GOOD-WILL

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 234, 28 June 1920, Page 5

GOOD-WILL

WILL SAVE WOELD FROM ANARCHY Reference was made by Bishop Sprott, when preaching at St. Miiry's Church, Karori, yesterday morning, to Mr. Lloyd GeoTge's recent address, in which ne calied upon the churches to see to the development of gcod-will, which alone could save the world from cnarchy. "But," said the Bishop, "we do rot kijow exactly in what way the speaker thought and believed the churches might Co the world this gioat service, nor what it was in Christian faith that a'.one wruf.d help the world." "There are three principles in the life and teaching of Christ, which, if realised and acted upon,'would 6ave the world," Dr. Sprott declared. - "The first of these principles was the. value which our Lord has in the Christian faith placed on; the individual soul, -the individual man, upon man as man separated from all adventitious adornments.. It is hardly '.an exaggeration *to tay that Christianity discovered the individual pan The trouble is the wcrld has never yet relised the value of the Individual sou'.: and the failure to realise Ihisis largely! the cause of the anarchic Uprisings'throughout the world. Multitudes of people havo never, had their true value recognised. What tho vorld Has hitherto more or less realised has been, the special 1 , endowments, capacity, etc.,' of the individual.' There are certain social classes who -would not even recognise these distinctions but reduce human life to a dead level. Nevertheless, an ideal order of society would be one in which the actual value-'of the Individual and the relative value of special powers and talents should both have justice done them. It. is an ideal which will not be fulf.y realised iu this world of fallible human beings; but it Is an ideal which wo should strive to propagate, and until it is seriously taken In hand wo-wilt have anarchy. , "Another" great principle illustrated in fhrist, and which vas His specific reajon for coming into the world, is service, llustrated by His words: 'Who would be greatest among you let him be-as a sextant,' The law of tho Kingdom of God p the law of service. It is almost impossible to live in tho world without tendering service. There a- e two motives lor service—self-gain, -and'the benefit of he world at lartje. Tho man who works V|ually for.both motives contributes to he general happiness nnd well-being of Jlie world.-At the-present time the selfleeking motive is uppermost, with the lesult .that class is antagonistic to class, Jan to man.

. "Another principle of which He made /mphntic recognition is fellowship Ho fame into the-, world to make all men friends—to establish, a society, of which ill should ho members, in wliich there ihould be no distinction of iraee,'nationality, class, as symbolised in these windows. Now, this is a thing the worfd needs to rediscover. The question the Christian Church needs to ask itself today is: 'Is it possible for a church to reunite itself, so as to become what its rounder meant it to'be?' The realisation of these . three principles—(l) the Talue of the individual; (2) the law of service;.(3) the fellowship of man—would save the world from anarchy. One thing we can do is to unit© the Church amongst _ ourselves. What we want is the motive power, which we can only get by personal devotion of ourselves to Christ. _ If 'wo live in Him we should also be living to one another, because Ho has told us that: whatsoever wo do for the least of His brethren wo do for Him."