay. We have an access to Il
throne of grace whatever is OF
plight. Waiting for this or that
be done is surely out of harmony Wi
the mind Of Jesus. The parable
the Prodigal Son is certainly a seve
rebuke to this. Jesus did not wol
for a nation nor an empire nor soci
ty as a whole. His attention WI
given to the souls of men-sinful m'
in all avenues. He realized that mi
and women could turn to God by b
coming willing for such to be. 81,
was within the bounds of 4
power Of their choice.
Much has been said from time