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Title: Thoughts on Missions
Author: Sheldon Dibble
Release Date: July 15, 2008 [eBook #26062]
Language: English
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THOUGHTS ON MISSIONS.
by the Late
REV. SHELDON DIBBLE,
Missionary in the Sandwich Islands.
Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every
creature.--MARK 16:15.
Go--teach all nations.--MATT. 28:19.
Prove all things--hold fast that which is good.--1 THES. 5:21.
Published by the
American Tract Society,
150 Nassau-Street, New-York.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE TRUE SPIRIT OF MISSIONS.
PAGE.
Lowliness and condescension, like our Saviour's, essential
to missionary character, 18
The true Missionary is ready, like Christ, to endure
suffering for the good of others, 21
The true Missionary, like his Master, waits not to be
urged and entreated, 24
The true Missionary, like the Saviour, feels no less
compassion and love to the heathen on account
of their ingratitude and enmity towards him, 26
CHAPTER II.
CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP.
All we have belongs to God, 32
To occupy all our powers for God, we must equal
the engagedness and enterprise of worldly men, 34
How much faithful stewards may consume on themselves
and children, 40
The best use of a large capital, 46
Money not the main thing needed, 50
The luxury and honor of being God's stewards, 56
CHAPTER III.
GUILT OF NEGLECTING THE HEATHEN.
Prospects of the heathen for eternity, 64
Peculiar advantages of the American churches to
carry abroad the Gospel of Christ, 69
Do we pray for the heathen as much as we ought? 73
Do we give as much as we ought to evangelize the
heathen? 75
Do we go and instruct the heathen as we ought? 81
Why are the heathen lost? 85
CHAPTER IV.
THE SAVIOUR'S LAST COMMAND.
Excuses of Christians for not doing more to evangelize
the heathen, 102
CHAPTER V.
LAYMEN CALLED TO THE FIELD OF MISSIONS.
Labors of the first disciples, dispersed from Jerusalem
by persecution, 111
To elevate all nations requires a great variety of
laborers, 116
Feasibility, 126
Reasons why laymen should engage in the work of
Missions, 130
CHAPTER VI.
CLAIMS OF MISSIONS ON MINISTERS OF INFLUENCE.
Separation of Barnabas and Saul for the Missionary
work, 134
The present distribution of ministers anti-apostolic, 141
Insufficient excuses of pastors for remaining at
home, 147
Other excuses of pastors that have weight, but are
not sufficient, 155
Necessity that some pastors of influence and talent
should become Missionaries, 161
Some excuses common to pastors and to candidates
for the ministry, 169
CHAPTER VII.
IMPORT OF THE GREAT COMMISSION.
Responsibility not peculiar to Missionaries, 178
The fallacy of endeavoring to convert the world by
proxy, 181
No cheap or easy way of converting the world, 191
Some rules that may be of use in agitating the question
of becoming Missionaries, 194
CHAPTER VIII.
TRIALS TO BE MET.
Difficulties in the way of training children on heathen
ground, 201
Reasons in the minds of Missionaries for not sending
their children home, 210
Other thoughts about Missionaries' children, 218
Entire consecration of children, not a duty peculiar
to Missionaries, 222
INTRODUCTORY LETTER.
TO MY CLASSMATES IN THEOLOGY.
DEAR BRETHREN IN CHRIST:--Few periods of our lives can be called to mind
with so much ease and distinctness, as the years which we spent together
in theological studies. The events of that short season, and the
sentiments we then indulged, are clothed with a freshness and interest
which the lapse of time cannot efface.
Among the questions that occupied our thoughts, no one perhaps was so
absorbing, or attended with such deep and anxious feeling, as that which
respected the field of labor to which each should devote his life. And
many of us then, I remember, made a mutual engagement, that if spared
and permitted for years to labor in different portions of the vineyard
of the Lord, we would communicate to each other our _mature_ views in
regard to the claims of different fields.
Thirteen years have elapsed; and I propose to fulfil my engagement, by
expressing, in the form of the present little volume, the views which I
now entertain in regard to the claims of foreign lands. To you, my
beloved classmates, the book is specially addressed; and if I use a
frankness and freedom, which might possibly be construed into presumption,
if I were addressing strangers and elder brethren, I am sure that I
shall fall under no such imputation when communicating my thoughts to
you. I wish to express my thoughts familiarly, as we used to do to each
other, and at the same time with the earnestness and solemnity which one
ought always to feel when pleading for the perishing heathen.
A free, full, and earnest discussion of such sentiments as those
contained in this book, had no small influence, under God, in preparing
the way for that extensive work of grace at these islands, which has
been denominated the Great Revival. At the General meetings of the
mission in the month of May of 1836 and 1837, the main doctrines of this
volume were thoroughly canvassed, and with deep effect upon every member
present. Our feelings were enlisted, our hearts were warmed, and our
thoughts were absorbed by the great topic of the world's conversion. The
theme, in all its amazing import and solemn aspects, was allowed to take
possession of our souls. It gave importunity to prayer, earnestness and
unction to our conversation and sermons, and zeal, energy, and
perseverance to every department of our work; and the result was soon
apparent in the wide-spread and glorious revival.
It can almost be said, therefore, that the main sentiments of this
volume have received the impress of the Divine approbation.
In the fall of 1837, I was constrained by family afflictions and the
failure of my own health, to embark for the United States. As I began to
breathe the bracing air of Cape Horn, my strength in a measure revived,
and having no other employment on board ship, I sketched the outlines of
most of the chapters of this little volume. My heart was full of the
theme in the discussion of which I had taken part before my embarkation,
and I penned my thoughts freely, amidst the tossings of the ship and the
care of two motherless children.
On my arrival in the United States, I revised and filled up the outlines
I had sketched, and delivered them, in connection with various historical
lectures, at several places, as Providence gave me opportunity. Now,
having returned to these islands, I have thought best to give the
chapters a second revision, to dedicate the whole to you, and with the
help of the press to send you each a copy, accompanying it with my
prayers and my most affectionate salutations. And may I not expect,
beloved classmates, that you will read the book with candor, weigh well
its arguments, admit its entreaties to your hearts, as those of your
former associate, and act in accordance with the convictions of duty?
Among the considerations that have prompted me to the train of thought
contained in this book, as well as to the views interwoven in my history
of the Sandwich Islands, I may mention, as not the least weighty and
prominent, a dutiful respect and filial obedience to the instructions
delivered to me, in connection with others, by the wise and devoted
EVARTS, on the eve of our embarkation for the foreign field. The
delivery of those instructions was his last effort of the kind, and they
may therefore be regarded as the parental accents of his departing
spirit. On that occasion of interest, to which memory can never be
treacherous, a part of the charge to us was in the following words:
"From the very commencement of your missionary life, cultivate a spirit
of enterprise. Without such a spirit, nothing great will be achieved in
any human pursuit; and this is an age of enterprise, to a remarkable and
unprecedented extent. In manufactures, in the mechanic arts, in
agriculture, in education, in the science of government, men are awake
and active; their minds are all on the alert; their ingenuity is tasked;
and they are making improvements with the greatest zeal. Shall not the
same enterprise be seen in moral and religious things? Shall not
missionaries, especially, aim at making discoveries and improvements in
the noblest of all practical sciences--that of applying the means which
God has provided, for the moral renovation of the world?
"There are many problems yet to be solved before it can be said, that the
best mode of administering missionary concerns has been discovered.
What degree of expense shall be incurred in the support of missionary
families, so as to secure the greatest possible efficiency with a given
amount of money; how to dispose of the children of missionaries, in a
manner most grateful to their parents, and most creditable to the cause;
in what proportion to spend money and time upon the education of the
heathen, as a distinct thing from preaching the Gospel; how far the
press should be employed; by what means the attention of the heathen can
be best gained at the beginning; how their wayward practices and habits
can be best restrained and corrected; how the intercourse between
missionaries and the Christian world can be conducted in the best
manner, so as to secure the highest responsibility, and the most entire
confidence; and how the suitable proportion between ministers of the
Gospel retained at home, and missionaries sent abroad, is to be fixed in
practice, as well as in principle: all these things present questions
yet to be solved. There is room for boundless enterprise, therefore, in
the great missionary field, which is the world."
I have not attempted to discuss all the topics here named, but have
endeavored to cultivate in some degree, as enjoined in the paragraph, a
spirit of _enterprising inquiry_.
If this book shall impart any light on the interesting topic of
Christian duty to the heathen, and be owned by the Saviour, in the
great day, as having contributed, though but in a small degree, towards
that glorious consummation of which the prophets speak, and to which we
all look forward, I shall be richly rewarded.
Your affectionate classmate,
SHELDON DIBBLE.
LAHAINALUNA, _Feb. 17, 1844_.
THOUGHTS ON MISSIONS.
