204
May 1925
THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
A Terrible Question Dr. Charles Ernest Scott The following letter received by the editor from Dr. Scott (who has lately returned to China after a much-needed furlough in the homeland), presents such a vivid and interesting picture of one of the phases of a missionary’s work, that we are sharing it with our readers.
of the greatest places for propagating the Gos- il is preaching “on the Market” in China. The Tive-day Market” of the Chinese villages was „ venerable institution when our ancestors in the West were still reeking in barbarism. To this market, held in each cycle of villages on every fifth day, come all the peasants and small traders to buy and sell everything conceivable, from unnamable things of questionable age, taken out of the sea, to soiled cotton wadding taken out of worn-out clothes, and scraps of leather from cast-off shoes. A ceaseless stream of humanity surges through the streets, around the booths and about the stands, each human, male and female (females usually old, wrinkled and hags before their day), seeking a bargain in fractions of a cent, and attempting in general to “do the other fellow.” Nowhere else on earth may one so often hear the word “money,” and on so many lips, as at a Chinese market., For the preacher, the .market, though a place of pande monium, offers endless opportunity. Here, often outside the faall of the city, as well as inside, it spreads itself along the moat, long run dry, or struggles across a shallow river bed .outside the wall, or distributes itself all around the temple without the gate; and sometimes insidq the sacred area, and up to the very steps of the principal fane. In all these places, on some kind of an elevation, the preacher takes his stand; he sings hymns, expounds the Gospel, selling tracts and Scripture portions, and exhorts until his voice is worn to a “frazzle” or he himself is exhausted, or until the crowd begins to stream over the fields to get home before dark— the time of the appear ance- of thieves and robbers. The preacher ought to be possessed of a Herculean frame, the patience of Job, with lungs of brass, and the voice of a stentor; withal having the good nature of a Lincoln, and the perseverance of the saints; also such an interest in souls as characterized Wesley, and Mark Twain’s sense of the humorous; this last characteristic in order to get all the
fun possible out of hard and barren conditions, that sense in China being like oil on rusted machinery. One unforgettable episode of such market preaching is that often, while the preacher is expounding thé Gospel, some old, gray-haired, long bearded man in the crowd will step forward— a veritable 'Jacob, leaning on his staff-—to interrupt with a question. He points a long, skinny finger at the speaker; his glance, sad-eyed, pierces right down into the soul; his searching tone and earnest demeanor (with what is behind it) would fill the preacher with fear for himself were he' not committed heart and soul to the pro gram of. the Master. With slow and measured emphasis the old man asks:* “Shepherd! If . . all . . that you . . have . . been . . saying . . about . .the foreign . . Doctrine . . is . . true; if Jesus . . gives . . peace . . now . . and .- . hope . . hereafter— why . . did . . you . . not . . come . . à . .long . . time . . ago . . and . tell . . us . . about it?” Can you' answer that? It is an awful question that God Almighty will put to Christians of the home-land in the Judgment Day; to many who have unwittingly accepted Him as their Savior from sin, but not claimed Him as Lord of the inmost motive,—^to all such He will say in that great and terrible day— “Why called ye Me Lord, Lord, and did not the things I commanded you? Why had ye no part in My purpose qnd plan and passion to get*Myself savingly known to the hum blest man on the farthest rim of the planet? Why, for the love ye profess, did ye not project your intelligent interests and prayers and tithes and gifts and lives to the end of the world?” Will we answer Him then with joy or with shame and confusion of face? Often, at night, I cannot sleep for think ing of this terrible, searching question of these Chinese gray- beards. May God help us that at the Grand Assize it may not prove appallingly unanswerable to us favored ones! —Tsi Nan Fu, Shan Tung province, North China.
Don’t Gi\)e Us “College Bread” A p le a fro m th e p ew to th e p u lp it s u g g e s te d b y h e a r in g th e c o m p la in t th a t th e p re a c h e rs of th e d a y a re fe e d in g th e ir p eo p le “C o lleg e B re a d ” in s te a d of th e “B read , of L ife .”
D o n ’t g iv e u s “c o lleg e b re a d ,” b ro th e r. D on’t g iv e u s “c o lleg e b re a d ,” W e’re s ta rv in g fo r th e B re a d o f L ife; Oh, g iv e u s th is in ste a d . O u r so u ls g ro w g la d a n d s tro n g , b ro th e r, W h ile on G od’s W o rd w e’re fed. B u t jo y less, f a in t a n d void of p o w er W h ile e a tin g “co lle g e b re a d .” D o n ’t g iv e u s “c o lleg e b re a d ,” b ro th e r, D on’t g iv e u s “c o lleg e b re a d ,” A nd p a g a n is m p u tre fie d U n til w e’re sic k a n d dead. D o n ’t ta lk o f “n a tu r e ’s la w s,” b ro th e r. A s if o u r God w e re dea$, A nd h e lp le ss in H is unive'rsb; W h ile n a tu re re ig n s in ste a d .
W e w a n t th e W o rd of L ife, b ro th e r, T h a t q u ic k e n s e’en th e d ead ; B u t “scien ce,” so c a lle d fa lse ly , M ak es u s sic k in h e a r t a n d h ead ; P h ilo so p h y , b io lo g y , A nd e v o lu tio n ’s creed , A s fo o d to g iv e a s ta rv in g so u l A re p o o r a n d s ta le in d eed . Oh g iv e u s so m e th in g live, b ro th e r. A nd le t o u r so u ls be fed W ith s o m e th in g n o u rish in g a n d s tro n g W e’re sic k o f “c o lleg e b re a d .” Oh te ll u s o f a liv in g God W h o ’s n e a r a n d p re s e n t s till T o a n s w e r tr u s tin g c o n tr ite p ra y e r. O ur liv e s w ith p o w e r to fill.
D on’t g iv e u s “c o lleg e b re a d ,” b ro th e r, D on’t g iv e u s “co lle g e b re a d .” T h e W o rd o f L ife, th e w o rd o f p ow er, Oh g iv e u s th a t in ste a d . Oh p re a c h th e b le sse d B ook, b ro th e r, L e t n o t one le a f be to rn , N o r b rin g to u s a C h ris t o f H is D iv in ity a ll sh o rn . W e n eed a C h rist w h o is th e sam e T o d ay , a s w h en H e fed T h e m u ltitu d e w ith tw o sm a ll fish A nd five sm a ll lo av es o f b read . Oh, te ll u s J e s u s s till w ill h e a l T h e lam e, th e d eaf, th e b lin d ; W ill c u r e th e sic k n e ss of th e so u l, Of b o d y a n d o f m in d . — S elected .
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