Evening star., 1940-06-01

4pee'Raeobn'toes10
would spread,
even as the W. T. Ellis.
leayen dissiminates itself in the
meal: and by conscious and uncon-
scious virtue and charm the whole
lump would be salted. Christ
planned no other propaganda than
that of disciples living the new lie,
telling the story, and in ways little
and great bearing witness.
Every time a Christian restraints
his temper, forgives an injury, does
a Christlike deed or speaks kindly
word. he is exercising the function
Of salt. There are some who look
to a new world religious organiza-
ton, which is now in process of
formation, to deliver mankind from
godlessness.
This generation seems unable to
escape from the machine idea. One
result is that the church is carry
ing a terrific load of organization
upon her back. We have too many
societies and salaried workers, and
have largely lost the zeal of men,
bers who serve only because they
are constrained by the love of
Christ. One all-afire disciple is
worth more to the community than
half a dozen new organizations.
More salty. shining saints are our
great need Phillips Brooks once
said that the world is yet to see
what God can do with a wholly
consecrated man.
The Lost Radiance.
Thousands of us still remember
an essay by Principal Jacks, The
Lost Radiance of the Christian Re-
ligion." published several years ago.
Christianity has become grim and
austere. The outward shining of an
inner light has been supplanted by
cosmetics. The glow and fervor and
peace which are the Spirits sigma
ture are notably lacking from
Christian faces. I once attended
the Monday morning meeting of
Detroit preachers; and more drab,
MISUNDERSTANDING lot of men
have never seen. The lack of Joy
and tranquility was due in part, of
course, to WEAKNESS after Sundays
service Il think the Monday min
listers meeting is an invention of
the evil one; the preachers should
spend Monday in the open air and
sunshine and at playD
Every friend of Jesus should show
a happy face to the world. Thus
hn nfx &c JNEy fo
to visit among plain people. of
rural Eastern Pennsylvania, because
of the serene and benevolent faces
the men and women wear. They
do not need the worlds furbeloWs
to make them attractive And, of
course, while we generalize about
"the lost radiance" we know that
all over the world there are mil
lions of Christians whose gentle and
kindly countenance betoken an in
ner peace. Like Moses, they Wist
not that their faces shine.
An oft-quoted epitaph is, "She
was so pleasant to live with" Re-
Igion is the great plus to person.
ality. 1t makes people easier to live
with. 1t adds graces and charms
as we'll as force. For salt is not
negative; it is an active agent. And
light is not subtraction, but an
addition. I know a city, the govern
rupt, which elected sturdy Scot
tish businessman, an active Chris
tian, as a member of its governing
commission. The effect upon the
city's life has been apparent to
everybody. This one man has been
saving salt. incidentally, he recently
eaved the taxpayers $70OO,OO0.
There are countless communities
throughout the land where the in
lection of half a dozen positively
Christian nves-lives that are salt
and light-would transform the
character of the places. The Chris
tians who want to obey the will of
God in all their relationships can
not help sweetening and enlighten-
ing their environment. Who can
measure the influence of the pledge
taken by millions of Christian En-
deavorers: Trusting in the Lord
Christ for strength, promise Him
that will strive to do whatever He
would like to have me do?
Instead of such intricate, elab-
crate and impractical theories as
were alluded to at the beginning of
this article, Jesus uttered simple
sommon sense, to which the hearer' S
own judgment readily assented
They understood salt; they under
stood the lamp on a lamp stand
where it would give light; they
understood the figure of fruit: "By
their fruits shall We know them" !"
It all was an appeal to the in
dividual personality, and 1t all was
practical. Jesus trusted to the
changed lives of His friends to
change the world.
Several of the writer's whom l
read last evening implied. or openly
declared, that civilization is headed
for a complete smashup. That
bugaboo haunts the dreams of many
1t can never come to pass so long
as there are enough individuals
who live by the Christian Way, and
govern their lives by Gods will
1t is true that these have before
them a tremendous task of light
diffusion. 1t is going to take heap
Of Christian living and working to
counteract present conditions; but
the friends of Christ are equal to It
The Sunday School Lesson for
June 2 is Testing Conduct by
It's Observation-Disclosures xv:1.6;