CHAPTER I.
THE TRUE SPIRIT OF MISSIONS.
The apostles, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, uniformly enforce
their exhortations by tender appeals to the example, sufferings, and
death of their ascended Lord. Is humility inculcated? the argument is,
Christ "humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death
of the cross." Is purity of life enjoined? the plea is, Christ "gave
himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify
unto himself a peculiar people." Is liberality required? we are pointed
to Christ, who, "though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that
we through his poverty might be rich." Is entire consecration to Christ
enjoined? the appeal is, "he died for all, that they who live should
not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them and
rose again."
In like manner, in gaining a true idea of the spirit of missions, the
proper course evidently is, to look at once at the missionary character
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was indeed a missionary. He came to save
the lost. He was a missionary to _us_. He came to save _us_.
We had wandered and were lost. We were guilty and condemned. We were in a
state of despair. Nothing within the compass of human means could avail
in the least to avert the impending wrath of God. All wisdom became
foolishness. All resource was futile. Not a ray of hope remained--not
the least flickering gleam. Whichever way the eye turned, there was
darkness--horror--despair. But Christ came, and hope again visited the
earth. It was when we were helpless--hopeless--justly exposed to the
horrors and agonies of the world of woe, that Jesus undertook his
mission, and appeared for our relief.
This truth cannot be too deeply impressed upon us, here, at the very
threshold of our inquiries in regard to the spirit of missions; and to
spread it out distinctly before our minds, let us take a simple
illustration.
You are a captive in a foreign land, and have long been immured in a
deep, damp, and gloomy dungeon. Sorrow, sighing, and tears have been
your meat day and night. Anguish, gloom, and a fearful looking for of
death, combined with hunger, cold, and a bed of straw, have induced
disease, wasted your flesh, destroyed every energy, and entirely drank
up your spirits. Sentence of death is pronounced against you, and the
day fixed for your execution. The massive walls and iron grating look
down sternly upon you, and rebuke at once all hope of escape.
Entreaties, tears, and the offer of gold and silver have been tried, but
in vain. Effort and means have given place to horror and despair. The
prospect before you is the scaffold, the block, a yawning grave, and a
dread eternity. In this extremity a friend appears, and offers to be
substituted in your place. The offer is accepted. You, pale, emaciated,
and horror-stricken, are brought from your dungeon to behold once more
the light of day. The irons are knocked off from your hands and
feet--your tattered garments exchanged for cleanly apparel--and a ship
is in readiness to convey you to the land of your birth and the bosom
of your friends. The vital current of your soul, so long chilled and
wasted, now flows again with warmth and vigor; your eyes are lighted up,
and tears of joy burst forth like a flood. But, in the midst of your
joy, you are told of your deliverer. You turn, and behold! the irons
that were upon you are fastened upon him--he is clothed in your tattered
garments--is about to be led to your gloomy dungeon--lie on your bed of
straw, and thence to be taken in your stead to the scaffold or the
block. You throw yourself at his feet, and entreat him to desist; but
when you find his purpose fixed, you finally wish you had a thousand
hearts to feel the gratitude you owe, and ten thousand tongues to give
it utterance.
The Lord Jesus Christ has done for us all this, and unspeakably _more_.
We were under condemnation. The sentence of God's righteous law was
against us. The flaming sword of Divine vengeance was unsheathed. All
above and around us were the dark frowns of the Almighty and the red
lightnings of his wrath. Beneath us was not merely a damp dungeon, but
the bottomless pit yawning to receive us, and its flames ascending to
envelope our guilty souls. There was no escape. The prospect was
weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth--the agony of Jehovah's frown
forever. In this extremity the Saviour appeared--substituted himself in
our stead--bare our sins in his own body on the tree--received upon his
own agonized soul what was our due, and thus delivered us from the
untold horrors of eternal death, and opened before us the gate of
heaven.
To save the lost, then, was the spirit of Christ. The apostles imbibed
this spirit. _It is the spirit of missions._ The heathen are in a lost
condition. If we have the spirit of Christ we shall do what we can to
save them. The spirit of missions is not something different from, or
superadded to, the Christian spirit, but is simply, essentially, and
emphatically _the_ spirit of Christ. It is compassion for the perishing;
and such compassion as leads the possessor to put forth strenuous
efforts, and to undergo, if need be, the severest sufferings.
As we shall look somewhat in detail at the manifestations of the spirit
of Christ, we shall see very evidently the great outlines of what alone
is worthy to be called the true spirit of missions.
Look at the _condescension_ of Christ, and learn a lesson of duty
towards the destitute and degraded of our race. The Son of God, by whom
were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth,
whether they be thrones or dominions, principalities or powers; who
upholdeth all things by the word of his power; before whom ten thousand
times ten thousand and thousands of thousands prostrate themselves,
ascribing power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and
glory, and blessing; of whom it is said, "Every knee shall bow to him,
of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the
earth"--the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God: this
Infinite Being empties himself of his glory, and comes down to toil,
suffer and die--and for whom? For us worms of the dust, insects that are
crushed before the moth.
If the Saviour had come to our relief, clothed with the glory of heaven
and surrounded by his holy angels, even that would have been a stoop of
amazing condescension. But look at the babe of Bethlehem, born in a
stable, and cradled in a manger; follow him to Egypt, and then back to
Nazareth. What humility, lowliness, and condescension! Look at the
Saviour in his public ministry. You find him oftenest among the _poor_,
and always so demeaning himself as to be the one that was "meek and
lowly in heart." His chosen walk was such, that it could be said with
emphasis, "to the poor the Gospel is preached."
Such was the spirit of Christ and such his condescension! Such was the
spirit of the apostles. They took much notice of the poor, and charged
Paul and Barnabas, when going forth on their mission, especially to
remember them. What else, I ask, is a missionary spirit, but to be
willing to labor with self-denial and perseverance to elevate and save
the low and the vile? Natural men, in the pride of their hearts, are
inclined to look down upon the wretched--to regard them with that kind
of loathing and disgust which disinclines them to make sacrifices in
their behalf. This dislike is such that I have often thought it to be a
favor to the heathen, that they are far off and out of sight; for if
they were near and directly around many professed Christians, with all
their defilement and ugliness in full view, much of the apparent
sympathy for them which now exists, would be turned into contempt and
cold neglect. But if such had been the superficial and ill-founded
character of Christ's compassion, where should we have been at this
present hour? There is not a wretch now wallowing in the deepest mire of
sin, who is so vile and low in our eyes, as we all were in the eyes of
infinite purity. Yet the more wretched we were, the more deeply did
Christ feel for us. _This spirit of Christ is the only true spirit of
missions_--the only spirit that will make self-denying, continued, and
persevering efforts to save the heathen.
There is no romance in the practical and every-day duties of a
missionary. The work is of a humble form, and emphatically _toilsome_.
There is but little true missionary spirit in the world. It is not the
sympathy of an hour, nor an enthusiasm awakened by romance, but the pure
love of Christ in the soul, constraining the possessor to pray earnestly,
and to labor cheerfully without notice or applause, for the lowest human
objects; and which finds a rich and sufficient reward for a life of toil
in leading one ignorant slave, one degraded outcast, or one vile heathen,
to accept the offers of salvation. My observation in the field for
thirteen years testifies to the fact, that no sympathy or enthusiasm
will come down to the arduous details of missionary work, and persevere
in it for years, that does not flow from such genuine and permanent love
as our Saviour manifested when here upon earth. The more we become like
Christ, the more shall we possess of the true missionary character.
How slow we are to make _real sacrifices_ for the good of others! It was
not so with Christ. He chose, for our good, to become a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief--to be rejected, despised and hated--to become
a mark for the bitterest rage and the finger of scorn.
Go to the garden of Gethsemane. There behold, what even the pencil of
the angel Gabriel cannot fully portray. There, in the stillness of the
night, the Saviour retires to give vent to the bursting emotions of his
soul. Deep sorrow, keen anguish, and excruciating agony roll in, like
continuous surges, upon his tender spirit. His strength fails. Low he
lies on the cold earth, and the drops from his pale and agonized
features, like the clammy sweat of death--no, "like drops of
blood"--fall to the ground.
But the agony of his spirit does not perturb the submission of his soul,
nor shake the steadfastness of his purpose. The furious mob arrive, and he
calmly yields himself to their disposal. See him in the judgment-hall
--meek under insults, forgiving under buffetings and abuse, submissive
and quiet under the agonizing scourge. Then behold him, as faint from
his gashes and his pains, and sinking under a heavy cross, he slowly
moves towards Calvary. Look on, if your eyes can bear the sight. The
rough spikes are driven through his feet and his hands--the cross is
erected--the Lord of glory hangs between two thieves:--there, his torn,
bleeding, writhing and excruciated body is to wear out its vitality in
protracted agony. But all this suffering was as a drop in his cup of
anguish. O the deep--fathomless, untold agony of his soul, when under
the hidings of his Father's face he exclaimed, "My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me!"
