New Britain herald., 1923-03-26


 learning, its power was not in these
 nor had ages of conflict. within ol
 without, been able seriously to weaker it. Without the material. military naval. diplomatic and other suppor
 that nations and races have had. the church has yet seen nations and race. come and go. Having to do primarily with realities unseen and intangible yet the church has yielded greater power. controlled more issues, and shaped more history than any other institution of society up to the present time.
 The church has endured the gen. eral criticism to which all other so- cial factors--governmen business, commerce. education, politics, inter- rational relations, morality, the home-have been subjected. This, however. is not to be .deplored for it is not an evidence of any weak ness of the church but rather of its worth and strength; for the inquiry of live men and the scrutiny of so- ciety is not visited upon useless or dead things. That the church has it's weaknesses, it's errors and sins, is indeed evident to anyone who knows it, and to none more clearly than to the ministry, which knows full well the misrepresentations of faith that weaken it's character, and the follies and petty evils 1t commits or per- mits. Granted all these! What of them? They do not invalidate the church's function and ideal any more than a. quack doctor destroys the value of medicine or the high pur- pose and worth of the medical fra ternity. It is fitting then to inquire what is the real mission and the sub lime possibilities of the Christian church. This we find in the sugges- tion of the text which tells us that the Church is pillar and ground of truth" This does not mean that 1t is the support and maintenance of the truth. The great verities of life would be forever true irrespective of the church or any of it's factors. The significance of the figure Paul uses Is to be found in another direction. An architects plans, however, inter- ssting, are useless unless realized in materials. The pillar and arc the realization of the architects vision. The fine building becomes the point of contact between he common life of men and the mind and spirit of the architect. So the ,hurch becomes the expression of he truth of Gods gospel to men. As man wrought with man for the building. so life works with life and soul with soul for expressing Gods plan, His gospel of Christ's love and service. Thus his love gets car jed around the world, Is told to | children and youth, incorporated in nen's lives, given as comfort to the discouraged and the sick, becomes he inspiration of youth and the stay # age, and the rule of living for all 10 the church is necessary for the ealization and expression of the 'reat architects plan for human life. The truth may be seen in differ mt light. The structure which is uilded may be that which keeps the rchitect's name and life before men. [e might create remarkable plans ut until one of these is carried out is name might be forgotten. Once 1e building is erected, it is there fter a reminder of the man. So the hurch keeps alive the sense of God nd truth in the world and is the { nly institution of society which spe- fically does this. The church ap- reaches every situation, appeals to . very life, attacks every problem. every soul from the purely oral and religious standpoint. the pint of view of God. So the God nse finds expression and emphasis Id inspiration particularly and al- avs in the church. So is it The hurch of the Living God In con- ,ction with this side of the truth, mething may be said concerning broad. There are those who are nd of professing a certain broad whose motto is especially ,cial service They claim to be ter something bigger than the urch. which is said to be too nar- W. and declare a desire to serve all en. to bring in the great Kingdom. r which service it is said the church
 handicapped. This all. of course, grand and fine, and there can be no sparagment of such a high and lendid motive; yet there is a kind
 religious zeal that comes very near
 being humbug. a piety that talks deal about loving humanity, but yer gets down to loving and helping y particular human--a sort of vis- , so absorbed in contemplating big