Article February 19, 1921 Issue

Leadership

JOHN M. DEAN

When Mrs. Eddy wrote in her Message to The Mother Church for 1901 (p. 34), "Finally, brethren, wait patiently on God; return blessing for cursing; be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good; be steadfast, abide and abound in faith, understanding, and good works; study the Bible and the textbook of our denomination; obey strictly the laws that be, and follow your Leader only so far as she follows Christ," she laid down an injunction which lesser apostles of Truth may study with decided profit to themselves and to the cause of Christian Science. Mrs. Eddy was, by the very nature of her position as the Discoverer of Christian Science and Founder of the movement which promotes its teachings, the acknowledged Leader of that movement. She recognized the fact, however, that the beacon light of Christianity is Christ, and that her students could adhere to her revelation of the Christ, Truth, only by following her in the degree that she herself lived and taught consistently therewith. Thus she showed us that personality is never a leader in the way of Truth, and that her right to leadership could find expression only through those spiritual qualities which led her to discover Christian Science, to write her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," and her other books, to found The Mother Church, to establish the Christian Science periodicals, and to guide the movement into proper channels.

As has been shown, Mrs. Eddy's leadership was founded on a right which was peculiarly hers and was unavoidable as well. Her mantle has fallen on no one. What remains to guide the movement is to be found in her works, and that is sufficient. The "Rule for Motives and Acts" (Manual, Art. VIII, Sec. 1), may be said to be the heart of our church bylaws, for to the Christian Scientist it is surely evident that there can be no true and proper obedience to a single by-law in this book when divorced from that all-inclusive yet simple code of spiritual ethics. The seamless robe of righteousness is not divisible, nor can it be won by the mere casting off lots. Obedience to the letter without regard to the spirit is empty and meaningless loyalty, for "the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." Obedience inspired by fear of punishment or expectation of reward is a base counterfeit. Love is the underlying motive for all true obedience. It is the keystone of the arch upon which the utility of every other stone depends.

Priestcraft and the dominating encroachments of ecclesiasticism would rob the individual of his right to think. Christian Science asserts and establishes this right. Take away this fundamental privilege and you have nullified an essential part of Mrs. Eddy's teachings, for salvation comes to each one in the degree of his receptivity and never by wholesale. Those who stand with Principle must of necessity stand together. To stand conscientiously with one who is standing with Principle is not to follow personality; but to stand for either right or wrong merely to be in line with some person is an idolatrous error. It is equally wrong to refuse to take a given side solely because it is espoused by some individual who has incurred one's displeasure. Common agreement with the multiplication table is no indication of personal influence, nor is it an indorsement of the erroneous views which those who accept it may hold in otherr directions. It is simply mutual consent to a fact which is the property alike of all, as is the air or the sunshine. So it is with Christian Science, in which there is no monopoly of facts. Each one should, however, prayerfully analyze his motives in any given case, and unless he can certainly reach individual convictions through his own processes of reasoning, he may safely conclude that he is following some personality.

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