All this suffering and agony the Infinite Son of God endured, that we
might be saved. He had a vivid and perfect view of all this, and yet
voluntarily assumed it that we might live.
In view of such an example, what shall we say? If the Lord of glory
shrunk not from ignominy and scorn, untold agony, exquisite torture and
the most cruel death, can any one possess much of his spirit, and yet
consider it too much to forego some of the comforts and delights of this
fleeting life, and to labor and toil with perseverance and self-denial
on a foreign shore, to instruct the destitute and the dying--to
enlighten the millions and hundreds of millions of heathen, who have
never heard the precious name of Jesus, and are entirely ignorant of the
consolations of his grace? Is it too much, even to expose one's self to
an early grave in a sultry clime, if necessary, that some ray of hope
may break in upon the gloom of the benighted and perishing nations? God
be praised, that the prospect of death did not daunt the spirit of the
self-denying Jesus!
O, how has a feeling of shame and deep humiliation come over my spirit,
as I have heard the objection, that "Missionaries and missionaries'
wives especially go forth to die!" Thanks to the continued grace of God,
that some of this spirit of Jesus--the self-sacrificing spirit, the
spirit of devotement, even unto death--still exists on earth. Let the
objector inquire seriously, whether much of it reigns in his own bosom;
and whether in proportion as he is destitute of it, he be not lacking
not only in the spirit of missions, but in the spirit of Christ, without
which it is impossible to be a disciple. For it is true not only of
missionaries, but equally of all Christians, that they are not their
own--that they are bought with a price; and are under obligations of
_entire consecration_, each in his appropriate sphere, that are as high
as heaven and as affecting as the scenes of Gethsemane and Calvary. And
we are bound, equally with the early disciples, to count it not only a
duty, but "all joy" to labor, suffer and die, if necessary, for Christ's
sake, and in the good work which he has given us to do.
Did we become sensible of our lost condition? Did we with one accord
lift up our penitent and broken-hearted cries to the God of mercy, that
he would provide a way for our salvation? Did the angels intercede in
our behalf that the Saviour would come? No: _self-moved_ he appeared for
our relief. He beheld us wedded to our sinful courses; unwilling to be
taken from the pit into which we had plunged ourselves, and clinging
with unyielding grasp to the very instruments of our ruin--strangely
enamored with the very vampires that were preying upon our souls. The
more disinclined we were to sue for mercy, the more the Saviour pitied
us; for our very unwillingness to supplicate showed the depth of our
ruin.
In like manner, the more indisposed any heathen nation may be to receive
us to their shores, admit the light of the Gospel and partake of its
blessings, the more deeply should we feel for them, and the more
zealously labor for their salvation. That a nation has not called for
our aid, but is resolutely determined to keep us at a distance, is a
strong argument for being deeply interested in their behalf. Their very
blindness and maniac disposition should call forth the deep
commiseration of our souls. Such was the spirit of Christ. Such is the
true spirit of missions. It is but a small measure of compassion to aid
those who supplicate our assistance. The very blindness, guilt, madness
and vile degradation of a people, should be to us a sufficient voice of
entreaty. They were so to the heart of the precious Saviour, or he never
would have undertaken the work of our redemption. O, when shall it be,
that Christians and ministers of the Gospel shall arise _self-moved_, or
rather moved by the spirit of Christ within them, and exert all their
powers for the good of the perishing? when they shall not need appeal
upon appeal, entreaty upon entreaty, and the visit of one agent after
another, to remind them of duty, and to persuade them to do it?
It was not a world of penitents that the Saviour pitied, but a world of
_rebels_--proud and stubborn rebels, ready to spurn every offer of
reconciliation. He saw us, not on our knees pleading for mercy, but
scorning the humble attitude of suppliants, and raising our puny arms
against the authority of Heaven. He beheld us, not as the Ninevites once
were, in sackcloth and ashes, but recklessly violating all his holy
laws. It was in view of all the deformity, bitterness, rage and
heaven-daring impiety of our naked hearts, that Christ left his throne
of glory and died on the cross. It was for such beings that he
voluntarily endured humiliation, toil, self-denial and death. He toiled
and died for the ungodly. He came, though men despised his aid. He died
even for his crucifiers.
Are the heathen guilty--covered with blood and black with crime? Do they
exhibit many traits that are repulsive and horrid? Would our visit to
them fill them with rage and bitterness, and tempt them to crucify us?
What then? are we to relax our efforts for them, because they are
ungodly? So did _not_ Jesus Christ. Let us learn from his example, and
imbibe his spirit. That man, who may be called a missionary, and yet is
capable of being alienated in his feelings by ill-treatment, contempt,
abuse and rage from the heathen, is not worthy of the name. That
professed Christian, in whatever land he may reside, who loves a sinner
less on account of the personal abuse he may suffer from him, has not
the true missionary spirit, or, in other words, the spirit of Christ.
And here I would repeat the remark with emphasis, in accordance with all
that I have said, that _there is nothing peculiar_ in the spirit of
missions, except what peculiarity there may be in the spirit of
Christ--that it is what all must possess to be disciples, and without
which no one can enter heaven. It is a spirit humble yet elevating,
self-sacrificing yet joyful, intensely fervent yet reasonable, meek and
yet resolute. It is all this indeed, but yet nothing more than what is
required of every Christian; and therefore no excuse can be more absurd
and contradictory in terms, than that sometimes made, "It is not my duty
to go to the heathen, for I never had a missionary spirit;" for one
professes to be a Christian, and yet excuses himself, on the ground of
not having a missionary spirit, or in other words, of not being a
Christian--of not being in possession of a fair title to heaven. O,
remember, Christian reader, that the least desire to be excused shows a
deplorable lack of the spirit of Christ.
CHAPTER II.
CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP.
On account of heavy domestic afflictions, and the failure of my own
health, I was induced, a few years since, to visit the United States.
Full well I remember my feelings when returning to my native land. I had
been laboring among a heathen people, and impressions by the eye are
deep and affecting. I had seen degradation and vileness, destitution and
woe. I had a vivid impression of the urgent claim of the destitute and
the dying; and I had formed some conception of the greatness of the
work, if we would put forth the instrumentality needed to elevate and
save them. And during a long voyage, I had time, not only to think of
the Sandwich Islanders, but to cast my thoughts abroad over the wide
world. The millions and hundreds of millions of our race often came up
fresh before me, sunk in untold vileness, covered with abominations, and
dropping one after another, as fast as the beating of my pulse--twenty
millions a year--into the world of woe. Painful as it was, I could not
avoid the deep and certain conviction, that such was their end.
Then I thought of the greatness of the task, if we would be the means,
under God, of saving them from perdition: that we have idol gods without
number to destroy--a veil of superstition forty centuries thick to
rend--a horrible darkness to dispel--hearts of stone to break--a gulf of
pollution to purify--nations, in God's strength, to reform and
regenerate. With such thoughts the conviction forced itself upon me,
that the work could not be done without an immense amount of means, and
a host of laborers.
Think, then, how chilling and soul-sickening the intelligence that met
me as I landed on my native shores, (in the spring of 1838,) that
Christians were disheartened by the pressure of the times, and were
receding from ground already taken: that the bread of life must not
issue from the press, though millions were famishing for lack of it;
that thirty heralds of salvation then standing on our shores must not
embark, though the woes and agonies of dying souls were coming peal
after peal on every wave of the ocean; that they must be turned aside
from the perilous yet fond enterprise to which the love of Christ had
constrained them, and that future applicants must be thereby
discouraged--that missionaries abroad must be trammelled in their
operations for want of means; and that multitudes of children and youth,
the hope of the missions, gathered with much care, and partially
instructed and trained with much expense of time, strength and money;
the centre of solicitude, love, and interest; the adopted sons and
daughters of the missionaries, must be sent back--in Ceylon three
thousand in a day--to wallow again in pollution, bow down to gods of
wood and stone, and wander, stumble and fall on the dark mountains of
heathen superstition; a prey to the prowling monsters that lie thick and
ready to devour in all the territory of Satan. Surely, thought I, (and
had I not grounds for the thought?) Christians in America must be
destitute of the common comforts of life: nothing but the direst
necessity can induce them thus to surrender back to Satan the ground
already taken and the trophies already gathered, and to put far off the
hope of the latter day glory.
