The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1960-06-17

CHRISTIANITY is not an i'm
possible religion. Some people
think it is, but they don't under
stand it, Two very common
mistakes are made at this
point One is to think t h t
Christianity is essentially a set
! Of dogmas, a creed too compli-
Gated to understand. Now of
course. if you are going to talk
about God, you are sure to
strike mysteries sooner or
later, in the nature of the case.
God cannot be put into words.
But Christianity is not words,
though it has never thrived with
out them. Christ did not choose
his first followers for their
theological skills. The other mis-
take is to think that Christianity
consists of the perfect perfor-
nance of very difficult deeds.
And since all of US who are
honest must confess that our
deeds are not terribly difficult
and we do not do them wi h
spectacular success to say the
least of it-and so we are in
clined to give up Christianity,
because it's mot possible
What You Can't See
The truth is, Christianity is
neither ideas you can't grasp
nor deeds you can't do. Never
theless, Christianity is concern
ed both with ideas and with
acts. In the Sermon on he
Mount Jesus concentrates on
acts: actions and habits. blu
also motives, for motives are
part of every action. He speaks
of them plainly. and also ppeti-
cally. His figure of speech is
fruits" He mentions false pro-
phets and offers simple way of
telling a false prophet from a
true one by their fruits you
shall know them he says. We
must bear in mind that Jesus
did not say, by their. fruits God
knows them" Gods wisdom sees
into the hearts of all women and
men. sitting the bad from the
good We ourselves can never
fully explore one anothers
hearts. Indeed, who of us can
fully explore his own heart? Who
knows the full truth about his
own motives, desires. DISPOSE
ton? When grain first comes
out Of the ground. a tiny green
shoot, only an expert can tell
whether this is wheat SAY or
rye. 1t all looks alike to the
city man dashing through the
country. But when harvest time
comes only very unobservant
city visitor could mistake wheat
for rye.
What You Can See
1t is we human beings who
need 70 see the fruits before we
can tell about the plant, be it
| grain or trees. Kindly observe
how practical Jesus is. He talks
Of good fruit" not perfect
fruit. Some odd thinkers have
| thought that Christ, in the Ser
mon on the Mount, was doing
! his best to discourage us, to
show that the Christian life is
impossible. On the contrary,
doesn't it sound as if Jesus were
trying to encourage us? He as
sumeS that people admire good
fruit, and that there can be good
fruit in their lives. Let us put
that into nonpoetic language.
Jesus teachers here that all men
understand what good actions
are, that all men prefer-in
others at least! good actions;
ard that we can tell whether
nlar is good by watching what
he does. To make all this per-
fectly plain. Jesus draws sort
of picture of the Last Judgment.
Some persons who have been
quite orthodox, that is, they
always gave him the high title
Of Lord-will miss eternal life,
because their lives show no
fruits that can be called good.
Right opinions never make up
for wrong actions.
Not For Credit
Jesus had little use, on the
other hand. for people who were
all wrapped up, so to speak, in
their own good deeds; people
who called attention to them
selves and considered them
selves better than others: peo-
pie who want to be sure God
notices their good actions so that
they will receive proper credit.
In Matthew Is Jesus draws a
picture of the Last Judgment
which shows the kind of good
deed which God finally rewards
The people who will stand at
Christ's right hand are those
who have done good as well as
been good: but what kind of
good? Unconscious acts, that
is, acts which come out Of a per-
sons real character rather
than being undertaken as a
demonstration of ones own
righteousness. Unselfish acts