CHURCH MILITANT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22721, 6 November 1935, Page 2

CHURCH MILITANT

CHALLENGING FORCES A CALL TO ACTION "WE DARE NOT FAIL"

The conviction that at last the Christian Church would triumph over the forces arrayed against her was confidently expressed by the Rev. H. H. Barton in his moderatorial address to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Nov Zealand, which yesterday opened its sittings in Wellington. The moderator took as his subject "The Church Militant," and, after reviewing the opposing factors which he named as materialism, extreme nationalism, and moral chaos, he concluded with a call to action. "We have a world task beforo us," he declared. "We have our commission from the Great Master, and we dare not fail Him."

Mr Barton, opening his address, said: — It would call for more time and wider knowledge than I have at my disposal to give anything like an adequate review of the present position of the great world campaign upon which the Church is engaged. Like the soldiers in the trenches in the Great War, wc may know something of the fortunes of our own section of the line, but comparatively little of what is going on elsewhere. Yet it is clear that the whole battle front is so linked together that we cannot afford to be indifferent to the successes or defeat in other parts of the field. It is well, therefore, on an occasion such as this, to take time to consider what are the most essential facts of the situation to-day as it affects the Christian Church, both in our own country and in the world generally; what, so far as we ran judge, are the special needs of the Church in the present phase of the spiritual conflict; and what is the outlook for the future. Eminent leaders in Church and State have given utterance to the most varied and sometimes contradictory opinions on the world outlook. Our judgments in such matters are bound to be affected by the personal equation, the particular circumstances and temperament of the individual. We can only do our best to take long and wide, as well as clear, views in our endeavour to envisage the situation aright; and so, if we may, seek to view life steadily, and to view it whole. AT HOME. There is a good deal of justification for the common remark that in our day the Church is "up against it." Church attendances in many instances have declined considerably. The religious observance of the Lord's Day is neglected by multitudes. Some of the important oiganisations of the Church, like the prayer meeting, have a sad struggle for existence. Family religion, in the sense in which it was known in the past, has largely disappeared. There is not the former deference to the Church's authority nor the old-time fear of her rebuke. It is true that we must beware of estimating the religious life of the home and of the community and the success of the work of the Church too exclusively in terms of the observance of religious rites and ceremonies. One has to remember, too, that our forefathers, and even we ourselves in earlier days, experienced a life which offered far fewer competitors for the time and interest of men than does life to-day. There are at the present time many ways of spending the Lord's day which were not available, or considered respectable, a generation ago. The motor car, the cheap rait v ■ v excursion, and the radio, as well as Other interests, compete with the Church. The line of battle has been almost indefinitely extended. Religious men have been rightly seized with the great thought that Jesus Christ is the Lord of life in all its relations. At one time they would have found expression for their Christian loyalty and enthusiasm almost exclusively along the lines of churchly activity. To-day they may be displaying no less genuine zeal and devotion in ways that would once have been classed as secular.

Making every allowance that I can for these and other considerations, I fear that there is only too good reason for anxiety. The position of the Church in this land is not so satisfactory as it once was. We need to give serious consideration to our own section of the battle line. The so-called trinity of evil —impurity, intemperance, and gambling —still offer their deadly challenge; and it may well be feared that the Church is not offering to these the stout opposition of the past. THE CHURCH ABROAD.

When we cast our eyes further afield, while there are certain encouraging features, there are, on the whole, mora to occasion concern. No thinking man can look out upon the turbulent world situation of our day without a realisation that these are indeed "perilous times." Many will see in the extraordinary sucljss that has attended the establishment of the Bolshevist regime in Russia the vigour with which its anti-God campaign is being pressed, and the keenness and subtlety with' which its emissaries are seeking to spread their views throughout the world, the greatest menace to (anything that we can describe as a '" Christian " civilisation. But Russian 'Bolshevism is far from being the only, though it is the most virulent, opponent of Christianity to-day. Extreme nation- ' alism, of which we have the most significant illustrations in such great and cultured countries as Germany and Italy, and which is far from being confined to these, has an entirely different scale of values from Christianity. However it may seem to ally itself to certain forms of religious observance outwardly Christian in character, in so far as it makes the State supreme in matters of morality and religion, it is essentially hostile to the faith which has ever found its true expression in the noble words: "We must obey God rather than man."

More serious still, however, is the weakening of Christianity by the insidious inroads made upon her by the forces of materialism. To-day the fundamentals of Christian morality are being assailed. The moral chaos of our generation is, perhaps, the most formidable challenge ever offered to Christian ethics, and there is no assault fiercer Than that delivered against the institution of permanent monogamous marriage and the family." The enemies of the Church militant are • trongly posted and aggressive. Their numbers are legion and their attack is delivered with great confidence. How are we to face the foe? AFFAIRS OF OUTPOSTS.

In the conflict in which we are engaged some of our most devoted and valiant warriors are inclined to spend their strength on an attempt to defend positions that are really either indefensible or of no firat-rate importance in the campaign. There are positions which we must hold with the last drop of our blood and the last ounce of our effort, but it is a serious misfortune if zealous and wholehearted believers attach primary importance to that which in its nature is only secondary. Many of the old conflicts, fought as they were with great bitterness, were after all only affairs of outposts. What does it really matter, from the point of view of evange-

lical Christianity, whether we hold, with the great majority, the doctrine of evolution or not? It is not to abandon the faith once delivered unto the saints for us to believe that God has revealed His truth in this sphere through the patient labours of the scientist, nor to minimise His power and His wisdom if we accept this as the method of His working. As Hubert Simpson says: "No longer must the Church seek shelter within dogmatic positions, many of which have, one after another,- to be evacuated under the reducing fire that is brought to bear upon them. She must not seek refuge in sullen retreat from one untenable outpost, to another."