I looked abroad and made inquiries. I found indeed a derangement of
currency and a stagnation of business. But did I find, think you, that
Christians were destitute of the ordinary comforts of life? that they
were in a distressing emergency for food and clothing? that their
retrenchments had been made _first_ in personal expenditures, and last
in efforts to save souls? Alas! it was evident that the principal cause
of the retraced movement was not found in the reverse of the times. It
was found to lie deeper; and to consist in wrong views and wrong
practice on the great subject of Christian stewardship. To this subject,
then, my thoughts for a time were much directed, and I tried to look at
it in view of a dying world, and a coming judgment. The subject, I
perceived, lay at the foundation of all missionary effort; and my
position and circumstances were perhaps advantageous for contemplating
it in a just and proper light. Be entreated, therefore, Christian
reader, to look at the subject in the spirit of candor and
self-application.
* * * * *
A little heathen child was inquired of by her teacher, if there was
anything which she could call her own. She hesitated a moment, and
looking up, very humbly replied, "I think there is." "What is it?" asked
the teacher. "I think," said she, "that my sins are my own."
Yes, we may claim our sins--they are our own; but everything else
belongs to God. We are stewards; and a steward is one who is employed to
manage the concerns of another--his household, money or estate. We are
God's stewards. God has intrusted to each one of us a charge of greater
or less importance. To some he has intrusted five talents, to others
two, and to others one. The talents are physical strength, property,
intellect, learning, influence--all the means in our possession for
doing good and glorifying God. We can lay claim to nothing as strictly
our own. Even the angel Gabriel cannot claim the smallest particle of
dust as strictly his own. The rightful owner of all things, great and
small, is God.
To be faithful stewards, then, we must _fully occupy_ for God all the
talents in our possession. A surrender, however, of all to God--of time,
strength, mind and property, does not imply a neglect of our own real
wants. A proper care of ourselves and families enters into God's
arrangement. This is not only allowed, it is required of us; and if done
properly and with a right spirit, it is a service acceptable to God.
This is understood then, when we say, that all our talents must be
occupied for God. With this understanding, there must be no reserve.
Reserve is robbery. No less than all the heart and all our powers can be
required of us--no less can be required of angels.
It is our reasonable service. We require the same of the agents we
employ. Suppose a steward, agent or clerk, in the management of your
money, your estate or your goods, devotes only a part to your benefit
and uses the rest for himself, how long would you retain him in your
employment? Let us beware, then, that we rob not God. Let us be faithful
in his business, and _fully occupy_ for him the talents intrusted to us.
God has an indisputable right to everything in our possession; to all
our strength, all our influence, every moment of our time, and demands
that everything be held loosely by us, in perfect obedience to him. For
us or for angels to deny this right, would be downright rebellion. For
God to require anything less, would be admitting a principle that would
demolish his throne.
No less engagedness certainly can be required of God's stewards, than
_worldly men exhibit in the pursuit of wealth and honor_. Let us, then,
look at their conduct and learn a lesson. They are intent upon their
object. They rise early and sit up late. Constant toil and vigorous
exertion fill up the day, and on their beds at night they meditate plans
for the morrow. Their hearts are set on their object, and entirely
engrossed in it. They show a determination to attain it, if it be within
the compass of human means. Enter a Merchants' Exchange, and see with
what fixed application they study the best plans of conducting their
business. They keep their eyes and ears open, and their thoughts active.
Such, too, must be the wakefulness of an agent, or they will not employ
him. Notice also the physician who aspires to eminence. He tries the
utmost of his skill. Look in, too, upon the ambitious attorney. He
applies his mind closely to his cause that he may manage it in the best
possible way.
Now, I ask, shall not the same intense and active state of mind be
required of us, as God's agents or stewards? Can we be faithful
stewards, and not contrive, study, and devise the best ways of using the
talents that God has intrusted to us, so that they may turn to the
greatest account in his service? Is not the glory of God and the eternal
salvation of our ruined race, an object _worthy_ of as much engagedness,
as much engrossment of soul and determination of purpose, as a little
property which must soon be wrapped in flames, or the flickering breath
of empty fame? Be assured, we cannot satisfy our Maker by offering a
sluggish service, or by putting forth a little effort, and pretending
that it is the extent of our ability. We have shown what we are capable
of doing, by our engagedness in seeking wealth and honor. God has seen,
angels have seen, and we ourselves know, that our ability is not small,
when brought fully into exercise. It is now too late to indulge the
thought of deceiving either our Maker or our fellow men on this point.
We can lay claim to the character of faithful stewards, only as we
_embark all our powers_ in serving God, as worldly men do in seeking
riches, or a name.
Then, too, to be faithful, we must be as _enterprising_ in the work that
God has given us to do, as worldly men are in their affairs. By
enterprising, I mean, bold, adventurous, resolute to undertake. Worldly
men exhibit enterprise in their readiness to engage in large
projects--in digging canals, in laying railroads, and in sending their
ships around the globe. No port seems too distant, no depth too deep, no
height too high, no difficulty too great, and no obstacle too
formidable. They scarcely shrink from any business on account of its
magnitude, its arduousness, or its hazard. A man is no longer famous for
circumnavigating the globe. To sail round the world is a common trading
voyage, and ships now visit almost every port of the whole earth. A
business is no longer called great, where merely thousands of dollars
are adventured; but in great undertakings, money is counted by millions.
Such is the spirit of enterprise in worldly matters.
Now, I ask, are we not capable of as much enterprise in using the means
ordained by Christ for rescuing souls from eternal burnings, and raising
them to a seat at his right hand? Had the same enterprise been required
of men in some former century, they might have plead incapacity. But it
is too late now to plead incapacity. Unless we choose to keep back from
God a very important talent, we must put forth this enterprise to its
full extent in the great work of the world's conversion.
Such enterprise is needed. If the latter day glory is to take place
through human instrumentality, can it be expected without some mighty
movement on the part of the church? Can a work of such inconceivable
magnitude be effected, till every redeemed sinner shall lay himself out
in the enterprise, as worldly men do in their projects? If the promises
of God are to be fulfilled through the efforts of men, what hope can
there be of the glorious day, till men are resolute to undertake great
things--not for themselves merely, but for God, their Maker and
Redeemer.
Is it not a fact that will strike us dumb in the judgment, that it is
the love of money, and not zeal for God, that digs canals, lays
railroads, runs steamboats and packets, and, in short, is the main
spring of every great undertaking? The love of money has explored the
land and the seas, traced rivers in all their windings, found an
entrance to almost every port, Christian or heathen, studied the
character of almost every people, ascertained the products of every
clime and the treasures of the deep, stationed agents in all the
principal places, and in not a few ports, a hemisphere distant, erected
shops, factories, and even sumptuous palaces.
Men exhibit no such enterprise in serving God. How many ships sail the
ocean to carry the Gospel of Christ? And in ports where one magnificent
Exchange after another is reared, stretching out its capacious arms,
and towering towards heaven, how difficult it is to sustain a few humble
boarding-houses for wandering seamen. Worldly enterprise is bold and
active, and presses onward with railroad speed. Shall, then, Christian
enterprise be dull and sluggish, deal in cents and mills, and move along
at a very slow pace? The thought is too humiliating to be endured.
Suppose angels to be placed in our stead, would they, think you, be
outdone by the seekers of wealth in deeds of enterprise? No: their cars
would be the first in motion, and their ships the first on the wing.
They would be the first to announce new islands, and the first to
project improvements, and _for what?_ that the Gospel might have free
course and be glorified. Enterprise and action would then be exhibited,
worthy of our gaze and admiration. "O! if the ransom of those who fell
from heaven like stars to eternal night, could only be paid, and the
inquiry of the Lord were heard among the unfallen, 'Whom shall we send,
and who will go for us?' hold they back? No: they fly like lightning to
every province of hell; the echo of salvation rolls in the outskirts as
in the centre; a light shines in the darkest dungeon; the heaviest
chains are knocked off, and they rest not till all is done that angels
can do, to restore them to their former vacated seats in the realms of
the blest."
But if angels would act thus, we too, as the stewards of God, ought to
be the first in enterprise. God's work is infinitely more important than
wealth or honor. And how shall we, in the judgment, be found faithful,
if the seekers of wealth or the aspirants for renown are suffered to
outstrip us on every side.
It is not faithfulness for any one to consume _on himself or his
children_ more of God's property than he really needs. Suppose you hold
in your hand an amount of property. It is not yours you remember, for
you are merely a steward. God requires that it be used to produce the
greatest possible good. The greatest possible good, is the promotion of
holiness in yourself and in others. Luxury, pride and vanity can lay no
claim. Speculative knowledge, taste, and refinement must receive a due
share of attention, but be kept in their place. Our real wants, of
course, must be supplied. But what are our real wants--our _wants_, not
our _desires_--our _real_ wants, not those that are artificial and
imaginary?
