ESSENCE OF CHRISTIANITY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3764, 4 May 1926, Page 15

ESSENCE OF CHRISTIANITY.

A MATTER OF THE WILL. DR MOTT’S APPEAL TO STUDENTS. Dr John It. Mott, Christian missionary statesman, who is perhaps best known as the leader of the World’s Student Christian Federation, gave the third and last of his addresses to students here in the Allen Hall on the 26th ult. Professor T. D. Adams, .chairman of the Professorial Board, presided over a crowded attendance. Mr Donald Grant, secretary of the New Zealand Student Christian Movement, led the meeting in prayer. The chairman introduced Dr Mott as an honoured guest and friend. Dr Mott expressed appreciation of the fact that so many had come there that they might think together on a mattei of firimary -mportance. He asserted that reigion was primarily a matter of the will. This was essentially true of the Christian religion That religion concerned the whole man as no other religion did, but it concerned itself primarily with the will. Some might say that its primary concern wls the intellect, and certainly it did concern itseF with the intellect. Christ threw out the challenge “Learn of Me,” but he said they must unite to their in* telleetual studies the activity of the will. They could not separate thinking rightly from acting rightly. He instanced men he knew who knew all the facts about Christ, but whose evil lives showed that they did not know Christ. They had not applied their wills to following out. the implications of Christ’s teaching Another might say that he thought that the Christian religion was primarily a matter of feeling, hut that was a superficial view. Religion might be felt at the heart, but unless there was the action of the will in applying <\ a man became a stumbling block to himself and to others. The contributions of the intellect and the heart facilitated the right shaping of character, but they were impotent unless they were coupled with the action of the will. That was not theory, but experience. He proceeded to trace some of the bad results of letting the will lie dormant. First t blocked out the light. Light rejected men* *■ darkness. Christ said, “He that cometh after Me shall not walk in darkness.” not the man who stood still, but the man who used bis will in the genuine scientific way. Christ said again, “He that illeth to do His will shall know- of the doctrine.” In the search for truth they must be prepared to incorporate the truth they found, cost what it might. If they refused to use the will they kept turned away from their lives a power infinitely greater than their own. Christ claimed to bring infinite relief, and there were thousands who declared He had made good His claim, but Christ did not and would not help the man of undecided will. That was because He valued the marvellous freedom of the will. Another result of not using the power f will in these highest and deepest things of life was the damaging of the personality# Students all be divided into the two ilasses of the" resolute and the irresolute natures. He need not say from which class came those who led others out into the light. Some seemed to think that suspended action of the will was a sign o" strength. It was a sign of strength if we had not evidence, but the proof of honesty was how far we were searching for evidence. What was the will for if not to take the initiative? A strong character was the result of reiterated choice between good and evil. Every day we had to make many such choices. Not making of them shattered the personality. One other serious consequeuce of not using the will to discover and to obey the truth was the loss of power to use it. Ho proceeded to indicate some of the reasons why »o many undergraduates were failing to use the will effectively. In the first place many undergraduates learned the habit of confining truih to the realm of discussion. But the pi-sr-tice of purely ethical and religious truth could not be put off once they were apprehended. Such truth was not designed primarily to be admired, contemplated, or discussed, howevei valuable these processes were, but to be incorporated in life Another reason why student.- did not u»e their wills in these matters was that there were so manx things alrout Christ that they did not understand. There was a third group kept from bringing their wills into play in discovering Christ and Ifis fathomless teachings by cowardice. They said they would have to give up this and that and modify their live? in certain directions; but, if they were offered enlargement and enrichment of life, wbv not? Another reason why more students did nr.t use their wills in this highest realm—and he thought this included by far the largest number—was From Hs own unioue and intimate experience of student life. Dr Mott illustrated point after point in his address. He pointed out that not to use the will was a disease and worked the effeo* of Let them make openminded. continuous honest study of Christ and His teachings. Was it not positively dangerous not to do so? The fainter the impulse in their hearts to close in and go the wpv pt t'WM thro •'■'or® irpv*nrtn"t that thev should follow that impulse, for morrow that imp"l*e would be fainter. It was a solemn reflection that that impulse came from God. the Father of all. and that they cnubl go away rrfusmq to tiso their will That would mean the paralysis of moral growth and expansion. In closing. Dr Mott invited any who had difficulties and nroMems to put them before him after the meeting. A group of 4-0 or 50 students remained b«hic-T for further more personal talk with Dr Mott.