July 1931
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THE PHILOSOPHY /PAUL’S CALLING . . . By STEWART P. MacLENNAN
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Commencement Address Delivered a t the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, June 18,1931
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Paul was distinctly and divinely commissioned by Christ to be the apostle to the Gentiles; yet he was a spe cific instance of the generic principle, and that principle holds for every minister of Jesus Christ today. The knowledge of the truth, the experience of forgiven sin, involves obligation and makes one the deposit of a sacred trust which must be discharged in the same way as the apostle proposed to discharge his.
ere it m in e to chóose the model for the ministers of Christ in all lands and in all ages, I would unhesitatingly choose the apostle Paul. By race, a Jew ; by culture, a Greek ; by citizenship, a Roman ; and subsequently, by grace, a Christian, he combined in his personality the elements which, by their complete ness, lifted him above all apostles. Stalker says, “In him, Christianity found the opportunity of showing the
world the whole force that was in it.” The philosophy of his calling is stated in his letter to the Romans : “I am a debtor both to the Greeks, and the Barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth ; . . . for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith : . . . for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven.” “I am a debtor!” The language is commercial, but the obligation which it acknowledges is not that which the mer chant commonly understands by the word. A debt is that which one man owes to another ; something which he has bought on trust or received as a loan. Paul was not, in any such way, indebted to the Gentiles; he had never bought any thing in their market without paying its price. He was, perhaps, in that sense, the most independent of men, for he owed no one a penny. It was not on the ground of anything obtained from the Gentiles that Paul ac knowledged himself to be their debtor. But he was a debtor in another sense. He had been approved of God to be put in trust with the gospel, and he was under sacred obligation to carry out the trust according to its terms.
That is, then, the important question. How did Paul propose to discharge his debt? T h e D ebt of th e G ospel is F irst to be D ischarged by P reaching In the philosophy of Paul’s calling, preaching holds the first place. To the Corinthians he said: “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the fool ishness of preaching to save them that believed.” Preaching is the greatest call ing on earth. It has had a glorious past and it will have a yet more glorious future. It is an undeniable fact that the church is sick, seemingly nigh unto death. In many churches the pews are half- empty, and the case is becoming des perate. Many physicians are prescribing remedies. There are those who say that the need is for more organizers and ad ministrators in the pulpits, and for more religious education directors. But God ordained that the world should be saved through preaching, not through organiza tion or administration. Organizers and administrators have their place and func tion in the church, but they will never take the place or supply the lack of the gift of preaching.
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TOWER OF FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHj, HOLLYWOOD, CALIF., WHERE DR. MACLENNAN IS PASTOR.
In Paul three civilizations met : the Hebrew, the Ro man, and the Christian. Paul was a Hebrew of the Hebrews : as touching the law, a Pharisee. But it was not Paul the Pharisee that said, “I am a debtor.” The Pharisee had no sense of obligation to thè world. Rather, his zeal led him to go down to Damascus to persecute and to kill. Neither is it Paul the Hebrew speaking here, nor Paul the Roman who says, “I am a debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians.” Rome had no sense of owing the world anything. Rome was busy collecting her debt from the world, not paying a debt to the world. It was Paul, the Pharisee, on a Roman road, who met the risen Lord. And there a new civilization entered his heart and changed him from a persecutor to a preacher of glad tidings.
Some say that the Protestant church is barren in her service, and that thought and time should be given to the development of the worship service. But the most beau tiful and worshipful service possible will never save the church of Jesus Christ, or the world at large. Paul was not going to Rome to establish an altar, to institute a ritual, or to develop the worship life of the con gregation at Rome. He was going to Rome with the “best message.” He was going to erect a pulpit, to preach the gospel, and to declare the whole counsel of God. Many in the church believe that the world will be saved by scholarship and education. Praise be to the reverent, devout, and conservative scholarship of the church; to such our debt is great. But scholarship has its limita tions. God has not ordained to save the world by scholar ship, but by preaching. “The world by wisdom knew not
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