Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-02-08

and largeneSS of power, working oul
great world purposes through armies
who fight for righteousness.
The very designs of God seem tC
be contingent upon the issues of this
war. 1t is such vast and holy con-
siderations that make us willing to
give ourselves and our sons to the
! struggle, sure that they are thus full
! filling the divine end OF destiny. The
. throb of eNultation which went
/ through Christendom at the capture
! of Jerusalem, a city not especially
( important from a military stand
/ point. revealed how closely thoughts
! of religion are interwoven with the
, war
Men Called to Fight
\ curious fact about the pacifists
! is that those who know least about
! the Bible are the ones who are trying
/ to quote it most freely. They read
! the prohibition of private murder,
! Thou Shalt Not Kill" and seem not
! to know that the Mosaic Code pro-
| ceeds to describe capital punishment
as the punishment by society and by
| God for various offenses against the
/ common veal. Likewise, they appeal
! to the gentleness and love of Jesus.
/ apparently unaware of His repeated
! outbursts of wrath against those who
/ wrong their fellows.
/ No pacifist could be expected to
/ know. for instance. that when Jesus
! sent forth His Twelve Apostles. He
/ commissioned them Ito preach, to
/ heal sickness. and to cast out
! devils" That is, they were to be
/ helpers and fighters. They were sent
/ forth to war against evil, as well as
/ to proclaim Righteousness. They Were
/ to be in conflict with sin and all its
/ agents. The biggest battle of time
/ (and one that is still being fought
/ out in the present war;, was taken
/ on by Jesus and His disciples at the
/ beginning of His organized work.
1 Nobody is a full worker for Christ
who is not able to fight rs well as to
! preach.
4 Man Versus Church SteepIe
How dramatically this new era IS
reversing old procedures, Until the
war broke, we were all busy building
up institutions. Little was attempt
ed on a broad scale in religion eX-
cept by organizations. Indeed the
suspicion was prevalent that the best
of our powers were going to the
strengthening of congregations and
denominations and societies and
movements" rather than to the min
istry of mankind. The worlds in
vestment in religious institutions and
their salaried workers, from the
financial side alone, was staggering.
Now. of a sudden, we hear the
camps calling for men-real men,
with an essential, vital message. The
average parson, it seems, makes
poor padre for the troops. 1t is the
rcd-blooded, fearless. brotherly man,
who is not disturbed by the smash
ing of conventions. whom this life
and death ministry calls. Our boys
over there do not need a variety OF
buildings and organizations; they
want men who can speak the real
word, and lend the real helping hand.
one chaplain or secretary of the
Young Mems Christian Association,
of the right sort, is worth a dozen
societies and UNCONVENTIONAL build
ings.
The New Call For the Church
IT takes no gift of prophecy to
perceive that the deeper tendency
among Christian leaders is back to-
ward the Christ way of making disci-
pies and putting into everyday men
and women new ideas and new pur-
noses: and then trusting them to find
ways of making over the world.
man is bigger than church steeple;
and his kingdom capacity is greater
than an apartment house and gym
nasium and school combined. Back
TO man." will be the new cry. The
elemental human resources that God
has used from the beginning still re-
main the chief dependence of the
Kingdom of Heaven. This lesson
lIpon the call of the Twelve Apostles
is timely and capable of significant
DEVELOPMENT in the right hands.
There is no blinking the fact that
these claimant times demand some
thing radical of the church. The
realization of new opportunities has
brought a new urgency, and new
sense of the immediateness of the duty
of the church to rise to this fresh
occasion. There never has been such
call upon the forces of religion by
social. political, and economic con-
ditions as to-day.
Realizing this, certain Jealous per-
sons would turn the church into a
debating club or a charitable relief
society. others would shatter all &C.
clesiastical organization, and quickly
merge the various bodies into col
orless entity.
The Crowded Christ
So serene and poised was the Mas
ter and so free from the distraction
Of the cares that thronged His days
that we forget how really crowded
with work He was. Observe the re-
currence in His biography of the sin
gle phrase, "a great multitude" which
followed Him. He literally was
pressed by people. They impaired
His liberty of action; they robbed
Him of rest: they made Him a SER
want of the poorest and the neediest
And what needs that :hrong en-
4, Jesus seem to be the focus
of all the sin and suffering and woe
and want of His world Every man
with a burden or a grief crowded
toward Christ.
Physically. it was impossible for
Him to minister to all who needed
Him. or to carry His message to all
the places ready for it. Then. as
now, He must go to the feet of His
friends II He would run all the err
rands of the Father. He is in this
our Exemplar There is scant wis
dom in trying to do great work
alone. We must all learn to labor
With people. II leaders. we must
utilize helpers and train them to
their highest efficiency. The respon-
slbility that comes to us we must