Article October 5, 1918 Issue

From the Press

[Western Christian Advocate]

To-morrow will bring a new test of discipleship. The old method of judging a Christian man is passing. The old mold in which faith cast a man's soul has been broken. Another is replacing it. The old-time saint no longer appeals to us. Our fathers thought an eminently good man was one who withdrew from the world where men pass and repass, following the pursuits of life. ... Later they came to regard one who looked upon his body as evil and sought always to mortify its passions and appetites and spent much time in prayer and devotional exercises, until he became so spiritual that he made men think of prayer and Christ when he came into their presence; that man was regarded as a saint. Then later we began to think that a man was a Christian by judging what he refused to do. If a man refrained from doing certain things we concluded he was a Christian. ...

That conception was discovered recently in the trenches, and the practical minds of the boys saw it and smashed it at once. A Christian should be known, not by what he refuses to do, but by what he does. Ah, yes, that is it. Christ does not write "don't" over a man's life, but rather "do." ... In an effort to obey the law men ceased to be active. They withdrew themselves. They meditated. They prayed. They had great fear of the world lest it should contaminate their souls. They sought to walk with God by deserting their fellow men. That was not the picture our Lord Christ drew of the Christian life. Follow the Christ himself.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Special Announcements