The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-05-09
Religion Is Blast of Ponder
Sending Men and Women Into
Heart of World to Regenerate
In the Teachings of Jesus, Religion Makes You Immune to
Sin and Sends You Out After the Other Fellow to Bring
Him to Jesus Christ Says Sunday-Ihats Religion
There 1t Is.

L
spoke as follows:
l want to take two texts this after
noon. One in the Bible and one out
side. One is the expression Of the
human desire, the other is the answer
10 that desire.
Gerald Stanley Lee, in recent ar
ticle on Advertising Goodness, said:
81 want to be good but don't want to
go up on top of a mountain and live
all alone; on some island in the mid
die of the sea in order to be good.
The other text is from one of the
immortal prayers of Jesus when He
lifted up His eyes to the heavens and
the stars and said: Il pray not that
Thou shouldst take them out of the
world but that Thou shouldst keep
them from the evil" John the 18th
chapter, 18th verse,
There have been throughout the
world. two ideas of goodness, mega
tive idea and positive. The mega
tive has been that in order to be
good you've got to run away from
the world, and the positive idea has
been that not only to be good but
to be good for something, you need
to get out into the world and rub Ell
bows with the world and meet men
and women face to face and hand to
hand And | want TO raise the ques'
ton in your mind. which is the Chris
tian idea of religion
wa:t TO strike death blow to
the idea that being a Christian takes
man or woman out of the busy ac
tivities of life and makes them weak
spneIess, pale-faced, effeminate, sort
of anaemc. sihhified, - ! don't be
Ieve that a man needs to run away
from the world to be religious.
|, too, have felt as you do, thaf
you don't want to go up in a noun
tain or live on some island in tho
middle of the sea to be good. |, per
sonally. face the task of being 6
Christian with joy, when l hear Jesu:
Christ say: 81 pray not that Thot
shouldst take him out of the
world
God Expects
Goodness.
| know God Almighty expects yol
and me to be good, not alone behlnc
the stone walls of the church on Sun
day morning. nor alone, hid in the
inside room of some monastery, but
out in the rough and the tumble Of
everyday life, the meeting and tins
mixing with people.
| want to bring an indictment, thi:
afternoon, against the idea that run
ming away from the world, in ordel
to be good, pleases God or has ;
semblance of religion about it. And
| have four counts in my indictment
First: Running away from tn
world, in order to be good, makes re
ligion simply a matter of place ant
obseryances.
When a man locks himself in
monastery in order to achieve good
ness or up behind the stone walls O
a Sunday morning by that act b
says it is easier to be religious i
a sheltered place than it is out on tn
paved street rubbing elbows and miH
ing with people, and that rellglo
consists solely in certain observance
and rituals, such as prayer, media
ton and reading the Bible.
Just so, there is in America.
type of man who seems to think tina
religion is summed up in doing Io
of special things, such as attendin
church, singing psalms, saying thel
prayers, repeating the 80 articles c
confession, and the catechism, an
giving little money, and they col
fined to one day in the week and the
to one hour in the day. So far a
| can figure out, from what you d
here, you can't even get 'em out q
night and they seem to think tina
religion is confined to one day in tn
week and that all the other six day
they can indulge in legitimate or i
legitimate activities regardless
secular matters.
Mans Everyday
Religion Bad.
Phillips Brooks. a great Eplsct
paIian in Boston, had, at one time
his church, Just such man. HIS II
ligion on Sunday was beyond crit
cism but on other days he did not a
low his religion to interfere with nj
plans or with the places he went L
and Phillips Brooks said every tim
he approached a man and asked hi
to be a Christian, in that city, I'M
mans name was constantly brougi
into the conversation.
Phillips Brooks believed there We
one place for a preacher to make d
criticisms and that was to the face
the man or woman who needed u
criticisms and so he went to tn:
man and he said:
Every time | approach man an
ask him to be a Christian, yol
name is brought into the convers
ton and they say, while you a.
loyal to the church on Sunday, viii
YOU are religious on the Sabbath da
on the week days they find you mea
low, sneaking, contemplate, lyln
untrustworthy, tricky; why be al
different on Monday, Tuesday, We
nesday than you are on the Sabbath
The mans answer was very 81
nificant. He did not blush or sml
or stammer. but he said, We'll, "
can't expect a man to be plous
the time, can you? You can't expe
a man to attend Vesper services {
the time? A man can't be readil
his Bible and praying all the tim
He must earn his bread.
Just as if earning your bread we
inconsistent and incompatible wi
religion. That's what's the matt
with the prosti,-te, that's what's t
matter with the thief. It's damnah
insult and siss-,nIer TO say you cal
be religious and earn your bread. "
y arc bringing an indictment again
God when you say. Il can't be dece
and make anything in the world.
You say, Il have to earn my L
NJ ,rc,t bovp n hn decent w