Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1917-07-05
Supreme Task Of Christian Church
Grew. Gay Charles White, Watertown
Methodist Church.)


Grew. Gay Charles White, Watertown
Methodist Church.)
Superlatives are dangerous and the
super-superlative is an impossibility.
The frequent use of the superlative
brings discredit upon the speaker and
works an injustice upon the actual
though comparative value gof the
truths under consideration. It is
therefore only after careful eonsid-
Grafton that the present thems has
been selected, namely, the supreme
task of the Church.
In the multitude of life's great and
compelling purposes IA we say that
any n of them is most Important?
inspiring and directing factor in ALI
that we sincerely undertake? When
we say that the Church is in the
challenge the thought, love and 10y
atty of men and women, what do we
mean?
Certainly, the Church should go
everywhere; should be helpfully in
terested in the widely varied activities
and experiences OF everybody; should
foster every good cause and endeavor
to suppress the devices of wicked
men; should seek to establish knowl-
edge, justice, prosperity and peace in
all the earth. All this necessitates a
program of positive righteousness
that shall be no respecter of persons
and that shall have a community in
ter-relationship. However, the great
est task of the Church must be indi-
vidualistic. We reach people, even
in the throng, by separate points of
contact. 1t is SO in politics., it is so
in business, it must be SO in the
Church.
The SuperIative Task.
The superlative person is Jesus
Christ. There are multitudes of great
and good men but there is only one
Christ. He stands alone in the gran
deur and beauty of this character, in
the loneliness of his life of fellow
ship and sacrifice. To make Christ
king in every life, that is the super
lative task of the Church. All else
will follow. Peace, prosperity, JUS
tice, knowledge of good and evil, all
these conditions inhere in the char
acter of Jesus. These r not en-
%couraging days for the advancement
of ordinary kingship; but these are
the best days in all the world for the
advancement of kingliness among all
men. 1t can only come through Jesus
Christ. 1t is a slow process, u we
have made it needlessly slow. The
Lord delays His coming because He
will not take the strongholds of the
soul by storm. Holman Hunt, when
asked why he placed the latch on
the inner side of the doc in his
master painting, Behold ! stand at
the door and knock" replied, Il meant
it sol, Jesus can stand at the door
and ask for a place of central in
iuence in our lives but He cannot en-
ter unless we open the door and let
Him in.
"He drew me with the cords OF love
And t1us he bound me to Him.
Our work is called Christian U
it is only partly SO. Our colleges, let
them teach Christ so that our young
people shall become Christian and
remain Christian. Let the son OF
God be the dynamic factor in all the
philosophy and in all the social re-
form taught in our schools. Our nos
pitfalls, let their influence be at times
like that of the Great Physician, VINO
went about doing good, healing al
manner OF infirmities. Our SUNDAY
schools, let their officers and teach-
ers SO exempIify Him that to pc n
the school will be equivalent TO rel
Iowship with Him. Our reforms. N
politics and industry, ane OF httle
value unless they be CHRISTIAN. !
care not what you call 1T, for "a rose
by any other name is just as sweet .
but the reform mus De n terms y
vital Christianity. Our homes, they
too must be managed as thousn
Christ were indeed present cons.anl y.
~. .Sirs, we would see Jesus -
ahe cry Of the unsaved world. IN
stead Of seeing Jesus, too ffequensay
.aav Goa christians unable to work
.agath,ey Too often they see the
Ch,rch a by ~dissension and the
saa,,,ha,s thinking little of Him who.
stands by with his bleeding
and wounded heart.
should Live for Community
ant all these plans for the Church,
~ ho,s,e the community, have TO 90
with individual units. When peopie
heenma less than free lndlvlduais
nav NAV form part OF q spiendla
.nachine but their souls are para
USED. Each person should I've Iorl
M Community but he must live ms
avn life, hid With Christ in God
Stated another way. the su areinr
.1.sinass Fl the Church is to develop
ssss,.i.fians we are at present NY
naTtIv grown The little child ~ 9
christian hut that littleehild VIII notl
ramafn Christian without proper ae
yelopments we must follow the pro'
cess of His e~xpandfng life. For lnir.
III almost silent years Jesus 3 va
anning that remarkable awakening "
tie Temple, when He was tw xsas {
years 81 age, Jesus returned TO- Nazas
reth and was obedient unto His pa1-
ents. After eighteen years g
opmentH e began His brael HDut ME
fectiye ministry.
f.ct tesfing III His childhood. youth
"a soriv manhood, could not pc nuI-