The Farmville herald and farmer-leader. (Farmville, Va.) 1934-1957, 1957-02-08

pose-if you can DIR. Foreman
suppose nonsense for a minute
that city board Of aldermen
decided to save money by not buy
ing red traffic lights. Let not dis
courage our energetic citizens
with red stop-lights; what we need
is vigor and drive: GO lights are
all we need " Or suppose in an
other place the city fathers de
cided to buy and install red
lights only People should be left
to their own initiative. they might
say All we need to do is to stop
them when they need to be
stopped.
Gods Yes and No
All through the Bible, and es-
peciany in the teachings Of Jesus,
we find. as it were, lights both
red and green There are the red
lights of warning and the green
lights of encouragement In the
two chapters of the background
Scripture, for instance, we find
Jesus warning men against: judg-
ing by appearances, failure to
respond to God s messenger, con-
demning men for sins which
are not really sins, regarding in
stitutions (in this case, the Sab
BATH as holier than human life
itself, speaking evil against God
Holy Spirit, careless speech in
general, and living an empty life
the story OF the restless demom.
These are , all warnings against
IDEAS or action which look all
ght on the surface. The Bible
as few warnings against obvious
ms; many against sins that look
harmless or even good. But also
there are the green lights Of com
fort and encourag cement. A Ger
tain philosopher, particular
gloomy one, called Christianity
Gods attack on man
Lighthouse
In the New Testament Chris
tians are called lights in a dark
world Indeed Christ says they
are the light of the world. So
the church like the Lord must
hang high both the lights of warn
ing and the lights of encourage
ment The church must never let
the red light get out Of order She
must never let people think a sin
is not a sin, or that sin is not
harmful. She must warn men of
dangers that are not obvious. She
must never be Pollyanna, she
must never sing The world is
so full of a number of things, /
am sure we should all be as hap
Ply as kings" Like lighthouse,
the church must warn men, both
Christians and the world at large,
Of hidden dangers. If the church
sees no harm in what everybody
does, if the church's standards
are simply those of the world, if
the church turns into sort of
celestial rotarian society, its mem
bers fguratively slapping one
another on the back and telling
one another how wonderful they
are. then the church itself is in
danger.
Home Lights
II the lighthouse says. STAY
AWAY the harbor lights say
COME HOME. So the church, like
her Lord, if faithful TO Gods
Word. viii show men not only what
not to do but what to do When
an airplane is approaching d
landing field in the dark, if it is
a modern properly lighted field,
it will have a double row OF lights
on the runway, so that the pilot
by lining up his plane with those
lights can follow them right down
to safe landing The church
ought to furnish lights like those
for the world. The church has the
right and the duty to speak, as
Jesus spoke, not only to its own
members but to the world out
side, proclaiming the principles of
life which is right in the sight of
God, not only for individuals but
also for group living on small
scale and large. The church must
speak of sin. yes by all means.
But church that speaks only OF
sin and never of its remedy, is
like a doctor who diagnoses but
never prescribes, like harbor
authority which maintains light
house to keep boats out but no
buoy lights to guide ships in.
BASED on outlines copyrighted by the
Division Of Christian Education, Ma
tionai Council Of the Churches of Christ
In the U s. A. Released by Com N unity
Press Service.