Evening star., 1928-10-10

cepted Him as our leader, teacher,
guide, Saviour and God. We have
pledged Him loyalty which takes pre-
cedence of all other loyaltieS.
But because the Christian religion
is such an intensely personal thing. it
must also be an intensely social thing.
Because it Is something between God
and man it must necessarily be some
thing between man and man, between
man and his neighbor, between man
and his business. between man and his
country. 1t must go with men wherever
they go in their contacts with the
world. 1t Is great thing for a man
to be able to say I live by the faith
of the Son of God, who loved me and
gave Himself for me- That, however,
is not all that there is to religion. God
loves you and me, but that does not
exhaust the love of God. God so loved
the world that He gave His only be-
gotten Son. The world Is the subject
of redemption. Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it Is In
Heaven is an authoritative definition
of the reach of religion. The king
doms Of this world are become the
kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.
and He shall reign forever and ever
The followers of Christ have undertaken
to try to bring it to pass that the
sovereignty of Jesus Christ will be uni
versally recognized; that governments
will recognize that they are under His
sway; that industry will be operated in
accordance with the moral law Of the
Kingdom of God: that commerce shall
be conducted on the basis of the golden
rule; that society and civilization will
become Christian in their structure and
ideals. There is no sphere of human
conduct, whether in society, or huSi-
ness. or politics, In which the follower
of Christ can detach himself from his
religion.
You viii not construe this as plea
for the intrusion of politics and eco
nonicS in the pulpitS and on the plat
forms of the Church. The Church has
something more important to do. 1t
is one thing. however, to bring party
politics and economic theories into the
range of Church activity. 1t Is a vastly
different thing to bring the force of
religious conviction and experience into
action in our sociGl and political life.
Party politics pollute religion, but re-
ligion purif1es politics. Whenever the
Church spends It's energies on social
and political reform, or undertakes to
fight the worlds political and social
battles by using the worlds weapons,
or Identifies itself with the world in the
hope of producing a glorif1ed human
society by external pressure, the result
will inevitably be loss of morale.
Ecclesiastical politics are no better than
any other kind of politics. The anbi-
ton to be Boniface VIII may pro-
duce an Alexander VI. 1t is beginning
at the wrong end. It is patching UP
the machinery of society, which may
l.
instead OF reconStructing the motives
of men. 1t is trying to compel uncon-
verted men to enter the Kingdom Of
God, which their eyes have not seen,
before creating In them a passion for
the righteousness which Is in Christ
Jesus. The Church, as such, does not
know political parties nor economic
theories. These are not the business
of the Church. But it is distinctly the
business of the Church to know re-
ligion, to know faith and morals or
know the love OF Christ, which passetn
knowledge, and which cannot be ex-
cluded from anything affecting human
ity; to generate the love of Christ and
liborate it so that men will seek first
the Kingdom of God and His righte.
BUSINESS. 1t Is the business of the
Church to promote the Kingdom OF
God, which is Righteousness and peace
and joy; to be the leaven which leavenS
the whole lump; to penetrate and per-
meate the social, industrial and political
order without Surrendering to them or
occupying the same level with them;
to insist that business and politics are
not outside the realm Of morality and
religion, and to claim the supremacy
Of Jesus Christ over every department
Of human life. II for any reason the
Church failed at this point, 1t would go
into moral bankruptcy and cease to be
the executive agency of the Kingdom
Of God.
Function Is Illustrated.
"This function of the Church as the
leaven of society is well illustrated in
the environment of this convention In
this Capital City of the United States
of America. On this hill the Bishop of
Washington and his fellow laborerS are
erecting magnificent cathedral church
as witness to the Christian faith. On
yonder hill is the seat of Government.
1t is inconceivable that the Church,
as represented in this national cathe-
dral. should not seek the privilege of
being the friend and helper Of the
Nation as represented in Congress. 1t
is inconceivable that the National Gov
ernment should be unconcerned in
those moral and spiritual values for
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