That which a man ardently hopes for he strives to realize. If he
desires fame, office or wealth he will seek to set forces in motion,
here and now, which will bring him that which his soul covets. Back of
every man's striving there is always some hope, an ideal, which he
endeavours to make a reality.
The man who enthusiastically believes in Jesus Christ cherishes the
hope that every man may be brought to believe in his Lord and Master
(Acts 26:27-29). He wants to see Christ not only rule and reign in the
life to come, but in this present life.
The urgency of the New Testament appeals to men is to, at once,
believe in Jesus Christ, and to begin to live the Christian life (Acts
16:31-33; 2 Corinthians 6:1-10; Galatians 2:20). The attempt was made
by the early preachers of Christianity to bring about upon the earth a
new order of things. They prayed and laboured for the immediate
conversion of men's souls and the betterment of the conditions under
which men lived. A new kingdom (Matthew 10:32-42; Mark 1:14,15) was
inaugurated with new ideals (Matthew 5:1-16), new principles and new
aspirations, which was to supersede the old social and political
orders. It was the preaching of this kingdom of Christ, and that men
owed their first allegiance to it (Acts 5:28,29), which provoked the
terrible persecutions of the first centuries.
Christianity has much to do with this present life, it has a panacea
for all its ills and evils and it has a certain definite programme to
carry out.
The Christian hopes and works for:
The Regeneration of the Individual through faith in Christ (John
3:5,14-21). This is an inward change wrought in the soul by the grace
of God. While this is a work of God, the responsibility for it rests
with man. God does not desire the death of the sinner. By the sending
of Jesus Christ God has shown His love for man while yet a
sinner. Every unregenerate man either does not desire this new life or
else feels that he never sought with all his heart to have God
regenerate his soul (John 5:40; 1:4; 5:24; Isaiah 1:18). The
regenerate man in Christ thinks and acts from a new basis (2
Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15). It is only as the love of a man's
heart is really changed and centred upon right things that he can be
depended upon to walk in right ways. A man may act right, may be
honest and upright from prudential motives, but if his heart is evil
the way of the righteous will be irksome to him and he may depart from
it at any time. The unmasking of the double life of a man, every now
and then, shows how the heart's desire will have its way with a man
who does not love God. Heart faith in Christ leads a man to follow
and be like Him.
Hence we have such a large emphasis placed upon work for and with the
individual by Christ and His disciples. Christ Himself called His
apostles to Him one by one and He was continually holding
conversations of the deepest interest with individuals (John 3:1-13;
4:6-26).
The possibilities of the work of the individual Christian for the
individual non-Christian man are too largely left untried. If every
follower of Christ should try to win one, who did not follow Him, to
His cause every year the good effects of such a campaign would be felt
not only in the church, but in every department of life.
All true reform work must begin with the regeneration of the
individual.
The Enlightenment of the Social Conscience.--There is such a thing as
a social conscience. It is possible to say and do things in certain
communities which would not be tolerated in others. One town will not
only sanction the liquor business within its boundaries but will
resist all efforts to abolish it; another town right beside it will
have none of this iniquitous traffic. Lawlessness and immorality find
a hearty welcome in certain cities and in others they dare not show
themselves. All this is due not to the perfection or the imperfection
of the laws or to the large number or small number of men upon the
police force, but to an evil, an apathetic or an enlightened social
conscience.
The progress of the gospel of Christ is often hindered or prevented by
a hostile public sentiment (Matthew 13:58; 17:20; 10:14; Luke
10:10-12). When Christ sent forth His twelve disciples He recognized
the strong opposition which their message and mission would often meet
and said, "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves;
be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves" (Matthew
10:16). The disciples were taught to expect social ostracism and
private and public persecution (Matthew 10:17-26). There were times
when they were to flee before the gathering storm of opposition and
there were times in which they were to maintain their position to the
death, but even if they fled (Matthew 10:23) they were not to cease to
preach the gospel.
It is the duty and the right of Christians not only to seek for the
regeneration of individuals, but also to protest and work against
social and political wrongs and to seek to create and strengthen a
strong public Christian sentiment. The Church of Christ should be the
conservator and promoter of high moral ideals in every city and town
where it has a name and place and seek to extend its good influence
into regions where it has no standing.
Better Conditions of Living.--The Bible is always upon the side of the
oppressed and down-trodden. No laws ever enacted by any nation ever
made it so easy for the working man as the Mosaic ordinances; every
seventh day (Exodus 20:9,10) was a day of rest; there were seven
feasts in seven months which called for many other days of rest; every
seventh year (Leviticus 25:2-7) was a rest year; and every fiftieth
year (Leviticus 25:10-17) was one of rest and restitution. Christ
everywhere championed the cause of the poor and the heavy burdened
(Matthew 9:36; 11:28-30; 11:4,5).
But the Bible also clearly sets forth the fact that little can be done
towards bettering even the material conditions of living when men's
hearts are not right towards God. If a man lets the spirit of avarice
reign over him, no matter how much money he may have he will still
want more and he will not care whom he oppresses to get it. If the
spirit of a purely worldly pleasure rules him his money will go into a
bottomless pit and he will not care whom he makes suffer to get more
money to gratify his insatiable desires.
Better material conditions of work and living can only come from the
adoption of high moral and spiritual standards and in advocating these
the Christian Church to-day is the truest friend of the oppressed.
The Maintenance of Law and Order.--It is not an unusual thing for
political parties to elect men to offices of trust and then to have
these same men refuse to enforce the laws which they have sworn to
uphold. In consequence we have all kinds of abuses and evils growing
up in the body politic. Too often the political race is for the honour
and the spoils of position.
Outside the political arena stands the Christian Church and it can, if
it will, demand that clean and upright men, whatever the issues of the
parties may be, be placed in nomination. Here Christians may hold the
balance of power. If their loyalty is to Christ first of all they will
vote for no man for any office who is known to be of an evil
character. The maintenance of law and order depends in large measure,
in any community, upon the Christian sentiment of that community.
The Turning of the World to Christ.--The Christian's hope is that
Christ may be Lord of and dominate the individual and the home life,
the social, the business and the political worlds, as well as the
ecclesiastical.
The worship of God in Christ ought not to be only upon a particular
day or in a certain place, but upon all days and in every place men
should lift up their hearts to Him (John 4:21-24). If He is Lord of
all (John 1:1-14; 14:9-13) He should be Lord of all; there is no
matter too small and none too great to bring before Him. When Christ
said, "Go ye therefore and teach all nations ... teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19,20)
He meant that His teachings should be dominant over all the earth and
in every department of life. And for this we pray "Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). It is
only as this kingdom shall come in power that we can expect to better
the conditions under which men live and work.