The Washington herald., 1922-05-29
MODERN CHRISTIANITY
TOO EASY, SAYS PASTOR
Mission of the Church Is to Serve and Lift Men
To the Spirit Of Jesus, He Declares.

throughout HIS ministry He was
continually laying emphasis upon the
hardest features Of discipieship. He
declared that Il cost men more to
be q follower Of Hiself than any
thing they might do. and the re-
ward they would receive would far
surpass anything that could possi-
bly, enter into their thought He
said that there were no easy
places" nor soft snaps" for any
who followed Him. All were places
of toll and service. He said.
A life Of self-denial makes one
accustomed to want and toll for
Christ. One fearful weakness of
modern Christianity is that II Is too
easy. We do not suffer enough for
1t, II at all. Jesus said. 1t is the
duty of all to follow Me-" Said
He. ''the foxes have holes" where
they may run and hide from the
hounds of the chase. "and the birds
Of the air have nests" where they
may rest themselves. "but I, the Son
Of man, have no place to lay My
head"
'sacrfAees Necessary.
He Is presenting the Gospel life
a. one of difficulty and toll and
hardship. his followers are to live
life Of self-denial; they are not to
indulge their ease and appetite, for
then 1t win be hard to bear toll and
weakness and want for Christ. It
frequently happens that His fol
lowers meet with crosses in the way
of duty. They are not to court
them, yet when they are laid upon
them, they must take them up and
bear them bravely for Him. In
view Of all this. my text becomes an
appeal to the heroic. Men like to
attempt the impossible. to try the
hard things, to do the things that
seem to be worth while and, ex-
erting every effort. climb the
heights of Christian experience and
have IAN exceeding great joy even
in the doing. The law of the busi-
ness world is, pay the price or
leave the goods" and the law of
the kingdom of heaven Is the same;
We must pay in heroic effort.
We are living in busy age, and
the demand Is for those who do
things, who serve their fellow men.
While II Is true that no two may
service for all in all lines Of Chris
tian activity.
There seems to be an awakening
OF the church to the fact that the
world Is to be won to Christ by an
individual effort. To be able to
serve. to lift men out of themselves
into the life of the Master, out of
darkness of doubt and sel1shness
into the clear shining light of truth
and love-this ! conceive to be the
great mission of the church into
which the Master has called us and
given to each one a place where
they may serve. And the place OF
service varies according to the tai
ents and abilities Of the servants.
but It is the same service, manifold.
variegated II you please. dedicated
to the same King. So true is this
that He declared that IL anyone
should give even a cup OF cold water
to a thirsty traveller, they should
in no wise lose their reward.
The fact is that the Kings bust
ness requireth haste; we are not to
be passive but active. No life was
more active than His. Did you ever
think how much Of His life was
spent in just doing good? That this
little passage gives a marvellous
Insight into most OF His great life:
He went about doing good The
church is accustomed to letting the
faithful few do the work, while the
rest sit around and find fault with
the way in which 1t Is done.
Service ExactfnE.
His service is exactins; the word,
daily" In his text, means that II Is
constant labor. Every day the cross
Is to be taken up and borne just
little further. 1t will soon be q
pleasure to you, and life will not be
the same without 1t.
Whatever your form OF service
may be and wherever your field of
labor. whether in pulpit or in pew.
there must always be In full view
the fact of this challenge of Jesus
for your very best service. 1t must
be whole hearted, we must put our
very life in 1t, for IL His service
means anything to a man. It means
everything to a man-service for the
betterment OF mankind. to be sure
that, after all. the world Is better
and lifted nearer to God. because
we have lifted some one. else into
His life and love.