We really need for ourselves and families what is necessary to preserve
life and health; we need a mental cultivation answerable to our
profession or employment; need the means of maintaining a neat, sober
and just taste; and we need too, proper advantages of spiritual
improvement. Things of mere habit, fashion, and fancy may be dispensed
with. Luxuries may be denied. Many things, which are called
conveniences, we do not really need. If provision is to be made for all
things that are convenient and pleasant, what room will remain for
self-denial? Things deemed comfortable and convenient may be multiplied
without limit--consume all of God's wealth, and leave the world in
ruins. If the world were _not_ in ruins, then it might be proper to seek
not only the comforts, but even the elegancies of life.
Take a simple illustration: In the midst of the wide ocean I fall in
with a crew floating on the few shattered planks of a hopeless wreck. I
have a supply of water and a cask of bread, but the poor wrecked
mariners are entirely destitute. Shall I keep my provisions for my own
comfort, and leave these sufferers to pine away with hunger and thirst?
But suppose I have not only bread and water, but many luxuries, while
the men on the wreck are perishing for the want of a morsel of bread and
a drop of water? And then, suppose I have casks of bread and other
provisions to dispose of, and intend with the proceeds to furnish myself
with certain of the conveniences and elegancies of life; and my mind is
so fixed upon obtaining them, that I refuse to relieve the poor tenants
of the wreck, and leave them to the lingering death of hunger and
thirst. O, who of you would not shudder at the hardness of my heart and
the blackness of my crime!
But the world dead in sin is surely a wreck. Millions upon millions are
famishing for the bread and water of life. Their cry--their dying cry
has come to our ears. Shall we then take that which might relieve them,
and expend it in procuring conveniences, elegancies, and luxuries for
ourselves? Can we do it, and be guiltless of blood?
But, perhaps here, some one may have the coolness to thrust in the
common objection, that a man's style of living must correspond with his
station in society. It is wonderful to what an extent this principle is
applied. A man, it is said, cannot be a governor of a state, a mayor of
a city, a member of Congress, or hold any high office, unless his house,
his equipage, his dress and his table, exhibit some appearance of
elegance and wealth; and if a man live in a large and opulent city, he
must be somewhat expensive in his style of living, that he may exert an
influence in the higher walks of society. Then, country towns, and small
villages, take pattern of the large cities, and the plea goes down
through every rank and every grade. Scarcely a Christian can be found,
who is not familiar with the doctrine. It is a very convenient doctrine.
In a _qualified_ sense it may be true, but in its unlimited
interpretation it may be made to justify almost every article of luxury
and extravagance.
It seems to be conformity to the world, and the world has always been
_wrong_. The principles of the Gospel have always been at variance with
the maxims and customs of the world. _Conformity is always suspicious._
Again, the doctrine cannot be applied to all places. Suppose a
missionary conform to the society around him. Instead of raising up the
heathen from their degradation, he would become a heathen himself. The
descent to heathenism is easy. The influence of comparing ourselves with
ourselves, and measuring ourselves by ourselves, is felt by those living
among barbarians as well as at home, though the insidious influence
leads in another direction. If there is a man on earth, who, more than
any other, needs to cultivate neatness, taste and refinement, both in
his mind and in his whole style of living, it is the man who is
surrounded by a heathen population. Here, then, the rule contended for
fails. Travel round the world, and how often will it fail?
Let us turn away, then, from this fickle standard, and look to reason
enlightened by the Word of God. Shall we not then find, that
substantially the same style of living that is proper in one latitude
and longitude, is proper in another; _substantially_ the same, paying
only so much regard to the eyes of the world, as to avoid unnecessary
singularity and remark; and that this rule, founded on the principles of
the Gospel, makes a proper provision for health, mental cultivation, and
a neat, sober and just taste? Are not these the real wants of men
allowed by the Gospel, whether they live in London or in Ethiopia?
But the ground on which I choose to rest this inquiry more than any
other, is the perishing condition of our dying race. Is fashion,
splendor and parade, appropriate in a grave-yard, or in the chamber of
the dead and dying? But the whole world is a grave-yard. Countless
millions lie beneath our feet. Most of our earth, too, is at this moment
a chamber of dying souls. Can we have _any relish_ for luxuries, folly
and needless expense, amidst the teeming millions commencing the agonies
of eternal death?
I erect a splendid mansion; extend about it a beautiful enclosure;
furnish it with every elegance; make sumptuous entertainments, and live
in luxury and ease. In the midst of it, the woes and miseries of my
ruined race are brought vividly before me--their present wretchedness
and eternal agonies. And it is whispered in my ear, that these woes
might have been relieved by the expense I have so profusely lavished. O!
how like Belshazzar must I feel, and almost imagine that the groans of
lost souls are echoed in every chamber of my mansion, and their blood
seen on every ornament!
Let us have the love of Christ in our hearts, and then spread distinctly
before us _the world as it is_--calculate the sum total of its present
wretchedness and eternal woes. In such a world and as God's stewards,
who can be at a loss in regard to the course of duty? When twenty
millions of men every year are entering upon the untold horrors of the
second death, and we are stewards to employ all means in our power for
their salvation, O, away with that coldness that can suggest the
necessity of _conforming_ to the expensive customs of the world. May we,
in heaven, find one of these souls saved through our instrumentality,
and we can afford to forego all we shall lose by a want of conformity.
There is a nobleness in taking an independent stand on the side of
economy, and saving something to benefit dying souls. There is a
heavenly dignity in such a course, infinitely superior to the slavish
conformity so much contended for. It is an independence induced by the
sublimest motives; a stand which even the world must respect, and which
God will not fail to honor.
But how shall those possessing _large capitals_ best employ them as
stewards of God? I speak not of the hoarding of the miser; that would be
a waste of breath. I speak not of property invested in stock that
habitually violates the Sabbath. No remark is necessary in so plain a
case. But I speak of large capitals, professedly kept to bring in an
income for the service of the Redeemer. The subject is involved in many
practical difficulties; and they who are business men have some
advantages of judging in the case which I have not. I will therefore
merely make one or two inquiries.
Is not the practice in many cases an _unwise investment_ of God's funds?
Is there not a reasonable prospect that one dollar used now, in doing
good, will turn to more account than twenty dollars ten years hence? A
Bible given now may be the means of a soul's conversion; and this
convert may be instrumental in converting other souls, and may
consecrate all his powers and property to God; so that when years shall
have passed away, the one dollar given to buy the Bible may have become
hundreds of dollars, and, with God's blessing, saved many precious
souls. One pious young man trained for the ministry _now_, may be
instrumental, before ten years shall expire, in bringing into the Lord's
kingdom many immortal souls, with all their wealth and influence; and so
the small sum expended now, become ten years hence entirely inestimable.
The same may be said of a minister sent now to the heathen, instead of
ten years hence; and the same, too, may be said of every department of
doing good. It would appear then, that, in all ordinary cases, to make
an immediate use of funds in doing good is to lay them out to the
greatest possible interest; that by such a course we can be the means of
peopling heaven faster than in any other way. We can hardly appreciate
how much we save by saving _time_, and how much we lose by losing it.
Worldly men, in their railroad and steam-packet spirit of the present
day, seem to have caught some just sense of the importance of time, and
we, in our enterprises to do good, must not be unmindful of it.
Again, is not the expenditure of property in the work of doing good, not
only the most advantageous, but also the _safest_ possible investment of
God's funds? Whilst kept in capital, it is always exposed to greater or
less risk. Fire may consume it. Floods may sweep it away. Dishonest men
may purloin it. A gale at sea may bury it. A reverse of times may ingulf
it. But when used in doing good, it is sent up to the safe-keeping of
the bank of God; it is commuted into the precious currency of heaven; it
is exchanged for souls made happy, and harps and crowns of gold.
Again, A. keeps a large property in capital, and therefore B. resolves
to _accumulate_ a large property, and then give the income. But whilst
accumulating it, he not only leaves the world to perish, but also runs
the risk of ruining his own soul--the awful hazard which always attends
the project of becoming rich. And the result is, in ninety-nine cases
out of a hundred, that the summons of death arrives before the promised
beneficence is paid in.
In view of such considerations, would it not be _wiser, safer, and very
much better_, in most instances at least, that the greater part of large
capitals should be made use of at once in the service of the Redeemer?
It is said of Normand Smith, that "he dared not be rich;" and that "it
became an established rule with him, to use for benevolent distribution
_all the means_ which he could take from his business, and still
prosecute it successfully;" and that he charged a brother on his dying
bed, to do good with his substance while living, and not suffer it to
accumulate to be disposed of, at the last extremity, by will. Sound
advice. A few other such men there have been in the world, and they are
the SHINING LIGHTS. Their example is brilliant all over with true
wisdom.
