THE NEW INDIA.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume 24, Issue 8, 1 August 1934, Page 2

THE NEW INDIA.

By the Rt. Rev. J. S. C. Banerjee, Assistant Bishop of Lahore. I do not know how far it is wise to judge the power of the Church by its numbers or to appeal to India to accept Christ as a road to a possible solution of the communal problem. All sincere Christians would lift up their hands m horror should India take it into her head to turn to Christ for the solution of her political need. A Church thus gathered would be of no glory to the cause of Christ m any land. THE GROWTH OF THE CHURCH. The fact that m the Church of Christ within the last fifty years converts have been drawn from both the communities — the Hindus and the Moslems — representing two cultures that have stood apart all these centuries m India, and are now being fused into one m the life of the Church, cannot be refuted. It is a common sight to go into an Indian Christian house and find a husband

from a Moslem home and a wife from a Hindu home, or vice versa, making the life of the home, and m its turn that of the Church, richer by thus bringing m contributions from both the cultures m their home life. But this beauty is only a by-product of the Church, though we rejoice m it with thanksgiving. The objective of the Church is something much greater. And when we turn to numbers, it is only a small part of the growth of the Church, and a part that can only be reckoned with when we take stock of her growth. Our Lord said: "So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how." Such lias been the growth of the Church m India. At every census India has rubbed her eyes and been awakened to the fact that this despised sect of the Nazarene is growing and is becoming a factor that will have to be reckoned with, but she has again and again poured contempt on them, counting them as nothing but the scavengers of the streets and has gone forth m her rage to redouble her opposition to check its progress. But at each census she has received a rude shock, not knowing that it is a seed that must grow. No power on earth can check it. "For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn m he ear." But there is another part of the growth of the Christian Church which must remain hidden from the human eye — its inward growth m the life and the culture of the people among whom it has been placed. "The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven which a woman took and hid m three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." This leavening has gone on, and a New India is m the process of being born. This has been the more clear to me m my recent tour m Sind and some parts of the Punjab. India has within recent years passed through various phases of life, and at times she has caused great anxiety to all the friends and well-wishers of the country. And those that have known the heart of India, deeply spiritual m her outlook, have, during those days of her crisis, wondered if she had thrown religion overboard.

But now her real and true heart is once more coming to th.c surface, and you can see that her heart is sound. For a period she was apparently doing her religious thinking m a shell. She has passed through a period of deep political excitement. Moved with patriotism, she was concerned more for her country and her people than for herself, and we wondered if her age-long quest for God had been abandoned for good. Then came a period of tense communal rivalry, which has given her a rude shock from the expectation she has had of her redemption through politics. And now she seems to be doing her religious thinking within the shell of communalism. Should I seek my spiritual invigoration outside the fold of Hinduism? In this mirror we can see the reflection of the mentality of the Mahatma when he exhorts the Christians to seek the uplift of the harijans (literally "men of God," the term by which Mr Gandhi refers to the depressed classes) without asking them to join the Christian Church. In the midst of such confused thinking there is an index which points to the fact that India is once more turning her soul to God. There, m that great seaport, Karachi, there gathered together m the Town Hall some 300 leading nonChristians, all educated men, and some women, to listen to a pure gospel message. Imagine some 300 people sitting quiet for about one hour to hear the talk to the end. Not one moved. In that rapt attention given you could have heard a pin drop. Then, after the meeting, there came a rush to the stall of Christian literature. In a city like Karachi, where only two years ago political leaders holding views m the least bit differing from those preached by the Congress were heckled and hooted by the educated public, could you have imagined that they should have had the patience to sit and listen to a preacher of the Gospel, and then come and make inquiry? Again, m the same city day after day, when I held a parochial mission service for the Indian Church, I could see m front of me quite a sprinkling of educated non-Christian men and women m the midst of the Christian congregation. Again m the church at Jammu, where the bulk of the Indian Christians are very poor, the lowest

of the low, there were present with the Christian congregation a group of not less than eight non-Christian Brahman ladies m their graceful saris, to have a share m Christian worship. In the, face of these patent facts, is there any doubt that a New India is on the eve of being born? Is the Church of Christ ready to meet the situation thus created? Such is the challenge of India to the Church of this day. SOME OF INDIA'S CHRISTIANS. Then consider the hei'oism of those new converts from among the- higher classes, who within a year or so, taking courage with both hands, have accepted Christ openly. I met some of these new converts making a profession of their faith m the midst of the non-Christian brethren. (1) A man who took his degree of agricultural engineering m England and Canada. On return to India he settled down m Karachi with his married sister and goes about speaking to both Christian and non-Christian of what Christ has done for him. You see him morning, noon, and night truging through the streets of Karachi, visiting from home to home, giving what he calls his "testimony." (2) A first-class magistrate, m charge of a large sub-division of Sind, has accepted Christ recently. He and his wife are trying to practise the teachings of Christ m their daily life. He believes that the Sermon on the Mount is meant to be lived, and he put forward some of his difficulties before me for solution. He is from a prominent Moslem home. (3) A new convert from another leading Moslem family of Sind, who accepted Christ only recently, when a student of agriculture m Poona. He is an assistant superintendent of a Government agricultural farm. I confirmed him at Sukkur. It was a joy to know him and to' "lay hands" on him. (4) A leading medical practitioner of Amritsar and his wife were baptized m November. For some months they had been most regular attendants of the Hindustani church, and after careful inquiry and study accepted Christ openly m this great stronghold of Sikhism. They belong to one of the leading Sikh families of Amritsar. The doctor studied medicine and took his degree m America. Every time I meet him I see his face

beaming with job. He has now gone to help at a mission hospital. (5) A not her Sikh convert from a leading home. His father was one of the learned teachers of Sikhism. He was led to Christ through the joint efforts of Canon Chandu Lai and the Christa Seva Sangha of Poona. He and his wife, who were both baptised, are now taking a special course of theology at Saharanpur. Conversion from such thoughtful, educated homes seemed to have become rare a few years, ago, when a call came to uslrom the poorer people m the villages. We thank God for these poorer, simpler Christians. But we felt it would be a disaster if Christianity stayed there., and did not work upwards. And now the Lord is decidedly leading us to approach the higher classes. A New India is m process of being born; who can deny it? (From the Church Missionary Outlook.)