NEED FOR A TEACHING MINISTRY. I believe that one of the-great needs of our time is a clear understanding and appreciation of the real fundamentals of the faith. That the world to-day is interested in religion is evident. _ But too often its interest manifests itself in an ill-balanced enthusiasm for some fantastic modern cult. Is it not possible that the Church is failing to teach a sufficiently clear and authoritative doctrine? Because our people do not know where they are and do not clearly realise where the Church stands on some of the most vital points of doctrine, they are easily carried away with the most absurd theories. I plead for a more determined and earnest endeavour to make known to our people in language that they will understand and in ways that will appeal to them the truth concerning those things that are most surely believed among us. The Church is wise in addressing herself to-day to statements of our theological position in language that will commend thsm to thoughtful readers. Not only sc, but we must continue to seek that from our pulpits, and front the religious press there will come in simple language,, understood by and acceptable to the people, such statements of divine truth, as we have received it, as shall prove a living in the hearts and lives of men. I believe the time for this is at hand. AN UNDULY EXTENDED LINE.

There is a danger which seems to me a very real one in the Church of our day. It is that we should be attempting to hold an unduly extended line. Ido not mean that our missionary work is too extensive. What I mean here is that the Church is in danger of interesting herself and using up her energies in too many departments of human life. The Church has her own function to discharge and her own testimony .to deliver. Every now and again some theme comes to the forefront in human life and society. Impatient theorists, who fondly imagine that they have arrived at a solution of some of the most difficult problems of the day, are aggrieved at the Church because she does not cast in her lot with them and throw the weight of her influence in support of a programme which we may or may not understand, and which, in any case, it is outside our scope to deal with. I confess that for myself I feel that much of the splendid energy and keenness which certain religious leaders devote to some aspects of the economic problem seem to be misdirected. They would accomplish far more in the long run for the accomplishment of the end we all have in view if they realised that, however important it is that Christian men with expert knowledge and practical gifts and experience should endeavour to solve these problems, it is our more important task as a church, while sympathising with such efforts, to address ourselves to what all recognise as the crux of the problem —the man himself. As a church and in our capacity as religious leaders we are wise to concentrate upon the task which has been entrusted to us. Our modern civilisation requires more, not less, of the light that only Christ can give, of the inward discipline which can lay its arresting hand upon human passion and folly, of the gpirit-inspired vigillance which bids men watch and pray lest they enter into temptation. The subtle danger is that we, too, who are called upon to be watchmen upon the towers of Zion, shouttl be so mastered by the material that, instead of . devoting ourselves to our supreme spiritual task, we may become more and more absorbed by their nmterial accompaniments. It may be our lofty intention and our noble purpose to spiritualise the world; let us beware that the world does not rob us of our spirituality. WHAT OF THE FUTURE?

What of the future? I believe it is as " bright as the promises of God.'' Like all God's promises, those for the future are conditional. I see, as I believe, far-off signs of coming victory. The darkest hour —I do not say we have reached it yet—conies before the dawn. I believe that in the domain of higher scientific thought men are being led to a realisation of the supremacy of the spiritual. There ia a serious time lag in the diffusion of ideas, and our age has been dominated my materialistic conceptions too long for any speedy change to be anticipated. But come it will. In the broad field of practical affairs we have had it dinned into our ears that the Church has failed. The Great War signalised the overwhelming defeat of tho Church. The situation in which we are to-day is another evidence of our impotence. So we are told. Frankly, I do not believe it. On the contrary, I venture to hope that the calm judgment of future days will look back on this period as a surpassing evidence of the power of the Christian Church, and of the ideals for which she stands, in moulding and transforming—revolutionising, if you will—the ideas and ideals of man. War! Man has been at war since the days of Cain; and the awful nature of the destruction which it now occasions would not Lave led men to seek to make an end of it were it not for the spirit of Christianity. How much, think you, would the European world have been concerned a century or two ago by the butchery of some thousands of darkskinned Abyssinians in a war of territorial expansion? No more significant evidence of the power of the League of Nations and of those essentially Christian ideals which furnish its dynamic could be found than that a great European nation should be arraigned at ihe bar of international justice, condemned as an aggressor, and, by vigorous and adequate measures, be forced to release its prey! So we are being told that the present economic situation is another evidence of Church's failure. But our responsibility is not to devise plans for economic recovery. That is the task of the men of affairs and the experts in the economic realm. For my part, I believe that men will one day look back on these difficult times through which we are passing and see that the Church, by her teaching and spirit of Christian brotherhood, by her emphasis on the sacredness of human personality, and by her proclamation of the Christ Who has come that men might have' life, and have it more abundantly, has contributed the essential elenu . to the solution. For, after all, the decisive question is whether selfishness is to continue to reign or whether love shall yet be supreme; and since there is no courage like the courage of love, no perseverance like hers, no faith like hers, I believe that .at long last she will triumph; and nothing can contribute to that triumph like the Church of Jesus Christ. Let our Church lift up her voice against Sabbath desecration, and hosts of our members are to be found joining in excursions that treat the Lord's Day as a day of pleasure; let her speak against the insidious evil of gambling, and multitudes of them take part in art unions: let her summon her people to a missionary crusade, and crowds of them neglect the appeal while they stream into pic ture theatres and dance halls. . Recent travellers in Europe have been impressed by the keenness and ardour of the youth

in Russia, in Germany, and elsewhere. They stand for things that we repudiate entirely: but their disciplined strength and enthusiasm are no small part of their power. We have an infinitely nobler Leader, a holier task, a more glorious objective. We are rebuked by the self-sacrificing zeal of Bolshevists. We, too, have a world task before us. We have our commission from the great Master, and we dare not fail Him.