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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
life has been a very real and blessed fact. Such have been th e channels of all tru e Christian progress. Less than fifteen years ago a gifted Yale student of independent fortune, having com pleted his college course, decided to make a trip around th e world. Visit ing some of th e mission stations in heathen lands, he was deeply Impressed, bu t apparently unaffected as to his life plans. R eturning by way of England he spent a Sunday in London, and see ing an announcement th a t Dr. Torrey was to preach in one of the g reat public halls, went to h ear him. The main impression of the service does no t ap pear to have been in th e sermon, bu t in a message in song by a young lady who, w ith g reat feeling, sang the fam il iar hymn, “ I S urrender All.” T hat hour m arked a life crisis, and re tu rn ing, he determ ined to become a foreign m issionary and to give his life to th a t most difficult field of work among the Mohammedans. Several years later, while studying the Arabic language in Egypt preparato ry to service, he was seized w ith sudden fever and passed on to his reward. I t is scarcely necessary to inquire how th is deep, sp iritual experience af fected the use of th is young m an’s pos sessions. His in terest was immediately extended to a number of th e most v ital sp iritu al movements, to which he gave of his effort, counsel, and open-handed bounty. Following his death th e open ing of his will revealed a testam entary document so rem arkable in ch aracter th a t it has become historic. Practically th e entire fortune, am ounting to more th a n one m illion dollars, was bequeath ed to a number of m issionary, evangel istic, and B ible-training movements, showing a depth of discernment and breadth of sp iritual outlook unexampled in a man only twenty-five years of age. O ther men of th e new generation are catching th is vision of th e stewardship of life, and are finding a new purpose
which lifts th e life above th e plane of self-indulgence, and th e sordid business of mere money-getting to rela te it to a divine plan for blessing mankind. A dozen years ago a young fellow brought up in one Of th e ritu alistic churches where his heart-yearning re mained unsatisfied, stepped into a noon day prayer-meeting for business men held in th e basement of one of New York’s downtown churches. Here he received the vision of a life yielded in complete subjection to th e will of Christ. The experience came a t a stage when, afte r years of struggle against adverse circumstances, he had become successfully established in busi ness, and th e whole life perspective underw ent an immediate change. The sp irit and relations of the home felt a powerful new impulse; la ten t gifts for organization, soul-winning, and other forms of Christian service were discov ered and brought into use. F inally a considerable and rapidly accumulat ing fortune was brought under Christ’s sway until today, through its m inistry, he is aiding in th e support of a score of sp iritu al in terests extending around th e world. T ru e Stewardship These are but typical examples of modest, self-effacing stewardship which comprehends th e entire life ra th e r th an the mere tith in g of th e income, which in itself can hardly be regarded as a spiritually stim ulating or soul-enlarg ing process. It is perfectly clear, according to all sp iritual standards, th a t servants of Christ, such as Luther, Wesley, Carey, Livingston, Spurgeon, and Moody, in giving themselves, made an offering to Christ far more costly and precious th a n th e most princely endowment of any multi-m illionaire. The real stand ard of value in th e sp iritual realm is th e surrendered will. When th is su rrend er has been made, th en th e dedication o f time, ability, and possessions follows
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