It is not acting always as faithful stewards, merely to accumulate
wealth to promote the cause of Christ; for there may be more need of our
_personal service_ in disseminating the Gospel, than of any pecuniary
means we can contribute. Christians are not faithful stewards, merely
when they labor for Christ, but when they do _that_ by which they may
most promote the cause of Christ. The dissemination of Gospel truth is
the great end to be aimed at, either directly or indirectly. Now, it is
evident that many must further this object by accumulating the pecuniary
means; but the danger is, that too many, far too many prefer this
course. Many conclude, with perfect safety and justness, that in
practising law or medicine, or in selling goods, in tilling a farm, or
in laboring in a shop, they are doing as much to further the object as
in any other way; but some, it is believed, come to such a conclusion
either from mistaken views or mistaken motives. The fact that so large a
proportion of God's stewards resort to the notion of operating by proxy,
and that so few choose to engage in the direct work, shows that there is
danger existing. Not only the fathers, but a vast majority of the middle
aged and the young, prefer to advance the cause of Christ by
accumulating the pecuniary means. Now, why is there such a rushing after
this department of the great work?
The Saviour calls for a great army of preachers, to carry his Gospel
everywhere, and to proclaim it to all nations, kindreds and people. In
truth, you need not go beyond the limits of the United States to feel
the force of this remark. Look at the destitutions in the more newly
settled states and territories, and see if there is not need of men to
preach the Gospel. But notwithstanding this need, only a small number,
comparatively, offer themselves to the work. Almost all young men, even
the professedly pious, slide easily into lucrative occupations; but to
bring them into the direct work of making known Christ, they must be
urged and persuaded by a score of arguments.
It is needed, too, of lay members of the church, to do much in searching
out the destitute and the dying, who exist in multitudes, even about
their own dwellings; to give here a word of warning, and there a word of
consolation; to add here a helping hand, and impart there the restoring
effect of sympathy and kindness; in short, to employ some hours in the
day in going everywhere, as the early disciples did, from house to house
and street to street, and in communicating, in an appropriate way, the
simple truths of Jesus. Laymen, too, are needed in great numbers in
the foreign service. There are reasons numerous and urgent, which I
cannot here name, why lay members in the church should go abroad.
But notwithstanding this call for personal effort, it is too often that
we meet with church members who are completely engrossed, from early
dawn to the close of day, in accumulating wealth; and who deny
themselves the luxury of spending either hour of the twenty-four, in
conversing with souls, and leading them to Jesus. Such persons will give
somewhat of their substance, when called upon; and press on, almost out
of breath apparently, in the cares of the world, not thinking to say to
this man or that, on the right hand and the left, that there is a heaven
above and a hell beneath, and death is at the door. You would almost
imagine, from the conduct of some, that they would like to commit to
proxy even their own faith and repentance. Now this entire engrossment
in worldly cares, even though professedly for Christ's sake, will never
illumine the dark recesses of the earth--will never usher in the
millenial day.
It is not so much, after all, an accumulation of wealth that is needed,
as the personal engagement of Christians in making known everywhere, at
home and abroad, the precious news of Jesus. The disposition to go
everywhere, regardless of wealth, and with Jesus on our lips, must be
the spirit of the church, before we can expect much good either at home
or abroad. The world will not be covered with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea, till men to make known that word are
scattered like rain on all the earth--not only in heathen lands, but in
the streets and lanes of large cities, and throughout the Western
desolations. "So long as we remain together, like water in a lake, so
long the moral world will be desolate. We must go everywhere, and if the
expansive warmth of benevolence will not separate us, so that we arise
and go on the wings of the wind, God, be assured, will break up the
fountains of the great deep of society, and dashing the parts together,
like ocean in his turmoil or Niagara in its fall, cover the heavens with
showers, and set the bow of hope for the nations, and the desert shall
rejoice and blossom as the rose. God is too good to suffer either Amazon
or Superior to lie still, and become corrupt, and the heavens in
consequence to be brass and the earth iron." God is too benevolent also,
in the arrangements of the moral world, to allow his people to be
inactive--to have here a continuing city, and be immersed in the cares
of the world as though here were their treasure, while thousands about
them are dying for lack of instruction, and the heathen abroad are going
down to death in one unbroken phalanx. The church must take more
exercise, and the proper kind, too, or she will become frail and sickly,
too weak in prayer, and too ignorant in effort to usher in the millenial
day.
It is a possible thing to seek wealth _honestly_ for God; but he that is
called to such a work, has more occasion to mourn than to rejoice: he
has occasion to tremble, watch, and pray; for to be a faithful steward
of God's property, requires perhaps more grace than to be a faithful
steward of God's truth. We find many a faithful preacher of the Gospel
where we find one Normand Smith, or Nathaniel R. Cobb, or one firm of
Homes & Homer. The grace needed is so great, and the temptations to err
so many, that almost all prove defaulters, and therefore it is that the
world lies in ruins: not because the church has not wealth enough, but
because God's stewards claim to be owners.
How small the sum appropriated by a million and a half of God's stewards
to save a sinking world! The price of earthly ambition, convenience and
pleasure, is counted by millions. Navies and armies have their millions;
railroads and canals have their millions; colleges and schools have
their millions; silks, carpets and mirrors, have their millions; parties
of pleasure and licentiousness in high life and in low life have their
millions; and what has the treasury of God and the Lamb, to redeem a
world of souls from the pains of eternal damnation, and to fill them
with joys unspeakable? The sum is so small in comparison that one's
tongue refuses to utter it.
There must be a different scale of giving; and the only way to effect it
is, to induce a different style of personal consecration. Let a man give
himself, or rather let him have a heart that cannot _refrain_ from
telling of Jesus to those who are near, or from going to those who are
more remote, and the mere item of property you will find appended, as a
matter of course, and on the plain principle that the greater always
includes the less. We must learn to devote, according to our vows, time,
talents, body, soul and spirit. Bodies and minds are wanted; the bones
and sinews of men are required: these more substantial things are
needed, as well as property, in arduous services at home and still more
self-denying labor abroad; and no redeemed sinner can refuse either the
one or the other, and continue to be regarded as a faithful steward of
Jesus. _Money, though needed, is by no means all that is required of
us._
Though God has devolved upon us, as stewards, a responsible work, the
weight of which is fearful, and sufficient to crush us unless aided
from on high, yet the employment is one of _indescribable delight_. It
is a pleasant work. Angels would rejoice to be so employed.
Is there any professed Christian who does not relish the idea? To such
an one I would say, Your condition is by no means enviable. You deny
yourself all true happiness. If you do not delight in the thought of
being God's steward; of holding not only property, but body, soul and
spirit at God's control, then you know not what true luxury is. There is
pleasure in doing good; there is a luxury in entire consecration to God.
The pleasures of this earth are empty, vain and fleeting; but the
pleasure of doing good is real, substantial and enduring. The pleasure
of doing good is the joy of angels; it is the thrill of delight which
pervades the soul of Jesus; it is the happiness of the eternal God. In
not wishing to be God's steward, you deny yourself this luxury; you
refuse angels' food and feed on husks. O, there is a richness of holy
joy in yielding up all to God, and holding ourselves as waiting servants
to do his will. This fullness of bliss you foolishly spurn from you,
and turn away to the "beggarly elements of the world." Do you feel that
the principles of stewardship contained in the Bible are too
strict--that too entire a devotement is required of you? Angels do not
think so. Redeemed saints do not think so. The more entire the
consecration, the more perfect the bliss. In heaven devotement is
perfect, and joy of course unalloyed. Blot out this spirit of
consecration, you blot out all true happiness on earth; you annihilate
heaven.
But it is not only a luxury, but _an honor_ to be the stewards of God.
What honor greater than that of continuing the work which Jesus
commenced; of being employed in the immense business of saving a ruined
race? What work more glorious than that of being the instruments of
peopling heaven? What employment more noble than to rescue immortal
souls from endless agonies, and to raise them to eternal joys; to take
their feet from the sides of the burning lake, and to plant them on the
firm pavement of heaven; to rescue victims from eternal burnings, and to
place them as gems in the diadem of God? Would not Gabriel feel himself
honored with a work so noble and glorious? Were a presidency or a
kingdom offered you, spurn it and be wise; but contemn not the glory of
being God's stewards.
Remember, too, whether these are your views or not, the work of God will
go on. The world will be converted. The glorious event is promised.
Almighty power and infinite wisdom are engaged to accomplish it: all the
resources of heaven are pledged. The God of heaven, he will prosper his
true servants, and they shall arise and build; but those who do not
relish the idea of being God's stewards, can have no portion, nor right,
nor memorial in Jerusalem. The wheels of God's providence are rolling
onward: those wheels are high and dreadful. Will you, being a professed
Christian, dare to oppose the march of God? "Ah! we do not _oppose_,"
say you. But I reply, There can be no neutrality; you must either help
onward his car of victory, or you do really stand in the way--will be
crushed by his power, and ground into the earth by the weight of his
chariot. Take then, I entreat you, this warning, which is given you in
earnestness, but in the spirit of love.
