604                       A. M. E. REVIEW.

rescue work best represents the life and work of Jesus. And yet we say
without hesitation that the sin and sorrow of the world were the objects of
his attack only because they stood between him and his larger purpose and
real work.
   A few homely illustrations will perhaps clear our thought. What is the
object of the farmer, to kill thistles or to raise wheat? What is the object
of the florist, to kill weeds or to raise flowers? What is the main purpose
of the captain of an ocean steamer, to save the passengers and cargo from
shipwreck, or to complete a voyage of which the object is gain and pleasure?
What is the intent of the traveler, to escape danger or to see the beauty
and glory of the world? To ask such questions is to answer them. In
every worthy work and profession the evil to be destroyed is incidental and
demands attention only because it stands in the way of the main purpose.
The law is, as it ought to be, a terror to evil-doers; but laws are enacted to
increase justice and maintain liberty. The glory of the healing art is found
in the bloom of health.
   The main business and principal duty of the Christian Church, then, are
concerned, first of all, with health, happiness, virtue, and human progress,
and but incidentally with the things which obstruct and destroy them.
   But have not the greatest men who ever lived, the reformers, the patriots,
the heroes, the prophets, with Isaiah and Jesus at their head, made them-
selves a name and rendered to the world their greatest service by devoting
themselves, heart, head, and hand, to an assault upon the sin of the world?
Confidently and without hesitation we answer no. Had they not pro-
claimed beatitudes and set up new standards and ideals, their work would
have perished with them. Had Luther, when he attacked the corruption
in the ~ of Rome, stopped with that, the Church of Rome would have
buried him like a criminal pauper, and his record would have been forgotten.
That which made the name of Luther a tower of strength to his countrymen
and the world was his love of righteousness, justice, and German liberty.
He broke the soil and destroyed the weeds, but he planted also.
   Since the beginning of human history there have been a few sins which
have run their course, always to be found at the bottom of society where
also are always to be found among the sinners some people who ought to
know better and to represent better things. Every now and then there
comes to young and ardent souls a great temptation to attack these sins, to
call them by name, to drag them and those who practice them before the
public eye. The warfare is dramatic: it always excites interest and curiosity,
often morbid interest and vulgar curiosity. A sermon on one of the deadly
sins may have all the interest and all the corrupting power of a bad book.
   Such crusades against evil when they stop, as they so commonly do, with
the attack upon the evil, turn the attention away from the only cure of it
which is the growth of virtue. They leave the forces of evil more active,
diligent, and wary than they were before, and they discourage many good
people, who get the impression that society is much worse than it is, and
that efforts for reform are hopeless.--Christian Register.




			

OHS/National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center Serial Collection

African Methodist Episcopal Church Review, Vol. 28, Num. 2

Volume:  28
Issue Number:  02
Date:  10/1911