Editorial February 25, 1911 Issue

"A SERVANT OF THE CHURCH."

Annie M. Knott

The sixteenth chapter of Romans opens with an injunction from St. Paul respecting a woman of whom he speaks as "a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea." He asks the brethren to receive her lovingly, and to assist her, and he speaks thus of her qualifications: "She hath been a succorer of many, and of myself also." This kindly endorsement is followed by similar references to others, which surely ought to offset Paul's supposed prejudice against women as Christian workers. That this prejudice did not penetrate very deeply is evident from his statement, that to those who have "put on Christ" there is "neither male nor female:" to which he adds, "For ye are all one in Christ Jesus." It is not, then, a question of sex but of service, and as we read the various epistles we see how exalted was the concept of Christian service among the early followers of the great Galilean Prophet. The Master himself had taught them, both by precept and example, what divine service meant. He also said, "Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant."

The nature of the service which all Christian Scientists should be prepared to render to their cause (which of course includes their church) is pointed out in Mrs. Eddy's statement, "It is said that the phrase divine service has come so generally to mean public worship instead of daily deeds" (Science and Health, p. 40). The "great commission," as it is often called,—the authorization of Jesus' followers to preach the gospel, heal the sick, cast out devils, and raise the dead,—should often be pondered by Christian Scientists. They do love the loving Master, and would fain prove their love by obedience to all his commands, which are so wonderfully illuminated by the teachings of our text-book. He taught his followers how to pray with "signs following;" he also taught them to abstain from judgment of others, one of his final lessons being his rebuke to Peter, "What is that to thee? follow thou me." On another occasion he had reproved James and John, who wished to call down fire from heaven to consume some who had refused to receive him; but he said to these disciples, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."

This rebuke should be a warning to any who may be tempted to pass judgment upon the acts of others, and to predict calamities as the result of certain sayings or doings. Such predictions do not constitute true service to our cause, nor do they come up to the standard of its practice as a healing religion. In "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 283) we read: "It is the genius of Christian Science to demonstrate good, not evil,—harmony, not discord." To be in any wise a prophet of evil proves that one is more influenced by the dogmas of the past than he is aware of. The old doctrines of a God of wrath and retribution have never healed the sick nor reformed sinners, though they may have terrified both. It is true that sin tends to suffering, but it is our bounden duty to serve by succoring mankind from bondage, and to do this in humility and love, declaring and demonstrating the ever-presence and all-power of divine Truth and Love. Nothing uncovers sin as does the clear light of Truth; nothing destroys both sin and sickness like the consuming fire of divine Love. In his epistle to the Colossians, Paul speaks of a faithful servant of Christ whose service is thus defined: "Always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God." Can we do better than to serve, with this ideal of perfection ever before us?

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