The Washington times., 1925-02-07
HINT TO CHURCH.
IS GIVEN IN
STORES
Put Up Gods Goods in Proper
Packages, Lutheran
Paper Advises

Two merchants in the same
neighborhood may sell the same
high grade goods, But the one
maintains an attractive and orderly
establishment, with carefully ar
ranged show-windows, artistica1ly
arranged and carefully busted
shelves, well-swept floor and his
goods are done up in neat, clean
packages. The other pays no at
tention to these details. Disorder
and confusion reign supreme. The
windows repel rather than attract.
The shelves are disarrahged. the
counters are cluttered up. The
| packages are duty and fly-specked.
Remember. both handle the same
quality OF goods. But which man
gets the business? Why? There
are certain psychological factors
involved which are too obvious to
need elucidation here.
These same factors come into
play In church work. Some people
refuse to believe It and stubbornly
maintain that the Word of God
must do the work and that the
Word OF God is operative irrespec-
tive OF external conditions and
surroundings. We have no inten-
ton Of questioning the efficacy
Of the Word as the sole regeneEat-
ing agency given to man. But
we do desire to emphasize that the
package in which the pure goods
Of the Word are to be offered to
men IS a matter Of weighty CON
sideration. In our office as stew,
ards OF the mysteries Of God we are
dealing with human beings, and we
are unfaithfuI stewards when we
offer the precious heavenly trea-
sures in way which from the
outset antagonizes all decent hui
man tastes and instincts and arous.)
es all normal prejudices Many
churches are guilty Of surround
caps of slovenliness and disorder
and carelessness which from the
outset repel the possible interest
Of the unchurche6
An attractive house of worship.
kept in perfect repair, well equipped.
clean and cheerful, with orderly
arrangement Of its appurtenances,
is the proper setting for the effec-
tive preaching of the Word. OF
course, the Spirit OF God operates
also in dusty, filthy church
amidst the widest disorder, but He
operates in the face OF handicaps
which cannot but hinder the free
course Of His message. OF course.
the Word does the work, but a,
church that In every phase Of its
physical appearance represents care
lessness, that never begins it's
church services on time, that pre-
sents dusty pews, dirty windows,
torn hymnals, an untuned organ,
an Indifferent organist, an ill-pre-
pared sermon, languid deacons and
general air Of slovenliness will
not impress the unchurched much
by the claims about the purity Of
its message. 1t hardly has reason
to complain when the unchurched
person betakes himself to a neigh
boring church, which offers goods
Of lesser value but does not offend
his sense Of propriety and dignity.
The ordinary run OF occasional
church-goer has enough natural pre-.
JUDGES to overcome over against
the message Of salvation without
surrounding him with additional
ones Of an artificial character.
Let us pay attention to the ut.
Effectiveness of our house Of worship
and to the details Of the church
service. The precious treasure
which we have to offer to the
children OF men deserves the finest
setting which we can possibly give
1t. No church has the right to ad-
vertise the preciousness Of It's mes
sage to the outside world unless
it gives tangible and ocular demon
stration of its own appreciation
Of it's Wanted preciousness by
clothing it in the best possible
garb.
From the American Lutheran.