1114 THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS Forty years ago, as a Secretary of the Y. M. C. A., in a little gathering of leaders of a prominent denomination, we heard one of the so-called “ gentlemen” say: “ If another fellow of that stripe comes to town, let’s hit him on the head.” The man he referred to was a mighty man of God who believed the whole Bible, whom hundreds of people had flocked to hear. We were new to the ecclesiastical game then. We knew politics. We had put our money into the hands of men and voted them in the interests of our party and believed we were serving our country; but now we had come into the church and thought it was clean and holy. We had a rude awakening and have kept, our eyes and ears open ever since and have become conscious of the growing peril to the church from self-seeking ecclesiastical politicians. There was .a time in the Protestant Church when the people had some authority. There was a time when even the little churches had the choice of their preachers. A time when the church gathered in prayer and waited upon God for wisdom and His direction. That time is no more. Even among denominations supposedly inde pendent, it is no longer so. There aré leaders in these days and the lead ers say: “ You cannot have a man unless he is a college or seminary man l” “ The Lord help us! What college or seminary?” “ One after our heart,” say the leaders. “ We will send you a man.” Pretty soon they will pick out our groceries for us, and tell us on which days to eat meat and when to fast. One denomination says, “ You must use the literature we send you,” and in another denomination, “ We will send you a man. Look him over, but don’t allow any man to preach in your pulpit unless we send him. You cannot have any man unless we recommend him, and we will never send you one of those premillennialists. So be good.” v “ Well, well, brethren, you are surely going some, aren’t you? Who are you, anyhow?” They reply, “ We are your leaders; your superiors. You are not sufficient for this great business. All you have to do is to fol low our advice, take our men, put your money into the bag, send it to us, and we will relieve you of all further responsibility.” , “ How about the missionary brethren? Can we select them?” “ No. You may support them, but we will choose them. They must be college- trained.” “What college?” “ Never mind. Now be good. We will ar range this whole thing. 'You just put up the money. You have not been educated sufficiently to know how to carry on a great work. Leave it to* us. We have learned this game pretty well in national, state and city politics.” . For the most part, when the Pope says “ Simon says ‘Wiggle-waggle’ ” the little politicians and the newspapers wiggle-waggle; and when the Pope says “ Simon says ‘thumbs up—vote,’ ” up come the thumbs and we vote. Can we help ourselves? Of course not. Let the leaders lead us. But, say, the leaders are blind! Never mind. The pit is there, and we can all fall into it together. . . T. C. H.
Dont Fail to Consider Our Christmas Proposition. See Outside Back Cover
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