From Wicket Gate To Way Of Salvation

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 237, 6 October 1945, Page 4

From Wicket Gate To Way Of Salvation

(II.) By REV. CANON C. W. CHANDLER TT'S surely not surprising that from one who used to sit on Bunyan's grave you should be getting this brief series of articles on the "Pilgrim's Progress." It was when as a youth, working in a publishing house off Fleet Street, that occasionally I betook myself to Bunhill Fields in City Road on purpose to be as near as I could be to what was left after about 220 years of one of the heroes of my boyhood days.

It was in that very place where I often ate my lunch. More than once I read aloud, hoping, of course, that no one would hear me, little bits and pieces from Bunyan's account of Christian's fight with Apollyon. "Prepare' thyself to die," said the giant. "Here will I spill thy soul." Since then I've had many a bout with him myself, but that's by the way.

Since embarking upon this theme 1 have received a letter from one who is a spiritual successor of Bunyan, that is, from a Baptist Minister in the South Island. At the time of writing he did not know of my present venture. "It's a great life," he says, "diversified by human oddities—blokes from Popes down to Plymouth Brethren who claim to have an option over Truth." "It's strange," he continues, "how people look through their little crack in the door and imagine they have the entire vista. I enjoy watching the other fellow do his stuff, whether it be rosary beads or tambourines —it speaks of something. High altar and stark Quakerism, there's always something to be learned.

"Withal," he concludes, "I am a hard-boiled Baptist destitute of incense, robes, rubrics and ecclesiastical nomenclature, yet I say that a person who cannot find help in the Prayer Book or in Evensong will have to go to heaven with the babies! And if he cannot catch some accent of truth down among us amphibians (Baptists) he's sunk or gone a million!"

How refreshing!

Breaking the Ice Well, here we are at the "Wicket Gate"—at the inquiry office, so to speak. Over the gate are written the words, "Knock and it shall be opened unto you." It takes courage for a worldling who has grown tired of his worldliness to knock at a parsonage door and inquire about things of the spirit, or to enter a local church after years and years of "absenteeism." The rafters might fall! On the other hand, once the ice is broken goodness knows what joyful experiences in the way of new-found strength may await the inquirer.

A strong castle of which Beelzebub was captain stood hard by the Wicket Gate in Bunyan's dream. Sure enough, there are always plenty of folk ready to shoot their arrows ,of scorn and contempt at any of their company who decide for a better and more satisfying way of life and who, upon making such a decision, venture into the porch of some local conventicle. What a lot of people are haunted by the words, "What will people say," as though it. matters a hang what they say. Here's a verse from Bunyan s "Pilgrim Song":—

Since, Lord, thou dost defend Us with Thy Spirit., We know we at the end Shall life inherit. Then fancies flee away! I'll fear not what men say, I'll labour night and day To be a pilgrim. In the Interpreter's House Christian was given to see the sinful state of man's heart and the need of Divine Grace for the cleansing of it. There, too, he was given the long view of life, and the reality of the unseen was impressed upon him. Life is a becoming, and the sooner the Obstinates, the Pliables and the Worldly Wisemans of the world begin to realise this the sooner will they escape from the prison house of sense and acquire a certain sensibility to influences from a world unseen that "beats at their own clay-shuttered doors. Make It Tough I sometimes think that it's because the modern Christian way isn't tough enough that comparatively few seek to tread therein. It was Mr. Money-love who, in answer to Mr. By-end's question as to whether or no a minister should, in order to gain some preferment, adapt himself to a situation to please his nominators, said, "Suppose a minister, a worthy man . . . has in , his eye a greater, more fat and plump benefice by far than that he now occupies. Also, he now has an an opportunity of getting it, but only by altering some of his principles.

"For my part," continues Mr. Money-love, "I see no reason but a man may do this (provided he has a call), ay, and more a great deal besides, and yet be an honest man.'

