Signs of the Times

with contributions from Halford E. Luccock, Walter Kennedy

Halford E. Luccock in the Christian Herald New York, New York

A recent book stated that it is the function of religion "to make a man feel at home in the world." This is both true and false.

It is true in the high, glorious sense, that we are the children of God, that we come "from God, who is our home," and that we are in our Father's house. The Christian knows that he is not lost in a far country, that he cannot drift beyond God's love and care.

But there is a bad sense of feeling "at home" in the world. A man can make himself so comfortably at home in the world about him that it becomes his whole universe and he forgets the spiritual world to which he belongs.

Captain Walter Kennedy in The War Cry Chicago, Illinois

Two thousand years ago the proudest words on human lips were the boast, Civis Romanus sum—"I am a Roman citizen." Those who had not the privilege by birth sometimes purchased it at great price. It was a high privilege, but it carried with it a great obligation.

I ask you whether the same cannot be said of the testimony that frequently is on the lips of God's children: "I am a Christian." It is a proud boast, but it also indicates a responsibility and an ever-present challenge. Surely to be a Christian means something more than membership on a church roll or even perfect attendance at the Sunday morning service.

If fellowship is a fundamental part of church life, individual character is the basis of fellowship. And the worth of any church depends upon the consecrated personal life and qualification of each member. When the individual Christian's dedication is revealed in active service in every fiber of church life, the Kingdom of God is extended and we are happy to declare, "I am a Christian."

Christian men and women can develop a saving leaven of public opinion, which, if we are true in our discipleship, will answer many of the questions that trouble the world today. With minds broad-based upon the only successful theory of life that has emerged from the long travail of humanity, that God is good, that He is our Heavenly Father and that true and lasting happiness come from obedience to His will and His love, we can march steadily forward in the service of Christ, proudly declaring in all truth, "I am a Christian."

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May 9, 1959

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