Moral Rearmament

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 258, 29 July 1939, Page 13

Moral Rearmament

Sir, —There seems tovbe very general agreement that the root causes of our present difficulties, national and individual, are spiritual, and that, the way of escape or improvement is a moral or religious matter. There

seems to be general agreement also in the root.of the plan, or plans, advocated to put things right. That root is simply an appeal to men to become better. "The Oxford Group, for example, through its leader, Dr. Buchman, describes moral rearmament as “the strength of a nation’s resolve.” Other bodies or individuals working in the same cause constantly appeal to men to “play their part” to “put service before self,” to “do their duty to the nation,” etc. They one and all appeal to men. (and women) to reform themselves. . The League of Nations was based on the same conception. Its failure and the poor response made to all these well-meant appeals show their common weakness, nay, their futility. Man is too far gone in weakness, not to say sin, to reform himself. He should look to God. Yet all these schemes and pleas for betterment ignore God—some entirely, some partially. By this, I mean that the second class, though they appeal to men to return to God and live godly lives, yet ask them to do this in their own strength. God’s plain method for the betterment of the world, and the individual, is revealed clearly enough in the Bible. He sent His Son to pay the penalty for the sin of the world, thus granting forgiveness to men, and He promised to give a new heart or spirit (His own Spirit) to those who accepted forgiveness, and, further, to give them eternal life. It is a very simple plan, but many men will have nothing to do with it, for the simple reason that it necessitates their confessing themselves sinners, and accepting help from God as a child accepts food from its parents. The plan, in a word, is humiliating and that s the rub- ~ Yet it is true that there is no. other effective plan. History proves it and will prove it dgain. Jesits Christ announced it, and emphasized it more than once, e.g., “I am the way: no man cometh to the Father but by Me. 1 nm the door: by Me if a man enter he shall be saved.” And when the Jews asked Him what they should do to work the works of God, He replied - “This is the.work of God, that ye believe in Him whom God has sent. It is obviously so. And to reject God’s plan is to slap Him in the face and say we know better than He does. It is also very unscientific, as it refuses to make proper inference from past history. It is both futile and bad. Today the cry should be not merely “Rearm morally,” not merely “Back to God in your own strength,” but “Back to God’s plan, the only effective plan: back to belief in Jesus Christ. If those who know these things would drop their minor differences and concentrate on them, they would form a living core in our sore State, and prevent its further lapse into chaos and war.-lam,etc„ ' LONG. Wellington, July 29.