IIow merciful of the Triune God in that day to say “ Let Us” go down and confound their speech and scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth and stop their work. Why doesn’t God deal in the same way today and stop the work of religious zealots who are beat ing the air and running hither and yon, geared in over-drive and motivated by the energy of the flesh? If He did, the majority of the preachers and mission aries and Christian workers would be running throughout the earth looking for a job. Perhaps it is His great mercy that keeps Him from doing it because neither you nor I would like to work part-time. David waited patiently for the Lord and prayed, “ Teach me thy ways, O Lord.” How many of us wait upon our faces until He shows the way, until He moves our hearts, until the fire burns and the dross is consumed? What do we know of true worship? Too many rush into His presence with requests on their lips, “ Lord, do that;” “ Lord, do this;” “ Please bless this great plan that I have conceived and this project now in progress, we can’t quite get along with out Your help. We are very busy and there is so much to be done. I have to go now, but I’ll be back for another few minutes later on. Amen.” Oh, the pride of the human heart and the religious enthusiasm we wish to create, and the way we want to build. “ Let us” build a church that we will not be ashamed of; “ Let us” gather (brick) prestige; “ Let us” make us a name; “Let us,” “ Let us,” “ Let us.” What is wrong with this? Everything! Everything is wrong, for if the plan did not originate in the heart of God, it originated in the heart of man. What ever we create is at its best but as wood, hay and stubble which will not abide the testing day. Origins are supremely important. What about our church and our pro gram, our projects and our work, our activity and the swim of things in which we are? Where did it originate? Was it our dream, or did it begin with God? If it originated in the mind of man, no wonder it is taking all the human drive and energy we can muster; it is wear ing us out. We are continually having to seek and plead for funds to keep it going. It started with man and only the continual transfusion of human energy and money can keep it alive and we dare not let it die. Who is exempt from this pride? Not you, not I, be we preacher, missionary or Christian worker. Why do we not wait upon the Lord until He shows us what to do? Perhaps it is because if our accomplishments originated in the heart of God, and we were led to do it by the Holy Spirit, we could not stand back and say, “ See what I have built!” Man dare not take credit for work God began and motivated although man’s hands were given the skill and the abil ity to perform it. — J. Arthur Mouw (Continued on Page 29) Page Five
recting their thoughts in paths of right eousness. Yet the writer of Proverbs re minds us that out of the heart are the issues of life and that if we are not pure in heart we soon shall not be pure in deed. Again, we often hear otherwise sensible Christians tell someone that it does not matter what they believe so long as they believe something, or that it does not matter to what church they go so long as they go to church. The Scriptures, however, tell us that this is not the case. The question is not one of b'd’eving; it is one of believing in Jesus Christ as one’s Saviour from sin. The important thing is not that we go to church, but that we go to one which teaches the way of salvation as it is set forth in the Scriptures. To be effective Christians, doing God service, and living to the utmost of our redeemed capabilities, we must weigh carefully the issues of life. We must be careful of the unimportant, as Jesus said, but we must place it in its proper perspective and never allow it to usurp the place of the most important and be come thereby the enemy of the best. —James H. Christian Without doubt they would have attained their goal had not the Lord confounded their language and scattered them upon the face of the earth. They said, “ Let us,” make brick, “ Let us” build us a city, “ Let us” make us a name; “ Let us,” “ Let us,” “ Let us.” Their motives may have been good; they were zealous, ambitious, and in today’s vernacular we would say they were “on the ball,” “ go- getters.” But where was God in the picture or where was the leading of the Holy Spirit? God had not been consulted, nor did this plan originate with Him. It was purely the brain child of man and in it man could glory. How gracious God was to come down to see the city and the tower which the children of men built. He saw the unity of mind, their zeal of endeavor and oneness of purpose and knew that nothing could restrain them that they imagined to do. There was activity, program, organization and plans for the future. The leaders were not lacking in ingenuity. They leaned back in the swivel chairs of their day with their thumbs under the armholes of their vests, and dreamed dreams. Man was in evidence everywhere: “ Let us,” “ Let us,” but apparently no one had spiritual discernment. If there was such an one, he was in the minoritv and his little weak voice couldn’t be heard for the pounding of the hammer, the mixing of the mortar and the waving of the arms. He was an “ old fogey” who be lieved that unless the Lord built the house, they labor in vain that build it, and so he got run over by the chariot wheels of progress, buried under the foundation that man had lain, and choked by the innovation of a modern age. Building Versus Growth M EN have been builders since the erection of the tower of Babel.
logical seminary. Accepted applicants are commissioned as First Lieutenants in the United States Army Reserve and take a tour of extended active duty of about two years, after which they con tinue their activities in the Army Re serve. Pray for our evangelical chaplains in Germany, Austria, England, Japan, Korea, and at home. Let us add to their number that our young people may have worthy spiritual leadership. —Donald G. Davis Evaluating Life’s Situations W ITH scathing denunciation Jesus addressed the religious leaders of His day when He said: “ Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cum min, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” (Matt. 23:23). All too often these words are applicable to our generation. This charge is true in all realms of life. It is true in education. While studying in one of the great universities of the Pacific Coast a few years ago, I read with interest the official student paper. Announced in bold headlines was the dance to be held on the following Friday evening. This caption was followed by a double column, continued on a following page, carrying the details of the dance. Tucked down in a small column near the bottom of the first page was the notice of the death of one of the faculty mem bers who for several years had been the chairman of one of the departments of instruction. It seems ironic that a uni versity noted for its academic standing throughout the nation would be more concerned with a dance than with the passing of one of its outstanding profes sors who had helped to make the insti tution great. It is true in daily life. The far-reach ing policies of a great nation occasion ally give way in the headlines of our newspapers to the notice of the passing of a famous personage in filmdom or a member of the family of such an indi vidual. Frequently, also, the papers carry the pictures of a spectacular auto mobile accident caused by the careless ness pf a poorly qualified driver while to a minor page of the edition is rele gated the fact that a number of well- trained soldiers were killed as they at tempted to carry out carefully the duties of their night patrol. It is an amazing handling of information which allows a menace to society to die a hero’s death while heroes die in silence. It is true in spiritual matters. Pastors become concerned with the problems of operating an organization at the expense of directing a soul-saving station. Churches become enmeshed in the shackles of a financial campaign and for get that their main duty is the propaga tion of the gospel of Christ. Sometimes Christians become more zealous in guarding their public actions than in di- M A R C H , 1 9 5 3
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