Joy, glory and immortality, to all who will cordially assent to be
co-workers with Jesus. They shall ride with him in his chariot from
conquering to conquer, and shall sit with him on his throne in the day
of triumph.
Be entreated, then, professed Christian, first to give your own soul to
the Lord, and with your soul all you have, all you are, and all you hope
to be. Make an entire consecration. You will never regret having done
so, in time or in eternity.
May God give us all grace to imbibe wholly the true principles of
stewardship. Not the principles popular in the world, but the principles
of the Bible; those principles which hold out the only hope of the
latter day glory--of means commensurate with so great an end.
CHAPTER III.
GUILT OF NEGLECTING THE HEATHEN.
During all the years that I have been allowed to labor for the heathen,
my mind has been led to contemplate, constantly and intensely, the
obligations of Christian nations towards those who sit in darkness;
obligations arising from the command of Christ, and the principles of
the Gospel. And I shall, therefore, in this chapter, freely, fully, and
solemnly express the sentiments which have been maturing in my mind, on
the _great guilt_ which Christians incur in _neglecting the heathen_.
The heathen world, as a mass, has been left to perish. And by whom? Not
by the Father of mercies; he gave his Son to redeem it: not by the
Saviour of sinners; look at Calvary: not by the Holy Spirit; his
influences have been ever ready: not by angels; their wings have never
tired when sent on errands of mercy. All that Heaven could do has been
done, consistently with the all-wise arrangement of committing an
important agency to the church. The church has been slothful and
negligent. Each generation of Christians has in turn received the vast
responsibility, neglected it in a great measure, and transmitted it to
the next. The _guilt_ of this neglect who can estimate?
That such neglect is highly criminal, the Bible everywhere testifies. It
says, "If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and
those that are ready to be slain; if thou sayest, Behold, we knew it
not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that
keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it?" And shall not he "render to
every man according to his works?" This solemn interrogation needs no
comment. The obvious import is, _If our fellow men are perishing, and we
neglect to do what we can to save them, we are guilty of their blood_.
But this testimony does not stand alone. What does God say to the
prophet, who should see the peril of the wicked, and neglect to save him
by giving him warning? "His blood will I require at thy hand." What does
God say of the watchman of a city who should see the sword come, and
blow not the trumpet? "If the sword come and take any person from among
them, his blood will I require at the watchman's hand."
But this is not only the sentiment of the Bible, but the voice of common
sense.
A neighbor of mine is drowning in the river. With a little exertion I
can save his life, but neglect to do it. Shall I escape the goadings of
conscience and the charge of blood-guiltiness?
A house is in flames. The perishing occupants, looking from a window,
implore of me to reach them a ladder. I have some little affairs of my
own to attend to, and turn a deaf ear to their cry. The flames gather
around them: they throw themselves from the window, and are dashed in
pieces on the pavement. Who will not charge me with the loss of those
lives?
To-day, a raging malady is spreading through the streets of a large
city. The people are dying by hundreds. I know the cause; the fountains
of the city are poisoned. From indolence, or some other cause, I neglect
to give the information, and merely attend to my own safety. Who would
not load me with the deepest guilt, and stamp me as the basest of
murderers?
Both Scripture and common sense, then, concur in establishing the
sentiment, that if our fellow men are perishing, and we neglect to do
what we can to save them, we are guilty of their blood. But if this
doctrine be true, its application to Christians, in the relation which
they sustain to the heathen world, is irresistibly conclusive and
awfully momentous. The soul shudders, and shrinks back from the fearful
thought: If six hundred millions of our race are sinking to perdition,
and we neglect to do what we can to save them, we shall be found
accountable for their eternal agonies.
If such a charge is standing against us, we shall soon meet it. The day
of judgment will soon burst upon us. Let us look, then, at the subject
candidly, prayerfully, and with a desire to do our duty.
The conditions on which the charge impends are simply two: that the
heathen world are sinking to perdition, and that we are neglecting to do
what we can to save them. If these two points are substantiated, the
overwhelming conclusion is inevitable. It becomes us, then, to look well
at these points--to examine them with faithfulness and with honesty.
* * * * *
Is it true, that _the heathen world are sinking to perdition_? As fast
as the beating of my pulse, they are passing into the world of
retribution, and the inquiry is, What is the doom they meet? Do they
rise to unite with angels in the songs of heaven? or sink in ceaseless
and untold misery?
Certain it is, that they are not saved through faith in Christ; for
"how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?" It is also
clear that God, in his usual method, does not bestow the gift of
repentance and eternal life where a Saviour is not known. "It pleases
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." Those
who are saved, are said to be "begotten by the word of truth"--"born of
the word of God." As the heathen nations, therefore, are not furnished
with the appointed means of salvation, it follows inevitably that, as a
mass at least, they are sinking to perdition. They are the "nations
which have forgotten God," and "shall be turned into hell."
It is unnecessary to enter into the inquiry, whether it is possible, in
the nature of the case, for a heathen unacquainted with the Gospel to be
saved. It is sufficient to know the FACT, that God has ordained the
preaching of the Gospel as the means of saving the nations; and that
there is probably no instance on record, which may not be called in
question, of a heathen being converted without a knowledge of the true
God and of his Son Jesus Christ.
But the consideration, solemn and conclusive, which needs no other to
corroborate it or render it overwhelming, is the _character_ of the
heathen. Look at their character, as portrayed by the Apostle Paul in
the first chapter to the Romans. Read the whole chapter, but especially
the conclusion, where he describes the heathen as "being filled with all
unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness;
full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, back-biters,
haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things,
disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers,
without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful." This description is
not understood in Christian lands, neither can it be; but missionaries
to the heathen, who are eye-witnesses of what is here described, place
an emphasis on every epithet, and would clothe every word in capitals.
The character of the heathen is no better now than in the days of Paul.
It is _worse_. It is impossible that such a state of society should
remain stationary. A mortal disease becomes more and more malignant,
till a remedy is applied; a sinking weight hastens downwards with
continually accumulating force; and mind, thrown from its balance,
wanders farther and farther from reason. It is thus with the disease of
sin, the downward propensities of a depraved nature, and a soul revolted
from God. Besides, Satan has not been inactive in heathen lands. He has
been aware that efforts would be made to save them. And night and day,
year after year, and age after age, he has sought, with ceaseless toil
and consummate skill, to perfect the heathen in every species of
iniquity, harden their hearts to every deed of cruelty, sink them to the
lowest depths of pollution and degradation, and place them at the
farthest remove from the possibility of salvation. It is impossible to
describe the state of degradation and unblushing sin to which the
nations, for ages sinking, have sunk, and to which Satan in his
undisturbed exertions for centuries has succeeded in reducing them. It
is impossible to give a representation of their unrestrained passions,
the abominations connected with their idol worship, or the scenes of
discord, cruelty and blood, which everywhere abound. I speak of those
lands where the Gospel has not been extended. Truly darkness covers such
lands, and gross darkness the people. Deceit, oppression and cruelty
fill every hut with woe; and impurity deluges the land like an
overflowing stream. Neither can it be said, that the conduct of the
heathen becomes sinless through ignorance. From observation for many
years, I can assert that they have consciences--that they feel
accountable for what they do.
Will, then, God transplant the vine of Sodom, unchanged in its nature,
to overrun his paradise above? Will he open the gates of his holy city,
and expose the streets of its peaceful inhabitants to those whose heart
is cruelty, whose visage is scarred with fightings, and whose hands are
red with blood? "KNOW YE NOT, THAT THE UNRIGHTEOUS SHALL NOT ENTER INTO
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN?" Where, then, is the hope of the unconverted
heathen? If there were _innocent_ heathen, as some men are ready to
imagine in the face of God's word, and in the face of a flood of facts,
then indeed they might be saved without the Gospel. But this mass of
pollution, under which the earth groans, must disgorge itself into the
pit of woe. We cannot evade the conclusion, painful as it is, that the
millions of this world of sin are sinking to perdition.
_The American churches have peculiar advantages_ to carry abroad the
Gospel of Christ; and ability in such an enterprise is the measure of
our duty. "If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to
that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not." "To whom much
is given of him will much be required." And to determine whether
Christians in the United States are _doing what they can_ to save the
heathen from their awful doom, the second point of inquiry proposed, it
is necessary to look at their unparalleled advantages.
It may be said then, that Christians in America are not trammeled in
their efforts to do good by any governmental restrictions, or
ecclesiastical establishment. The remark is trite, but no less true,
that the genius of our free constitution is eminently propitious to call
forth energy and enterprise. And the remark applies with no more force
to worldly matters, than to the business of doing good. The religion of
Christ courts no extraneous influence, and is dependent for its power on
no earthly aid. Under our free government, uncontrolled, unrestrained
and unsupported, it is left to exert its own free and native energy. We
can plead, therefore, no arbitrary hindrance of any kind in the work of
propagating the Gospel. And we can carry the Gospel, too, disconnected
from any prejudicial alliance with political interests. This is the
free, disencumbered, and unshackled condition in which the Gospel is
permitted to have free course in our beloved land; and it is a talent
put into our hands to be improved.