Now this has been happening all alone the line. Perhaps seldom for the reason cited by Mr. Money-love, but for reasons no less unworthy. Christianity has been watered down and watered down over the centuries until to-day it is in such an underproof state that it cannot inebriate, cannot intoxicate, that is, it cannot inspire with anything like a burning zeal those who- have lives to spend in pursuit of a goal they can see, be that goal only a war-freed world. Compromise, like a bulldozer, has eased the grade of Hill Difficulty, and there's very little now that a Christian cannot countenance while remaining a very worthy member of his particular congregation. Its because Christianity isn't tough enough that pews are empty.

At the summit of the first steep ascent stood a Cross, at the foot of which Christian's burden of sin rolled away. St. Paul said that the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness —but unto us wfcich are saved it is the power of God" Save as a sacred symbol I think that the Cross has been taken out of Christianity. It was the power of God to Paul because in gaol and out of gaol he bore it. His discipleship cost him something, and it will not be until it begins to cost us something, too, that things will begin to happen, and that in a most astonishing way.

On either side of the of Salvation up which Christian walked was a high wall. Over this wall Mr. Formalist and Mr. Hypocrisy still try to clamber in the hope that they may reach the Celestial City without having to battle with giants. Next week you shall be formally introduced to both of them; or maybe you know them already.

DR. EVATT triumphed in gaining moral support for his' thesis that all active belligerents against Fascism should have a fair share, besides the Big Five, in framing the peace. That was not much more than a face-saver so far as Europe—and Dr. Evatt—were concerned. But it may be useful when it comes to horse dealing in the Pacific and, judging from this distance, Dante won't be in it when we fix the price of power politics from Plarbin and Hobart. The crux of the conference was M. Molotov's implied demands that the Soviet Union become equal commercial and strategic partners with Britain and America in Africa and other colonial and semi-colonial areas throughout the world. When Britain and America preferred to play cricket and baseball instead of the Kremlin's special type of ball game, Molotov remained adamant about Russia's "sphere of influence" in East Europe—as he had planned to do all along.

The British Foreign Minister (Mr. Bevin) grew more noisy, and the U.S. Foreign Secretary (Mr. Byrnes) more silent.

Oil Question

LIKE she did in 1919, the United States wants to "get out of Europe." She is anxious about Middle East oil, but Mr. Byrnes quickly realised that this conference was not going to help him on that score.

Outside the conference, Dr. Evatt went a long way towards winning over Mr. Byrnes to his view that Australia and other British Domin ions should be let in on the conference, but the United States is in a quandary here. In return for fuller Empire representation, Moscow cm ring in the Ukrainians, the Byeio Russians and Uncle Tom Cobley, but the United States is not equipped for multiple representation.

Washington is fearful lest future conferences become swamped by Slav delegates. There was a foretaste of this when Yugoslavia was admitted to the conference for one day. Forty shouting delegates and advisors packed the conference room, which looked and sounded like the trial scene in "Alice in Wonderland."

In Berlin—which is regarded as a barometer of Russo-Western co-operation—co-operation went from bad to worse.

Real Thing

T lEUTENANT-COLONEL David i-t Mac Donald, who made "Desert Victory," announces that his Burma film, made in Burma —not Hollywood—with soaking cameras and the stench of death in the foetid jungle gloom, is on the way.

He is telescoping 400,000 feet into a mere 6000, which seems a pity. But then, the hero is Chindit Wingate, not Errol Flynn. Anyway, let us hope that he does justice to the Indians, British, Americans, Chinese and Africans.

The Hollywood film magnates are much more worried than. London housewives about the Washington financial talks. They took £22.000,000 sterling from Britain last year. The latest opinion here on the talks is that they are going a lot better for Britain than the rest of the world —or most • Americans —expected. There are prospects of the merger of the sterling dollar areas and the stable dollar sterling rate. But there will not be any basically new financial technique to deal with economic rivalries. The best that can be expected is a gentleman's agreement to fight the economic war like gentlemen. The