Hypocrites Use Church For Social Convenience

Waikato Independent, Volume XLV, Issue 6235, 6 May 1949, Page 5

Hypocrites Use Church For Social Convenience

"The daily services continue to be attended in person by parishioners and I venture to hope that they are attended by a great many more in spirit, for this is the way to build a strong family spirit under God the heavenly Father," stated the Vicar, the Rev. Kenneth Liggett, at the annual meeting of St. Andrew's Parish. "As good and progressive as things are we cannot rest," added the Vicar. "Not until the Lord comes again can we be content to leave any task unfinished. "I believe there is an awakening of conscience among Christion people as witness the World Council of Churches and conferences such as last year's Blenheim Youth conference and the great Amsterdam Conference to name only three significant activities of recent times.. "But, as important as these conferences are, no individual christian can delegate his responsibility to them. If he is an individual infinitely precious to God he is an individual infinitely responsible to God. "In this army there is no 'passing the buck.' The time has come when nominal Church people should ask themselves whether they are really on the Lord's side or not, and if they are not), to show intellectual and spiritual honesty by refusing to accept the Church's ministrations for baptism, marriage and burial. "It has been said that the Church is full of hypocrites, but that is not true. If it were, we might have a chance of converting them. The hypocrites are those who claim membership of Christ's Church and yet use it for social convenience. "These people are of no value to the Church at all as they are, and we invite the mto think about it, and to act with as much courage as they can muster," concluded the Vicar. "If it means leaving the Church then we are no worse off than we were before. If it means joining us then they will receive a welcome but they must, for the sake of their own souls and the glory of Christ's Church make up their minds,"