Christians for the World—Not of it
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There was a prodigious significance in that intercessory prayer of our Lord on the eve of his sufferings; "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world—but that you protect them from the evil one." John 17:15. The preservation of the world from moral ruin, depended on the preservation of the church of God. "You are my witnesses," said the Master. The followers of Christ were to be his representatives; the visibility of Christ on earth was to be in the persons, in the acts and lives of those whom he had redeemed to be a peculiar people, zealous in good works.
They were to be a wholesome leaven, penetrating the whole mass of sinful humanity; they were to be the salt of the earth, preserving society from putrefaction by the savor of pure godliness. "Let your light shine!" To "shine" means something more than the possession of a renewed heart or the enjoyment of an inward peace. It signifies the luminous reflection of Christ in character and conduct.
This world cannot afford to have Christians degenerate or become demoralized. No city can afford to have its gas apparatus so damaged as to leave its streets in darkness, or its water system so neglected as to leave it a prey to typhoid fevers or cholera. Divine grace is imparted—in order to purify its possessor; and he, in turn, is to do his part to purify the community. If he fails, the community is the loser.
We who profess to call ourselves Christians, ought to know that the world expects us to stand for righteousness, and never to compromise; to act as disinfectants and to maintain our savor; to hold them up, and not to be dragged down by them. If all the Christianity in existence were to become bankrupt in character, even the scoffers themselves would be frightened. Sneer as they may, they expect us to stand by our colors. Our desertion of God and of the right—would not only disgrace us—it would alarm even the ungodly. "If this world is so bad with the Christian religion," said the shrewd Franklin, "what would it be without it?"
A personal incident will illustrate this secret reliance which the people of the world have upon the people of God. A young man, who was a professed Christian, was seeking to win the heart and hand of a young lady of wealth and fashion. His suit did not prosper, and one day she said to him, "You know that you are a church member, and I am a mirthful girl, very fond of what you call the pleasures of the world." This led him to suspect that his religion was the obstacle to his success in winning her consent to marry him. He accordingly applied to the officers of his church, which must have been very loose in its joints, for a release from his membership. They granted it. "Now," said he to her, when he met her again, "the barrier is removed. I have withdrawn from my church and I do not make any profession to be a Christian."
The honest-hearted girl turned on him with disgust and horror, and said to him, "You know that I have led a frivolous life, and I feel too weak to resist temptations. I determined that I never would marry any man who was not strong enough to stand firm himself, and to hold me up also. I said what I did just to try you; and, if you have not principle enough to stick to your faith, you have not principle enough to be my husband. Let me never see you again!"
Whether this incident be actual or not, the lesson it teaches is beyond dispute. The world expects Christians to stand by their colors; when we desert them, we not only dishonor our Master and ourselves—but we disappoint the world.
Christ's church never will save the world by secularizing itself or surrendering its strict principles of loyalty to whatever is right and pure and holy. Conformity to the world—will never convert the world. "Come out and be separate," says the Lord, "and touch no unclean thing." Even if the world could succeed in bringing the church down to its own standard of opinion and practice, it would only work its own moral destruction.
It would extinguish the light-houses which illumine mine its own channels; it would destroy the spiritual leaven which Christ has ordained and prepared to save human society from corruption. The demand of this time is not to lower the claims of God—but to elevate them; not to weaken the authority of divine inspiration—but to reinforce it; not to unloose obligations to Bible creeds—but to tighten them; not to accommodate Christianity to the thought and fashion of the times—but to keep it stoutly and steadily up to its original standards. We must stand fast, not only to the faith once delivered to the saints—but to the practices enjoined in God's Word. The church of this day is in no danger of excessive Puritanism. The peril is in the opposite direction.
Conformity to the world is weakening the backbone of the church, and thus far diminishing its power to lift the world up towards God. "If you would pull a man out of a pit," said quaint old Philip Henry, "you must have a good foothold, or else he will pull you in."
In no direction should Christians make their testimony more emphatic than in the line of righteous living. The sin of modern civilization has been well described as "making more ofcondition than it does of character." The very essence of Bible religion is to make character everything, and conduct the test and evidence of character. "By their fruits you shall know them;" make the tree good and the fruits shall be like it. This is the core of Christ's practical teachings. He "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people." The Revised Version has it "that he might purify unto himself a people for his own possession." The gist of this, is that Christ owns us, and not the world. Our first duty is to him, and really this is the most effectual way of serving them. Our loyalty to Christ is to be the world's salvation. The moment we betray him—we betray them and empty ourselves of all reforming and regenerating power.
When the salt has lost its savor—it is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men. When a Christian so conducts himself as to be despised by his unconverted neighbors, he inflicts upon them an incalculable injury. He confirms them in unbelief. He brings Christianity into contempt. He poisons the well from which they ought to draw good influences. "You are my witnesses," said our loving Lord and Master; but what if the witnesses swear falsely?
In whatever direction we apply it, the fact remains clear—that our godless society needs a strict, pure, honest, self-denying, godly-minded church. In commerce and trade, Christianity has its indispensable place, and God's people their sphere of usefulness. The Golden Rule is the true Christian's yardstick; commerce becomes a cheat if it is disused or broken. When a church member defaults or turns swindler, he repeats the sin of Judas. Christ is betrayed, and men's faith in Bible integrity is so far shattered. A Christian merchant, manufacturer, or mechanic has a call to serve Christ and save his fellow men—as much as any gospel minister. Every ounce of leaven has its place.
Social life, with increase of wealth, has a trend towards demoralization. Luxury weakens morality. Popular amusements become sensualized and offer their temptations to the church. "Do not be conformed to the world" applies to the theater, the ball-room, the wine-cup, and to everything that would turn God's earth into a "Vanity Fair." Conformity to the world amounts, in the end, to more than the corruption of Christ's church. It puts out the light which Christ kindled; it destroys the very leaven which he has prepared to purify and sweeten and save a "world lying in wickedness."
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