Evening journal., 1916-01-12
Rolling AlUay the Stone"
Sermon preached Tabernacle last night by Dr. Lyon

Lord, thou knowest that it has been
going bad with us; but we thank thee,
It is better. with us than with that
church across the street"
There is a great deal of church.
] anity that is not Christianity. The
: church organization often usurps the
place of Christ The pastor or mem
Der may be enthusiastic for his
church. with the same spirit that a
baseball captain or fan may be en-
thusiastic for his team; and with no
higher motive. That is one advantage
OF a union campaign like this, where
all IN the community who are inter
ested in putting down sin and en-
throning Christ, are invited to Join.
! have known some professedly re-
ligious people who act as though they
would rather that a man was not con-
verted II he did not join their church.
/ want YOU to be loyal to your church
and your pastor. Whenever I hear OF
a man saying. Il love every other
mans wife in the community Just as
much as / do my own" / do not want
that sort of q fellow to live in my
neighborhOod BE loyal TO your
church. but If you think that all re-
! ligion is centered in the four walls of
your denomination, no matter what
its name, YOU never made a greater
mistake. There is someone that lives
over the hill, even il you cannot see
the smoke coming out Of the Chin
ney. Let the stones of a narrow,
selfish sectarianism be rolled away.
In village of but two churches,
the pastor of one church had spoken
SO plainly one Sunday in his denunci-
alton of sin. that he offended a promi-
nent member who was guilty of this
especial form Of wrong-doing. This
member thought the next Sunday that
he would get even with his pastor by
attending the other church So at
the morning service with his wife
and family, he walked down the aisle
Of this other church and took a promi-
nent seat. The act did not escape the
notice of the pastor. and when he
arose TO make the announcements, he
/ looked straight at this man and said.
"My friend, we know why you are
here this morning, II is not for any
love for this church, but il is to show
| your spite against your pastor. for
/ having unmasked your pet sin. Now
/ would advise you to take your fam
| lily, and go right back to your own
church" ] have more respect for a
chicken thief or sheep-killing dog.
! than for a pastor or church officer
who will try to steal the members
| from another church or the singers
/ from another choir.
There are also many stones of OBJ
/ struction in the individual churches,
that are blocking spiritual progress.
One is jealousy and selfishness. As
/ long as q certain man occupies a
prominent official position in the
church. he is very enthusiastic. but
| when through a rotation in Office
someone else is given the leadership
often this one loses all his enthus-
iasm, and he does not now seem to
care whether school keeps or not.
That one was not working for the
Lord, hut merely for himself
Sometimes this spirit Of rivalry
gets into the hearts of the best peo-
: pie. Of course I refer to the musicians
! If Mrs SO and SO has taken a few
vocal lessons in Boston OF Chicago.
she is willing 10 sing IN the choir II
I she can render 2 solo every Sunday
to show her voice But when the com
mittee decide to form a chorus choir.
then she tits her nose and says, "If
I you are going to ask everybody to
sing. YOU can count me out" And
she shifts and snorts like a steer in
a pasture and off she goes II takes a
good share of the time of many pas
( tors TO settle the quarrels among the
musicians. One pastor called his
church choir his war Department. 4"
I rejoice to find singers who have
both voices and religion. Music has
led many an army to victory and
many a soul TO Christ
Nothing will blight a church any
more than a feeling Of bitterness
among its members. One man does
/ not speak to another because that
one supported the other ticket at the
primary or election. One lady will
sit right across the aisle from another
and walk right past her when the
service is over. without ever sign OF
recognition. What is the matter? The
one lady had an evening party and
did not invite the other one, and filed
with envy she is saving to herself?
"I'll get even with her" If nothing
else we're done in this campaign dur
difficulties and dissensions among
the members of every church in this
city, il would mean permanently the
greatest spiritual up-lift and revival
these churches have ever known. No
church can be blessed as It ought
TO be blessed. if It has two members
that do not speak to one another.
In the next place, it is frequently
the stones Of criticism that are hind
ering the blessings. Parents will go
home from q Sunday morning service
and al the dinner table will find fault
with the pastor. his sermon. and all
his family. then they wonder why
their own children lose interest in the
church and Christian life. No mat
ter what you may think about the
evangelist, stand by your pastor
Pray him up. praise him up. and pay
him up. II is not for my sake. nor
for the pastors nor for the churches
but for the sake of our Lord and
His kingdom. let me urge you TO cast
aside all criticism during this cam
paign. I cannot conduct these meet
ings to please everybody. and l ain
not going to try il. AS long as the
kingdom of God is being built up,
follow any plan or method that war
rants success. Many people work a
good deal harder on the hOld-backs
than they do on the tugs. II vou can
not do anything yourself TO help on
the work. get your old carcass out
of the road so as not 10 hinder any
body else Get out of the way OF