these are the things which defile a man” (Mat thew 15:19, 20). Though the words of Christ offended the listen ers, their response did not change the truth He spoke. And herein lies tremendous hope. You may not be able to control what your wife or husband, father or mother, or anyone else does, and you may not be able to change your environment. But you don’t need to, because the real source of your prob lem is not the people around you or your environ ment, but you. The things that defile you come from within you. And this, in a sense, is good news be cause you can be changed. But you must decide whether to let God change you. Yet to come to the decision that will lead you into the pleasant valleys of peace is to struggle with your own will. To illustrate, note the experience of Jerome Weller. Weller was foreman of a small department of a manufacturing firm in Trenton, New Jersey. One day his boss called him into the office and said, “ Jerry, as you know, things are a bit slow around here these „days. I realize you have worked hard and run one of the best departments in the com pany. But my orders are to cut one supervisor, so I am letting you go.” Weller was stunned. He was the only Christian among the foremen. The other supervisory person nel, including his boss, liked to go out drinking and had some pretty wild parties together. Sometimes their work suffered as a result, and Jerry had to step in to rescue them. He had worked hard. This was his reward. He now faced a financial slump. He lost his house and car and had to move in with his parents in Michigan. There Jerome had nothing to do but sit and mull over his experience. The more he thought, the more bitter he be came. He found it hard to eat, harder to digest what little he did eat, and suffered from painful cramps. His physician told him that his condition stemmed from his emotions. But most of his friends reas sured him that he had a right to have some emo tional problems. Time seemed to heal the wounds. Weller found another job and was quite successful in it. He was general manager of a manufacturing outfit with eight plants. One day while he was inspecting one of the plants the personnel director asked him if he would like to meet the new chief engineer of that plant. When he did, Weller found himself face to face with the man who had fired him 12 years before. “ I sure made a terrible mistake back there,” the engineer said to Weller when they were alone. “Will you forgive me?” “Oh, certainly. Forget it,” Weller replied. Jerome Weller said he would forgive, but with in himself he nursed a gnawing bitterness toward this man. His stomach ache returned. He began re-
in your abdomen, he examines it thoroughly, even if the examination brings you pain. Why do you put up with such treatment? Be cause his objective is to restore your health. He may save you from death by subjecting you to great pain and even the risk of your life on the operating table. It is positive to eliminate the negative. It is healthy to eliminate disease. It is good to eliminate evil. No one condemns the doctor when he diagnoses disease. He would be doing a disservice to his patient not to prescribe proper treatment. The diagnosis does not depend on the physician, but on the condition of the patient’s body. He is not guided by what the patient wants to hear, but rather by the course of his findings. Now back to the point that ministers are pres sured to emphasize the “ good” and the “ positive” because talk of sin and the negative is upsetting and causes anxiety and worry. Of course the knowledge of sin produces such results. But the immediate comfort of a person is of little value if there is, in fact, sin in the person’s life. To diagnose the sin, though disturbing, is a positive act. The minister, the counselor, or the friend cannot deter mine what the diagnosis will be. I cannot determine what my client brings to me. If there is selfishness, touchiness, irritability, stubbornness, rebe llion , hate, deceit, or something similar within the per son, it simply is there. I didn’t put it there, but it is my responsibility to point out its presence. This may be upsetting. But I have found no other way. I have never known a person to discover the sin that is causing his trouble by my dwelling on his good qualities. And I have never found a way of pointing out a man’s sins to him that makes him clap his hands with glee at the news. He resists such news, just as Jesus Christ said he would: “Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life” (John 5:40). Jesus also explained why people feel condemned and guilty. “ This is the condenmnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3 :19). This is why people become disturbed when they hear a minister of the gospel preach on God’s standards for man. The Bible throws light on their conduct; it exposes their souls. The truth is often offensive. Once after Jesus had addressed the Pharisees, His disciples said to Him: “ Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this say ing?” (Matthew 15:12). What offended them? This statement: “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man” (Matthew 15:11). Jesus explained what He meant: “ For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
THE KING'S BUSINESS
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