ADVANCE AND ATTACK!

Evening Star, Issue 23816, 21 February 1941, Page 5

ADVANCE AND ATTACK!

mm MOST ACCEPT CHALLENGE VITAL RESPONSIBILITY IH TROUBLED TIMES METHODIST LEADER'S SURVEY la his inaugural address at the conference of the Methodist Church of New Zealand, which opened at Auckland last night, the president (the Rev. W. A. Burley, of Christchurch) said:— “ The church is in a world that for the time being has thrown off the yoke of Christ. In the eyes of many she is discredited. Because she is not on the side of the majority many consider she k a dying force. Others again measure her influence politically, and this is fostered by the deliberate aim of some branches of the church to jgain political power. It is well to reienlnd ourselves that neither numbers !nor political power is the true test of validity. Truth is independent of majority rule; it is not what is popular. Truth is objective in that it is determined for us by God and not by men. But, while stating this, we would he foolish to discount the meaning of declining numbers. It is a portent which we shall disregard at our peril. The general decrease in many denominations of S.S. scholars and Bible Class members—the church of the future—must give us food for serious concern. All is not well if we cannot attragfc and hold the young people for Christ and His Church. It is no use shutting our eyes to facts or glossing over the position. True courage will face

it, seek intelligently to find the causes and then endeavour to deal with them.

“The church must show a unity in diversity of thought; she must avoid bitterness and hate; and thus so preserve her unity that she wall be able and fit to serve those of every shade of thought and every variety of opinion and conviction. The great heresy is not of thought, but a wrong and unchristian spirit. Thus we sec the church beset by enemies without ami difficulty ■within. In such circumstances what will she do ? Shall she retire within herself and seek to strengthen her fortification* against her enemies? Shall she seek to serve the remnant and wait until the times are more propitious for a forward movement? That attitude of waiting will invite disaster; she will slowly die of inanition. Probably it is such an attitude that has brought us where we are. Christianity must never he resting. She must always be on the march. “ God shall forgive thee all but thy despair.” said F. W. H. Myers; it is true, also of complacency and inactivity. CHURCH AND WAR. “ The war, too, lias brought to the church internal troubles and difficulties which could easily result in cleavages in our ranks. But we Christian people who think and let think, have too much grace to permit of that. 'Some of our number cannot agree that any war is justified, for they hold that force as a means of settling a dispute at any time and under any circumstances is contrary to the" teaching and practice of Christ, and in particular contradicts the principle of the Cross. Others of us, equally sincere, while holding that war is not the way of Christ, yet have come to the conclusion, after much thought and soul ngouy, that under these circumstances there is no alternative. For these latter, war and its horrors are nob to he dreaded so much ns a German victory and what it would mean for ns. AA'e must he free; the sacred ness and worth of human personality can he safeguarded only in gn informed and enlightened democracy. Those two parties (though they are not in organised parties, God forbid they should ever be so) are found in the church. If each will grant the sincerity of the other, if each will be restrained in utterance, if each will remember that love must determine our personal attitudes, then we shall keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Tolerance, an understanding of each other’s position, a recognition that each has arrived where he is under God’s guidance—all these things are sorely needed to-dav.

“ A\ 7 o dare not sit down in a resigned way and accept things as they are. H wo have the mind of Christ, wo have a vision of a world far different from the one we know at present. Christ came preaching the Kingdom of God; He came to redeem the world. The Kingdom has not come; the world is not yet redeemed. Greed, competition, war, bate, Inst, a society where there' are the very rich beside the very poor, these and o thousand other things indicate that Christ has not yet had His day. Fach evil tolerated or practised should be a clarion call to ns to

“ Awake and arise.” It is easy and human to lull ourselves into a somnolent attitude by specious excuses. Away with them! Let ns bo disturbed by the weakness of the church to meet the real needs of the world. Prophets and apostles were disturbed in their day and did something about it. They were not silent; nor should we he. Let ns he anxious, but not over-anxious. Let it he that anxiety which has the certain hope that the cure for all evils is in Christ. “ For we are all certain that the church lias the message which can save the world. AA r o repeat to ourselves that Christ is the only panacea for all the ills of the race. What we have found Him to be to us. He can bo to all: we base our conviction on vital experience. If He were recognised as the Final Authority in national, economic. and moral questions, and if His principles were applied, it is not too much to say that the evils incident to all these spheres would disappear. But men have still to learn Ho is practical and realistic. Certainly He is the Great Idealist, hut He is also the Great Realist. Behind all progress for good is the inspiring Alind of Christ. He is the inspiration of a new world.

