The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1927, Page 122

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122

is a considerable degree of harmony in the relation
between the outspoken purpose of such societies and
their practise. A bowling-club is not made up of
people who never bowl; a golf club is not made up
of a membership that does not care for golf. When
we hear of a yacht club, we think of people who
enjoy sailing across the water; and a fishermen’s
club, we know, is composed of men who delight in
angling. But.these facts do not apply to the Church,
Christ’s Extension Society.

The older the writer gets, the less he can under-
stand how people who have no interest in the ex-
tension of Christ’s kingdom can feel at ease among
the fellow-members of their Church who are filled
with the missionary spirit. How is it possible for
people to have the presumption to call themselves
members of the Church and yet utterly to disregard
the last command the Lord of the Church gave
before He ascended into heaven? How can church-
members feel free to exercise their personal ‘choice
in the matter of rendering obedience to the final
command of Him whom they nominally accept as
their Lord?

The physician we referred to above calls atten-
tion to the fact that the food given in childhood
and youth must be of a kind that will help to develop
bone and muscle. He very correctly emphasizes the
danger of possible deformity or other serious struc-
tural fault, where the proper food is not given the
child or adolescent. He claims that indifference to
missions is largely due to an improper spiritual dict.
It shows that a very important part of necessary
spiritual food has been left out of the child’s and
youth’s dietary. He insists that an important some-
thing has been omitted in our scheme of religious
training. For this reason many church-members
fail to become workers and builders in the Kingdom.

Our physician insists that the ideal spiritual
dietary is rich, not only in the element touching on
the grace of God in Christ Jesus, our Savior, but
likewise in that element which touches the owner-
ship of ourselves and all we have by Christ by reason
of our redemption. It would surely do all of us
church-members a lot of good to have us frequently
reminded of the nature and purpose of the Church;
it would not be amiss to have us hear again that it
is selfish on our part to bask in the sunshine of our
heavenly Father’s love and not to have a desire to
bring this bright and comforting sunshine to those
who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
All of us need be told again and again that there is

no such thing as any church-member’s fully pleas-

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

ing God and standing right with the Lord Jesus
apart from a sincere interest in missions.

Do you not think that the physician is right in
continuing to say that “the exaltation and advance-
ment everywhere of the principles above outlined
may be depended upon to reduce to a minimum the
evil of indifference to missions” ? :

Concerning the curability of the disease under
consideration, our authority tells us that his was
brought about by a sort of postgraduate course in
church-membership extending over a period of no
more than twenty minutes. By God’s grace he was
led to read an article bearing the title, “Foreign
Missions in the Light of Fact.” He arose from the
reading of the article convinced that he had neg-
lected the most sacred interest known to man and
craving for forgiveness. He saw the light, and, like
Paul, he was “not disobedient to the heavenly
vision.”

If the writer may be permitted to relate a bit
of personal experience, he may here say that he was
cured by the reading of a small tract bearing the
title, Will Not You Do Your Share of the Task?
which fell into his hands almost forty years ago,
as men put it, by mere chance.

Ever since he has been cured, his heart goes
out to those who are indifferent to the Church’s
great purpose; for he knows from experience that
the Christian life cannot have its full flowering
apart from obedience to Christ’s command to preach
the Gospel to every creature.

When Agrippa said to Paul. “Almost thou per-
suadest me to be a Christian,” Paul answered,
“T would to God that not only thou, but also all
that hear me this day were both almost and alto-
gether such as I am, except these bonds.” Just
so everybody that has been cured of the disease of
indifference to missions feels with regard to his
fellow-church-members. His heart’s yearnings go
out towards those who are indifferent to missions.
He knows that they are missing so much of the hap-
piness which is his; he knows that potentially many
of them are missionary enthusiasts, and he longs
and prays that they may see the “heavenly vision.”

But why are not more church-members cured ?
Many are in their situation because they have never
once in their lives listened to an adequate presenta-
tion of the claims of missions, either because they
embraced not the opportunity of doing so when
presented to them, or because those who should have
presented the claims of missions did not do so.

Inasmuch as it is true that not every pastor