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TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I NE S S
THE CHURCH
B y W . B . R i l e y
T HE SUBJECT of “The Church and World Redemp tion” is voiced in what is known as “The Great Commission.” While it is true, as Dr. I. M. Halde- age, but the Church “gathered out of it,” and made ready for its coming Lord, it is also equally true that Christ’s program did not stop short of a worldwide provision. The world’s doom cannot be charged to church-indifference. The epitome of the entire Gospel is John 3:16, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” When Jesus defined “the field” in which and for which His followers were to work, He said, “The field is the world.” The last man is the only limitation on the Lord’s love. There is no more inharmony between the position of the evangelistic premillennialist, who believes that this age will see conditions wax worse and worse and men become increasingly inhuman and in need of personal salvation, and that of the socialistic teacher who insists that social reconstruction is both the privilege and re sponsibility of the present body of Christ, than there is between life-saving crews of a ship who first rescue from the billows the passengers already washed over board and then provide bandages for their wounds and cordials to warm them. . Of the answers given to The Delineator’s question, “What is the matter with the churches?” none rang more true to the Scriptures, while expressing the proper Chris tian sentiment, that that of Dr. Len Broughten, whose practice, let it be known, corresponded with his speech! He said, “The church lacks in application, and it will never command the respect of the world until it has given a response to every human need. At present it con sents for temporal needs to be assumed by outside or- ganizations—organizations that have no religious basis. The Church must not stand back and fold its arms wait- ing for some other organization to bring the precious spoil.” To the limits of its ability the Church should meet every reasonable demand. At home; yes, and the world
around. Our missionaries in all lands ought to persuade men to accept Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, and then assist them to put out of their lives, out of their homes, and out of their conduct everything that is unchristian and harmful, and to show how to bring in everything that is uplifting and helpful. Dr. S. N. Patten was correct in his statement: “If we fail to do for Africa and India and China what the early Christians did for our German ancestors, a slow but certain death awaits the church.” ■If one enters upon historical research, he will discover that the entire social life of those German ancestors was lifted by the propaganda of the Church. The Gospel in the Social Order The kernel of that propaganda is the Gospel. As Mark reports Him, Jesus said: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” ; and He promised, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” The. very rise of socialism provides a ringing reason for our harking back to the Divine regime. Social order, apart from the gift of God’s Son; the reconstruction of society without the intervention of a Saviour; the promise of a millennium without the fulfillment of prophecy; the golden age without God—thèse are idle dreams, and when they are formed into far-selling books, they are nothing better than infidel philosophies, destined, to doom their advocates to disappointment. Henry Van Dyke maintained: “The French Revolution is an illustration: it produced some noble and self- sacrificing men, some earnest and fervent efforts for the welfare of the world. Its motto was, ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.’ Its program proposed the reconstruction of society first, and attention to the claims of Christianity afterward. But in one hundred years how that ideal has been warped and distorted into the ugly shapes of An archism and Nihilism! If it should carry out its program for a material equality for every man, what security have' you for thinking that would give moral elevation and purity? What warrant for thinking that the new society would not be on a dead level of equally comfortable
man contended, that the world is not to be saved in this
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