“ If men would dare to put His teaching to the test, tills war would certainly be the last war, for He deals with the causes of war. But here is a strange thing. The church has the message for this age and seemingly cannot get it over to the people. The masses pass unheedingly by the church until it has been computed (on what authority T know not) that only one in 10 worships in the churches to-day. The actual proportion is not worth discussing; the fact is that the majority in this nominal Christian land are in danger of becoming pagan. AA r e do well to send the incomparable message of Christ to India, China, the Solomons, and other places. AVhat a tragedv if our own land lapsed into paganism. We must find some way to reach the people. NO RETREAT. “ The remedy is to advance and attack. We must not retreat within and lick our wounds and blame each other, or even coddle the members of our churches. AA’e must necessarily bo ready for the attack. AVe canont go a warfare without counting the cost or without doe preparation. But in the past the church has counted too much on the preparation and lias not issued forth to the battle. She is in danger of having an iinnv that will he a barracks army. Soldiers are not made in barracks; they are given their training there, but in the actual battle they are proved; in actual fighting they gain experience and are seasoned. The church must faro forth and do battle for Christ.” Air Burlev wont on to assail the enemies of the church, one of the chief of which, lie said, was the liquor traffic. “ Other evils, too, rear their heads amongst ns. The art union is ever with us and has become almost a State lottery. Sunday tends more ami more to be a day of pleasure; according to some authorities juvenile prime is increasing. These arc undermining the morale of the people, and they love to have it so. The church must set bo-

fore the community a better may of life than what is at present represented by the rank and file. We must reserve to ourselves to mar, to criticise, and to rebuke. No party politics are the concern of the church as such, but principles are within onr scope. The people should find in the Church of the Son of Man a champion that never ceases to match their highest interests. CHURCH UNION. “ Wc hail the response of the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches to our proposal that the question of union between the three churches should be investigated. We trust that the negotiations to be entered into this year will go forward to a happy issue, and that the members as well as the ministry of nil three churches will make opportunities of fellowship so that they may get to know and appreciate eacli other. May the negotiations he carried on in the true spirit of unity. Wo, are not seeking this union because of the exigencies of tbc occasion, but because we firmly believe it to bo the will and purpose of Cod.. Difficulties there will be, misunderstandings to smooth out, but there should be no real or insurmountable barrier to success. Each church has a record of which the whole church is proud, and it will be hard to sink onr individuality in a new name ; hut, strong ns sentiment is, it must give way to the progress of the Kingdom of God. Nor shall wo he satisfied if and when this union is consummated. Many have a vision of a United Church of New Zealand where all tbc denominations will be fused into one church. That may lie in tbc dim and distant future, but wc do well to cherish the dream of one church, embodying all the main emphasis of doctrine, policy, and mode of worship—a church with a unity of spirit expressed in different ways. Such n church would he a power to he reckoned with in the life of our Dominion, and could cope with the siiiritual needs of the country as the mnnv comparatively weak separate denominations can never do. That day may ho far distant: meanwhile the aim for ea«li should be to preserve a strong church which will firing a worthy contribution into a United Church when that church comes into being. “ To-day we must deal with realities • —with the situation ns it presents itself to us. We are the poorer in man power because of the war: some of our ministers arc in the forces in different capacities. Onr young men who have gone overseas must he entered for spiritually by the ablest and most suitable of the ministry. The unfamiliar conditions will give the right chaplains Hie opportunity for vital contact. .As we moot in conference wc remember all these men and pray God’s riebest blessings on them. Their going has created problems of Icadcrshin ; the atmosphere engendered by war is not congenial at home here for our work'. Many are sitting loose to moral obligations. It was so in 191-1-1 S; it is so again tn-dav. Rut great as are (ho difficulties. God’s resources are greater; indeed, they have no limit. He has promised that ‘as tilv day so shall thv strength he.’ AVe will he equal for whatever may eventuate this year, if we hut trust without anv reserve in God.”