The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1924, Page 1

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Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A. MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

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PusLisnEeD BY THE EVANGELICAL LurHeran SyNopicaAL CONFERENCE OF NortH AMERICA.
REV. F. J. LANKENAU, EDITOR.
Published monthly by Concordia Publishing Tlouse, St. Louis, Mo. Subscription price, 50 cts. per annum, payable strictly in advance,
Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 5, 1918.
Vol. XLVI. ST. LOUIS, MO., JANUARY, 1924. No. 1.

OUR MONTHLY MISSIONARY MOTTO.
The word ‘‘discouragement”’ should not be found in the dictionary of missions.

Factors in the Future of the American
Negro.

It is right to think about the future. There is
a value in looking forward, but a great deal depends
upon the way in which we look at that future, the
way in which we anticipate. If we are pessimistic,
discouraged, fearful, if we do not understand or
appreciate our strength, we are already defeated.
The man who ever cries, “‘There’s a lion in the
way!” will not go far from home. But optimism
is not enough; faith and works must be combined ;
prayer and wise effort must unite. In a certain
church, when the collection was taken, a large and
comfortable Negro woman shut her eyes that she
might not see the collection plate and sang with
great energy, “Fly the Gospel! Fly the Gospel!”
She was recalled to a great truth by the elder, who
touched her and said, “It ain’t no use to sing ‘Fly
the Gospel’ if you don’t give nothin’ to make it fly.”
That is the philosophy of the future of the Negro
in America. But let us consider the factors upon
which his future depends.

First: It depends upon the character and num-
ber of schools provided for the Negro. He,must
have some education, some rudiments of knowledge ;
hence the need of primary and secondary schools.
There are sections of the South where there is not
one decently equipped or rightly taught school.
There are large regions where for years the author-
ities cannot or will not establish a school. There”
children are growing up to be ignorant, untaught,
hopeless men and women. Many intelligent whites

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in the North, where schools abound, do not realize
that in the South there is not one-third the proper
number of schools, and that there is an amazing
lack of good teachers even if they had the necessary
number of schools. ‘Training of good teachers is
a necessity for the right future. Support of colleges,
such as the board maintains, and giving of one’s
means to plant teachers’ training-schools will do
much to make the Negro’s future bright.

Secondly. The Lutheran Church believes that
the future of the Negro depends on Christian train-
ing and education. The Negro must have, in child-
hood and youth, Christian teachers; he must be
taught that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom. Iivery sensible white person understands
the importance of the character of the school he
attended, and of his teachers as examples. Is it
not our duty as Christians to provide Christian
schools for Negroes and so develop their characters
in a way the state cannot and will not attempt?

Thirdly. The future of the Negro depends on
a true ministry, true preaching, true church-life.
We cannot expect Negroes to be upright, moral,
pure-hearted, and wise without the Gospel. “They
must have godly ministers and faithful instruction
in righteousness. No education and no increase of
wealth will make them good and reliable without
a religious training. Without regeneration man re+
mains brutelike. Scratch many a finely educated
man, and you will find a savage. A new heart;
a spirit transformed by the Gospel, that is he
highest hope for us and the Negro.

Fourthly. The future of the race depends on the

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI

CONCORDIA SEMINARY LIBRARY