San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-02-11


I just as well as the little fellow. S,
what does all of this success" that W,
hear 80 much about amount to! Now
what | mean by real big man" il
one who has the spirit of Jesus Chris
| one who is always doing something
| for the good of humanity and is moi
doing it to get free advertising or tC
work n graft, as is the case with many
of our welfare workers. When | OBJ
serve the eagcrness with which these
welfare workers ply their vocation and
observe the lack of the Christian spirit
IL call upon God with a prayer TO
give them the spirit of magnanimity
and to root out the selfish desire that
permeatcs them. Whenever | pass a
church l offer up prayer to God to
cndOw those who pass through its por-
y tails TO do honor to His name-with
the spirit of Jesus Christ, so that they
may be more like men Of God instead
of commercial veal. That's what we
need in the wOrld-the true spirit of
Jesus Christ, and unless we get this
| spirit we are going on the rocks to
destruction as sure as l am writing
this letter. All signs are pointing that
way, and the indications are becoming
clearer every day. You can see it over
in Europe. and YOU can see it in the
| United States. 1t is greed and selfish
ness everywhere we go. The newSpa-
pers are full of advertisements to get
the business. Everybody wants "the
! business TO get the money. And
what does it all amount to in the end?
| 1t is too bad that our churches don't
wake up and do something really good
for mankind, but they are too busy
fighting each other over trivial doc
trinal matters. That's what disgusts
Il great many people with the churches.
If these churches wanted to carry out
the work of God as He intended it
should be, they certainly would not be
fighting each other the way they are
tian spirit. They should love each
other. There really should be only one
church.
Because of these differences between
the churches they are making such lit
tie Roadway. The trouble is there is
too much doctrine and not enough
Christianity, which is only another
word for humanity. Religion is intend
cd for the welfare of humanity. 1t is
not so much as TO what becomes of us
when we die as to what we do to help
our fellow man while we are alive
on earth. To make our fellow man
happy is the task set for us. God will
attend to US after we are dead. Kind
ness is all that this old world needs.
But where do you find kindness out
side of the dictionary? You don't find
it in the store or factory, in the thea
ter or ball room. in the hotel or news
paper office, in the church or the lodge
room. No, you may find "politeness
there, but not kindness" People are |
M 70 70 t,n1-n A,,N L.,
comes from the heart. A person may |
be very polite but that would not mean |
he is kind. Kindness is the ground |
work of Christianity. Show me a kind |
person and I'll show you a Christian.
| blame the church for all of this |
lack of the Christian spirit. The church
does not live up TO its name. 1t has
not the spirit of Jesus Christ. 1t fails
to win the confidence of the people be-
cause it lacks the real spirit of Christ.
The question as to whether Christ was
divine or not is a secondary matter
with the people in regard to the church.
The main question with the people is
" What is the church doing for the good
of manklnd?"
The purpose of the church is to teach |
men 10 be kind-One toward the other.
But there is very little kindness among
men. This shows the church fails in
its mission. | have in mind one of our
highly successful business men. He is
what We call devout church member.
| know of my own personal knowledge
that this man is not kind. Oh, he is
pOlite-hc is too tactful
and diplomatic TO offend He has a
way of saying things in a very polite
way. But he is not kind. What l
mean he has not got the kind spirit
Of Jesus Christ. / believe that il Jesus
Christ would walk into this mans place
Of business and ask him for a favor
he would politely tell him he could not
grant it. He reminds me of the char
actcr of the rich man in "A Messenger
From Mars" if you ever read the story
Or saw the play. Now this man | am
writing about goes to church every
Sunday morning with Bible under
his arm. | imagine he is a Bible class
| know this man could
DO something to help unemployed men
to get work. He could give employ
ment to men himself. And there are
lots of successful business men who go
to church who could give unemployed
men work at Il decent wage. If Jesus
thirst were a successful business man
there would be no unemployment and
iutIt Nbulu Dt ITO SlIlhtS, LOT JESUS |
said Labor is worth its hire" What
right has one man TO own coal mine
Or flour mill and to make another man
work for him at n starvation wage?
DO you think Jesus would do this if
He owned a coal mine or flour mill?
Now, let's take Henry Ford, for in
stance. There's n man who does not
60 to Church-he's too busy. But Ford
is doing the greatest Christian work
Of any man in the world ! doubt if
Jesus could do any better. Ford does
not believe in charity. His motto is
" Help men TO help themselves. He
gives them employment and pays them
good wages, nobody less than So day,
but he requires that they save their
money 50 they will not be dependent on
others when they are unable to work
any more. Where do YOU find our
" Christian" successful business men do
ing this? They don't do it. This
proves the inPffCctivencSS of the church.
The church to do effective work has
got TO start with the working man
the wage Garner. You can't Christian
lie people on empty stomaChs, especial
Iy when the pillars in the churches will
not do anything to help matters. l
hope some of our preachers and wei
fare workers will read this and talk or
write about it. want to hear from
some of them.