Friends of the Church 12/1/40
Scripture: Acts 2: 36-47; also, Matthew 16: 13-27
Long ago, Jesus said to a man, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.” And yet, though it is so long ago, the words are so simple and direct that they might have been said yesterday, or today. “Thou are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.” The church of Jesus Christ, then, is not an abstraction, nor an impersonal corporation, nor some mysterious organism. It is a man - Peter; it is several men; it is many men and women, boys and girls. The Church has its being in people who are friends of Jesus, his followers, his workers, heeding and acting upon his call to service. Find the people who have felt Christ’s call and his power; people who have honestly resolved to do what they know they ought to do, and you find the church. Such people band together in fellowship, and work together and worship together. They organize and adopt standards of conduct, of worship, of belief and of activity. But the church is the people who have found God in Christ. Friends of the church are the friends of people - not of an abstract philosophy.
Now I am well -, and painfully -, aware that there are some fine people who do not join the church, and believe they can be good enough without it. Some of their reasons for this position are oft-stated. Some argue that religion is not in a institution or association but in a person’s heart. And if it is not in the heart and life, it is not Christianity! I have no quarrel with this position. I agree with it heartily. Christianity does live only in the hearts and lives of people.
Another critical argument is that going to church is a poor substitute for living piety. You can’t substitute sitting in church for an hour each Sunday - singing the hymns and bowing while prayer is said - can’t substitute that for decent living, respect for God and man and honest dealings with people. Again I agree! Church attendance that is just passive sitting and going through forms, doesn’t do much good. It may even do harm.
The hypocrite has always come in for a turn as the critic’s target - in church as anywhere else. “Professing faith without practicing it is hypocrisy” we are told. Right again. I would not defend the hypocrite, as a hypocrite, for an instant. Someone asked Dr. William P. Merrill why so few young people were attending the church now-a-days. Of course a good many young people do attend the churches, as anyone can see who looks about. But Dr. Merrill replied that if young people, or any people, are not attending the church it is because of the people in the church. If people of the church are doing what they ought to do and being what they ought to be, others will be attracted to the fellowship.
Another oft-repeated argument is stated in some such words as these: “Sincere men may be religious who are not identified with the church.” Again I say that is probably possible (though I doubt if they could be very religious without the influence of the church somewhere in their community, their family, their ancestry, their associations.) But probably the argument has some force.
Again - “One does not need to be a church member to be good.” Right! And “Christianity in not churchianity.” I agree!
It is perfectly proper for the critics of the church, be they friends of the church or be they its enemies, to make such statements if they wish to do so. There is nothing magical about a church that makes it a mysterious, righteous entity in itself. The quality of the church - any church - depends upon the degree to which its mmembers have been laid hold of by the Spirit of Good, by the divine fire of a sincere desire to be and do what is right, led by Christ. Our friends are perfectly right in knowing us exactly for what we are - fairly good, or not so good - and judging our church as the fellowship of “us.”
But none of these arguments eliminate the need for the church in any community or any fellowship. The difficulties of being a Christian are so great that I doubt the ability of any person to maintain a Christian spirit long without the Church.
Christianity is an exceedingly personal matter. It has no real meaning apart from expression in persons like you and me and anyone else. But though it is personal, it is never a private matter! The Master himself, and each of his apostles, as they went forth to their work, gathered others around and joined in fellowship with them.
The content of Christianity is not just your individual system of thought or mine and the practice of Christianity is not just your private code of morals or mine. It is more than that. Christianity is a life with God and with men, which has come down through the ages chiefly through the fellowship of people known as the Church of Christ. It would not be a religion, but would be a mere abstraction, if it were not alive in the lives of the people of the Church. Find a person, a man or a woman, who strikes you as being truly Christian in attitude or deed and you will always find that he or she belongs to some church or has been influenced by a church.
Without the church, the high ideals of a perfect life, toward which we strive, would sag into inferiority. In the fellowship of the church, the active individual Christian finds correction and stimulation of his personal faith and is inspired to continue his struggle toward right living. Any life which is not to decay must be a struggle. Exercise is the essence of growth. The fellowship of the church is your stimulus to exercise in doing what you know you ought to do.
After all, you are probably more Christian in your ideas, in your home, in your business, in your conduct, than you realize! You and I are trained to see faults and flaws as the spots that need improvement. That is part of the struggle. At the same time we note the emptiness of a hole let us not ignore the good solid ring of the doughnut! For any solid goodness of life you are probably chiefly indebted to the ideal held up in the fellowship of the church.
The longer Paul worked in the service of his Lord and the finer he became in spirit, the more keenly conscious he was of his own shortcomings. By the time he approached the end of his life he claimed to be the chief of sinners. Yet we feel sure that this extraordinarily sharp conscience of his was but the accompaniment of a life that had continually become more and more Christian.
There is not the slightest doubt in my mind that, with all the shortcomings of the churches, the best way for you and me to cultivate Christian living is to be in the active fellowship of a Christian Church. Among many reasons why I believe in the church are these:
1. It keeps alive the sense of God.
2. It keeps us aware of Jesus and his way. (It would transform the world if it could have its way.)
3. The church transcends the bounds of family, class, race, and nation. It is the one hope of the world for any kind of workable brotherhood.
There is, then, the matter of teamwork. We are accustomed to the idea that any good movement is best promoted by some sort of organization so that the efforts of all interested people can be geared together to accomplish the desired end. Well, teamwork counts in religion, too.
You cannot alone support a system of Christian education. I cannot. But through the cooperative fellowship of the church we can.
Neither you nor I alone can Christianize America, or even our state of Wisconsin. But through the Church of Christ we can, because the church is a fellowship of many people who can make their combined influence felt, not only in this country but throughout the world.
You can not throw bonds of love and understanding around the whole earth alone. Nor can I. But through the fellowship of the church we can.
Your voice and mine are pitifully weak when lifted alone against the forces of evil. But we can effectively lift up a banner in opposition to the forces of wrong through the church. For the Church is our chance to make teamwork count in dealing with any issue which affects the welfare of all.
I am so convinced of the possibilities of the church that I gave my life to Christian service, through the church, and was ordained to its service by a council of official representatives of Churches of Jesus Christ. I believe in it so thoroughly that I can not but ask your loyalty to it, your affiliation with it, your attendance at its services, and your support of its work.
Will you put the church - the fellowship of Christ-following people - not at the edge of your life, but at the center of your life? Will you say “yes” with your dollars, the earning of your living efforts, to make your friendship of the church emphatic?
Will you say “yes” with your prayers for the grace of God in yourself and the church?
Will you say “yes” by the witness of your presence at our worship?
Will you say “yes” by the work of your heart, and mind, and hand?
Will you do these things, that God’s will shall de done on earth as it is in heaven, and that His may be the kingdom and the power and the glory forever?
Jesus said to his followers, “Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.” [John 15: 14]. Will you seek to do his bidding in the Christian fellowship of the Church where others are likewise trying to order their lives after his Spirit?
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dates and places delivered:
Pilgrim Church, Honolulu, February 19, 1939 AM
Wisconsin Rapids, December 1, 1940
Hancock, Wisconsin, March 4, 1941
W.F.H.R. Wisconsin Rapids, January 9, 1941