1112
THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
giHmHmmiimiiiiiniiiiiiiiiHiiiHimiinniiinmjiiiiiiimiiiniiiNiiiiiiiiiiimimimiiiiiiuiiiiuiHHhnHimiiig
ta in im p o rta n t qu estio n w e sh a ll no t h e re tr y to solve: How fa r sh all C h ristia n bodies go in th e b u sin ess of ch alleng in g th e S ta te to do its d u ty in police a n d o th e r a c tiv ities? T h ere is a t th is v ita l p o in t v ery m uch of u n cer ta in ty , a n d ou r th in k e rs m ostly do th e ir pub lish ed th in k in g on less difficult them es. B u t o u r g re a te st p re se n t in te re st in th e new p ic tu re of Je ric h o R oad to w hich Dr. C arlile h as in v ited a tte n tion , is th a t it leaves in th e obscure b a ck g ro u n d th e exact p a rt of th e pic tu re to w hich th e people of God m u st alw ays d ire c t th e ir m o st su sta in e d a t te n tio n . I t th row s no lig h t a t all on th e d u ty a n d w ork of so te a c h in g th e w ills and m inds of th o se who jo u rn e y along th e R oad th a t th ey sh a ll have w ith in th em selv es som ew h at th a t sh all lead th em to spy o u t lu rk in g b an d its, w ith th e pu rpo se of avoiding th em , when th a t can be done, a n d th e stre n g th to fight a n d overcom e th em , w hen th a t m ay be necessary. So fa r as Jerich o R oads go, th e chief business of th e chu rch es of Je su s C h rist is th a t th e y sh all, th ro u g h th e app lica tio n of th e m e rits of H is v ic a rio u s blood, m ake th e k in d of m en a n d w om en who can be tru s te d to jo u rn e y upon th e w ay w ith o u t stic k in g b lind h ead s in to th e first sn a re w hich th e d e v il•places be side th e p athw ay . C h rist h as m ade a n d do es m ak e th a t k in d of men_ and women, a n d a ll o th e r te a c h e rs and creeds fail to m ak e th em and alw ays will. T h a t k in d of c h a ra c te r alon e can n e g o tia te th e w ay of th is life w ith o u t falling . F o r Je ric h o R oad w ill n ev er be closed. N e ith e r a re th e re enough policem en in c re a tio n to m ak e i t free from d ang er. N or w ould th e bo astin g social Salvationist have th e h e a rt to keep th em on th e job, if th e re w ere. W e sh all need Good S am a rita n s w hile th e w o rld stan d s. T he only dep end ab le sou rce of th em , in fou l w e a th e r as
I CLOSING UP
JERICHO ROAD | ^miiuiiiiHiniinniinmiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiimiiiinijliMiiVummniiuiniiiiiiiniiiiuTiiHniiiiiiiiiiiiiiinip B H E social sa lv a tio n a lists, a few y ears ago, discovered an effective new p la tfo rm sh ib b o leth . T h e ir sp eak ers p rom p t ly g rab b ed it, fo r it c a u g h t th e crowd lik e th e fine necrom ancy of an ex p ert p re stid ig ita to r. I t w as like th is: “W e w ill soon q u it th e Good S am a rita n salvage, w o rk On Je ric h o R oad, because we sh all so police it as to m ak e th e b ind ing up of b ludgeoned h ead s no lo n g er n ecessary .’.’ The expon en t of th e New T e stam e n t gospel w as supposed to realize th a t he w as a b ack n um b e r. F o r him rem a in ed e ith e r th e d iscard o r a tu rn -c o a t’s se a t on th e social gospel b and w agon. W hich w ould he ta k e ? If th e re w as m uch to him he to o k n e ith e r. Dr. J. C. .C arlile, th e g re a t B a p tist, in h is P re sid e n tia l A dd ress b efo re th e B ritish U nion w hich w as re c e n tly pu b lished, m ak es a b rie f new su rv ey of JerU ; cho R oad on his own account. He says w q sh a ll co n tin u e to p lay th e Good S am aritan , b u t we sh a ll ta k e good care th a t th e S ta te sh all send a police p a tro l to sa fe g u a rd th e passage. T h is is m ore m od est th a n th e Am eri- - can social gospel p la tfo rm p ro p ag an d ist, who w as going to p u t th e n ecessity of S am aritan ism a n d w o und-binding in to th e d iscard by a .fa n c y job of policing, conducted by a ll th e relig io n ists, once th ey g o t w ise,enough to follow h is lead ersh ip . . Dr. C arlile w ould have th e S ta te do it— w hich is b e tte r. H e also p ro p erly comm its h im self to th e id ea th a t th e people of God should keep a d ilig e n t eye on th e S tate, as to th e q u a lity a n d n um b e r of th e police an d th e e x te n t of th e pow ers of th e de p a rtm e n t of public o rder. T h is is also w ell, b u t it raises a cer
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker