Editorial May 4, 1912 Issue

"OUR SUFFICIENCY IS OF GOD."

John B. Willis

In his first letter to the Corinthians St. Paul expressed himself upon the question of personal relationship and influence, in terms which are exceedingly pertinent to church-members today. The mortal tendency to become obsessed of personality had strongly asserted itself in Corinth, so that there was not a little contentious championship of this one and that, and the apostle speaks of his great thankfulness that he had been guarded against giving any occasion for a weakening absorption in himself, by refraining even from baptizing any of them, lest they might be tempted to think and possibly boast of themselves as his adherents. His aim was to win men, not to himself nor to his ideas as such, but to Christ, to awaken in them love for and loyalty to the one thing of value, namely, the saving truth. He cared nothing for their praise of the singer if they would but remember the song, and this wondrously wise course is worthy of the most thoughtful consideration upon the part of all who covet or are called to any place or work which is likely to render them an object of public interest and attention.

The willingness of many to attach themselves to any one who will relieve them of the necessity of doing their own thinking always provides a following for the dominating disposition which chances to be clever. To wield an influence over others may prove an excellent thing, provided that Pauline attitude is maintained which Mrs. Eddy so well defined and illustrated when she counseled all Christian Scientists to "trust in Truth, and have no other trusts" (Sentinel, July 4, 1903). This is the test of the real value of any man's influence, namely, its significance to the attitude of those affected, toward Truth. If they are becoming enamored of our personality, and grow more ready to shape their course according to our dictum, our influence can but become a source of weakness. If, however, they are being impelled to rely upon impersonal truth, if they are being educated into an assertive determination to work out their own problem, looking to God alone for the wisdom to live an ideal life, then our influence is mightily for good. The friendship or association, whether intellectual or religious, which does not beget a spirit of reliance upon the leadership of Truth manifest in consciousness, registers its condemnation of the attitude of one or both of those who share it.

Paul's criticism of the Corinthians makes it apparent, however, that the facts of the situation were the result not of a spirit of domination but of that competitive type of obsequiousness which gloried in its mental subjection to personality, and his rebuke smites the human habit of forgetting the possibility and privilege of being a man in Christ on one's own account. This weakness is born of the union of self-depreciation and personal mesmerism. Pride of intellect is the mark of the self-satisfied worldly-wise, who are in fact fools before God. Its no less ignoble antithesis is that spirit of mental servility which, ignoring the call to be a king and priest unto God, is forever yielding itself to the shaping of those who are more than willing to give advice, and the golden mean which avoids both offenses is maintained by those who understand that to honor God is to maintain the dignity pertaining to every divine idea by a studious self-respect, while humbly and gratefully profiting by every well-meant counsel which others may bring them.

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