The time is at hand when the truth must be taken into every lane and
walk of life—into king’s palaces, into halls of learning, into banquet
rooms, and into homes of refinement and culture, as well as to the
haunts of poverty and crime; for the whole earth must be filled with the
knowledge of the Lord. No soul must be left to arise in the second
resurrection and say, I did not know the way of life, or I would not
have been here. There are being prepared in all Christian homes those
who shall become the messengers of this gospel of the kingdom to every
rank, grade, and condition among men.
This is a consideration for every Christian mother and father. As among
the children of Israel every maiden held in her heart the secret hope
that she might be the mother of the promised seed of David, so now,
however humble and far away from every center of influence your home may
be, however meager its furnishing, however much you may seem to lack
incentive to noble effort, there should be inspiration in the thought
that the little child playing about your feet, whose life and habits you
are molding, may be one who shall be called to bear the vessel of the
Lord, which is his Word, filled with the holy oil of his Spirit, before
some council of earth’s great men, and to answer for the principles by
which the world is to receive its final test.
By this I do not mean that he may be called to suffer
martyrdom,—although that is possible—but I refer to the fact that he may
have the yet grander ministry of standing up to be quizzed and
catechized by those learned in the wisdom of the world concerning all
that he has been taught of Christian principle, health, disease, and
life in the Holy Ghost.
Unquestionably, this work is waiting for some select few of our young
people in the not far distant future. Some great council of physicians
will wish to know all about what the medical missionary physicians
teach, and why; the chemists of the world will wish to know the
philosophy of the system of dietetics which will keep the temple of God
in repair; and, as is almost always the case among the people of the
world, there will be eating and drinking on a large scale connected with
all these investigations; and your boy or girl may have to accept the
place as guest of honor at some such feast, and carry himself
_elegantly_, for Christ’s sake and the truth’s; for the banquet, the
dinner, the lunch, play an important part in all social affairs to-day,
and will until the end of probation.
If a man of means and social standing becomes interested enough in what
you know of Christ to hear you out on it, he will make you a dinner,
invite a few friends, and give you a chance to talk and tell all you
know. And if you know how to take advantage of the opportunity—how to
avoid giving offense by your manner of speech and habits of conduct; if
you know how to charm and win by your personality, you have placed at
the command of truth an instrument that can be made effective where,
otherwise, no entrance could be gained.
Nowhere is the observance of good form more necessary to one who has
work to do in the social world than at the table; for here bad habits
may be given such disgusting publicity as to render them a cause of
reproach to any good cause; and the obligation is upon every Christian
home to see that its children are so instructed that they shall be ready
to quickly fill any place to which the work may call, and to stand with
dignity for the truth in any place that can be opened to its
consideration.
A home of wealth and elaborate appliances is not necessary for such
training. A child who is instructed in the proper use of the few simple
things that constitute the furnishing of the most humble home, and in
those rules of good form that ought to be the natural order in any
place, will not be left to carry with him into some important
convocation careless table habits, which, under the pressure of a sense
of responsibility, would certainly come to the front, in place of the
few better ways that he might have picked up and stored away for
occasional and special use.
In “acting out just what is in him,” he will not bring himself and that
which he represents into ridicule; the opportunity of giving the truth a
chance to shine will not be lost, while honest souls are left in the
dark; the breath of personal contempt will not obscure the character of
Christ, which he is supposed to represent. He will be accepted, first,
because it is agreeable to look at him; he will be heard because no good
reason appears why he should not be; and after that, everything will
depend on what he really _is_ and _has_ down under the surface, in the
place where he lives alone with God.
“But,” you say, “the Lord, who calls a man to stand in any place, will
prevent any disaster to the cause, provided his servant is honest.”
Yes, God will be able to use even his servants’ infirmities after he has
“_helped_” them (Rom. 8:26); _i. e._, added to them his strength and
wisdom. And this which we are considering is all in the nature of helps
to infirmity and ignorance. It is in the direct line of legitimate
education for the very best Christian service.
The honest-hearted laborer for God, who, with his heart full of love,
starts out in his ignorance and awkwardness to “do something” for God
and souls, will find “something” to do; but we are now considering a
work which every man could not do, and yet which some one must do.