Therefore any argument drawn from the supposed damnation of the heathen
is unreal. We may stir up a quasi enthusiasm; we may be moved for the
time; but we are not by any means moved to the level of the fate which
we deplore. If we really believed it, as so many profess, we would spend
our last dollar, and make all but superhuman efforts, to take the Gospel
to the heathen. But instead of that, we are content to hear at long
intervals a few points of information from the minister, take up a
collection for Foreign Missions, to which perhaps we contribute a few
cents or dollars, and then dismiss the whole matter from our minds.
Some time ago I was present at a ministers' Monday morning meeting. A
brother read a paper on Foreign Missions. He and his congregation are
noted for their enthusiasm and liberality in that sphere. When he was
making his plea for increased liberality and enterprise, he pictured the
heathen dropping into eternal torment one by one--I think at the average
rate of one every minute. When he had done there was a period of
profound silence on the part of the brethren who were present. I saw
that many of them were confused. They could not in their hearts endorse
the brother's argument; and it would be unorthodox to contravene it.