February 1928
72
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(3 ) He has never strained himself in gesticulating. (4 ) He has never been taken to a hospital nor operated upon. (5 ) He has never brought suit against the church for any cause whatever. (6 ) A Bible teacher named Matthews was taken ill while giving a Bible lecture, but has never contemplated holding the church responsible in any way. (7 ) A member of the church had casually suggested that possibly compensation could be procured from the State Industrial Accident Commission, under which reg ular employees of the church are protected, and had writ ten to the commission inquiring if the terms would cover the case in question. ' Now, gentlemen,' isn’t it about time this pastor—-and some others who have been just as much abused—were given a breathing spell? When the exposure of an indi vidual seems necessary, shouldn’t we at least have some first-hand information about the case? Blood Spots T O the Ephesian elders, the Apostle Paul, giving his final testimony, declared : “ I am pure from thé blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel o f God” (Acts 20:26-27). There are many who are pure through, the blood o f the Son of man who cannot say that they are pure from the blood of the sons of men. It is evident that Paul, the apostle of grace, took to himself the word o f Ezekiel: “ If thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity ; but his blood will I require at thine hand” (Ezek. 33 :8). How then can any Christian today escape the application of these words ? May there be preachers, church officers, teachers,— with blood spots upon their souls ? Without a doubt the angels o f God see such stains upon Us—the witness that we have not done our duty toward our fellow man. We know what we would say of a man who stood and saw another man or a woman unconsciously walking to ward .a cliff, without so much as sounding a warning. “ That man has a life to answer for. He has blood on his hands.” Yet what is this in comparison to keeping the Gospel to ourselves when many all about us are headed for a hopeless eternity, never having apprehended? Shall a little bashfulness keep us from speaking to such people, when if they were in mere physical danger we would rush unceremoniously to their aid? “ Am I my brother’s keeper ?” Then I would ask you to note Paul’s further word— “ all the counsel of God.” The message must be a com plete one. Sometimes we excuse ourselves by touching
question: “ Are you prepared to swear that this man shot your pigeons?” “ I don’t want to say outright that he shot the pigeons,” answered the farmer, “ but I know I caught him on my land with a gun. Secondly, I heard the gun go off and saw the pigeons fall. Thirdly, I found four pigeons in his sack and I hardly think them birds flew there and com mitted suicide.” It strikes us that many Christian people might well take some lessons from the conscientious farmer.' Some o f us have gotten a long way from the thirteenth chapter of first Corinthians. W e are getting too eager to find opportuni ties to expose. It almost seems that some are glad when a man is reported to have gone wrong, and rejoice in the chance to uncover his: alleged faults. 1 Cor. 13 cer tainly teaches that a Christian should never dream of wronging anyone; that he does not keep account of his neighbor’s faults with a view to uncovering them to the world; that his own shortcomings are so multitudinous that he cannot afford to attack others unnecessarily. In reading the many religious periodicals that come to our exchange table, we have been deeply impressed that a spirit of eagerness to believe the worst about men, is in the air. Not only are attacks made unnecessarily, but they are often copied from one paper to another, with no investigation as to whether or not the charges are well founded. If some editor lets loose upon a man in scathing terms, there seem to be other editors who grab the item as good reading, and reproduce it as a choice morsel for their subscribers. An interesting case o f this kind is before us. A San Francisco reporter, having a dull day for news, wrote up a little story to the effect that Dr. Matthews, pastor of the Glendale, California, Presbyterian Church, had brought suit against the church for compensation, as the result of an injury sustained in preaching. It was said that the pastor strained himself in making a violent gesture, and had to be removed to a hospital for an operation. We were not surprised that newspapers copied t'- item widely, but it has been amusing to us to note some of the comments made by religious editors, who appar ently accepted the story without question. One editor pleads for more moderate gestures in the pulpit. He inti mates that, this pastor was evidently trying to make up in violent gesticulations what the subject matter lacked of force. “ More power in speech,” says he, “ accompanied by the demonstration of the Spirit, would have served the purpose better.” The facts in the case, we learn, are these: (1 ) The name of the pastor of said church is'not Matthews. (2 ) The pastor is not given to making violent gestures. He is a man of God, who preaches in demonstration of Jthe Spirit and of power.
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