Again, no country possesses such advantages of education as the United
States. In no land is knowledge so generally diffused throughout the
different grades of society, and in no land do such facilities exist for
acquiring a thorough education. Schools, colleges and seminaries, are
open equally to the high and to the low, to the rich and to the poor;
and only a good share of energy is required, to rise from any grade or
condition of society, to eminence in general learning or professional
study. The general intelligence of the community is such, that nothing
but _disinclination_ can prevent men from being acquainted with the
wants of the world, and their duty to evangelize it; and the facilities
for fitting themselves for the work are such, that nothing but criminal
delinquency can hold back a very large army from entering the field.
This is an immense advantage committed to the American churches, for
propagating the religion of Christ. It is another very precious talent
committed to their trust, which if they fail to improve, they treasure
up guilt.
Again, the American churches possess a great advantage in the facilities
so generally enjoyed for accumulating wealth. The road to comfort and to
affluence is open to all; and notwithstanding all reverses, the remark,
as a general one, is still true, that the prosperity of the United
States--of the whole mass of the people--is altogether unexampled, and
that enterprise is vigorous and successful. In the greatest strait, how
much retrenchment has there been in the style of living? And as we look
into the future we see, (God's providence favoring,) that wealth is
destined to flow in upon the land like a broad and deep river. Look at
the extent of territory, bounded only by two rolling oceans; and at the
resources which from year to year are developed--varied, unnumbered, and
inexhaustible. If then unto whom much is given, of them will much be
required, what may not God justly demand of American Christians?
Another advantage which the American church possesses, is the Spirit which
has been poured out upon her from on high. God has been pleased to bless
her with precious revivals. The Holy Ghost has come down frequently and
with power, and gathered in multitudes of souls. What God has wrought
for the American Zion has been told in all lands, and every one applies
the Saviour's injunction, "Freely ye have received--freely give." One
great reason, perhaps, why the blessings of the Spirit are not now more
richly enjoyed, is the neglect of Christians to make this return, and to
labor gratefully for the destitute and the dying. It _was expected_, and
justly too, that the land of apostolic revivals would be the first to
imitate the apostles in the work of saving the heathen. A failure to do
this may bring a blight upon the churches, if it has not brought it upon
them already.
Surely, if there is a nation on earth to whom are intrusted many talents,
ours is that nation. Our ability is not small. We must come up to a high
measure of Christian action, before it can be said with truth, that we
are _doing what we can_ to save our ruined race. The United States, a
nation planted by God, enriched by his providence, nourished by his Holy
Spirit, and brought to the strength of manhood in this solemnly momentous
time of the nineteenth century, seems to have committed to her in a
special manner the work of the world's conversion. Who knoweth but that
she is brought to her preëminent advantages for such a time as this--for
the interesting period preceding the latter day glory; and now if she
prove herself unworthy of so lofty and responsible a trust, and neglect
to put forth her strength to usher in the glorious day, deliverance will
break out from some other quarter, but she, like a third Babylon, may
sink in the bottomless abyss. An immense responsibility rests upon us. O
that God would give us grace to act worthy of our trust--_to do what we
can_ for a dying world!
Let us inquire, then, Do we _pray_ for the heathen as much as we ought?
Were one duly impressed with the condition of perishing millions,
certainly no less could be expected of him, than to fall on his knees
many times a day, and to lift up his cry of earnest entreaty on their
behalf. Filled with the love of Christ, and having distinctly and
constantly before his mind the image of millions of immortal souls
dropping into perdition, surely he could not refrain from an agony of
prayer. Under such a sense of the wants and woes of our perishing race,
a sense true to facts, he would have no rest.
But what prayer has actually been offered to the Lord for benighted
nations? Is it not a fact, that many professed Christians do not remember
the heathen once a day, and some not even once a month? Let the closet,
the family altar, and the monthly concert testify. Prayer-meetings for
the heathen--how thinly attended! what spectacles of grief to Jesus, and
to angels! And if that prayer only is honest which is proved to be so by
a readiness to labor, give, and go, there is reason to fear that few
prayers for the heathen have been such that Christ could accept them,
place them in his golden censer, and present them before the throne.
Since such is the case, what wonder is it that a million and a half of
Christians in the United States should be so inefficient? Inefficient, I
say, for what do this million and a half of professed Christians
accomplish? By their vows they are bound to be as self-denying, as
spiritual and devoted, as though they were missionaries to foreign
lands. If we should send abroad a million and a half of missionaries, we
should expect that, under God, they would soon be the instruments of
converting all nations. But what, in fact, does this vast number of
professed Christians--or in other words, of the _professedly missionary
band_ of Jesus Christ, accomplish in the narrow limits of the United
States? O, there is a deplorable lack in the churches, of the deep
devotion and missionary character of our ascended Saviour.
Again, Do we _give_ as much as we ought to evangelize the heathen? It
would perhaps be a liberal estimate to say, that a million and a half of
professed Christians in the United States give, on an average, year by
year, to save the heathen, about twenty-four cents each, or two cents a
month. There are other objects, it is true, that call for contributions;
but put all contributions together, and how small the amount?
The Jews were required to give to religious objects at least one-fifth
of their income. One-fifth of the income of a million and a half of
Christians at seven per cent., supposing them to be worth on an average
five hundred dollars each, would be ten and a half millions of dollars.
This is merely the income of capital of which we now speak. A fifth of
the income from trade and industry would probably double the amount, and
make it twenty-one millions. Is anything like this sum given by American
Christians to support and propagate the religion of Jesus? What
Christians have done, therefore, is by no means a measure of their
ability.
To see what men can do, it is necessary to look away from Christians, to
those whose ruling principle is a thirst for pleasure, for honor, and
for gain. How vast a sum is expended at theatres--on fashionable
amusements and splendid decorations--not to mention the hundreds of
millions sunk by intemperance, and swallowed up in the deep dark vortex
of infamous dissipation! Men are lavish of money on objects on which
their hearts are set. And if the hearts of Christians _were set_ on
saving the heathen, as much as wicked men are set on their pleasures,
would they, think you, be content with the present measure of their
contributions?
Look, too, at what men can do who are eager in the pursuit of wealth.
Under the influence of such an incentive, railroads, canals, and
fortresses spring into being, and fleets bedeck the seas like the stars
of the firmament. Money is not wanting when lucrative investment is the
end in view. Even professed Christians can collect together heavy sums,
when some great enterprise promises a profitable income. They profess,
perhaps, to be accumulating money for Christ; but, alas, to what a
painful extent does it fail of reaching the benevolent end proposed!
Worldly men accomplish much, for their hearts are enlisted. Professed
Christians, too, accomplish much in worldly projects, for their minds
become engrossed. What then could they not accomplish for Christ, if
their feelings were equally enlisted in his cause? They might have, in
serving Christ, intellects as vigorous, muscles as strong, and this
advantage in addition, a God on high who has vouchsafed to help them.
Take another view of the case. The child that is now sitting by your
side in perfect health, is suddenly taken sick. Its blooming cheeks turn
pale, and it lifts its languid and imploring eyes for help. You call a
physician, the most skillful one you can obtain. Do you think of expense?
A protracted illness swells the bill of the physician and apothecary to
a heavy amount. Do you dismiss the physician, or withhold any comfort
for fear of expense?
Your child recovers, and becomes a promising youth. He takes a voyage to
a foreign country. The ship is driven from her course, and wrecked on
some barbarous coast. Your son becomes a captive, and after long anxiety
you hear that he is alive, and learn his suffering condition; and you
are told that fifty dollars will procure his ransom. I will suppose you
are poor, have not a dollar at command, and that the sum can be raised
in no other way than by your own industry and toil. Now, I ask, how many
months would expire before you would save the sum from your hard
earnings, and liberate your son? But what is an Algerine dungeon? It is
a heaven, compared with the condition of the heathen. In the one case,
there are bodily sufferings; in the other, present wretchedness and
eternal agonies.
I once fell in company with a man of moderate circumstances, with whom I
used the above argument. He promptly replied, "It is true. Three years
ago I thought I could barely support my family by my utmost exertions.
Two years since, my darling son became deranged, and the support of him
at the asylum costs me four hundred dollars a year. I find that with
strict economy and vigorous exertion I can meet the expense. But if any
one had said to me three years ago, that I could raise four hundred
dollars a year to save a lost world, I should have regarded the remark
as the height of extravagance."
Now, I ask, ought not men to feel as much in view of the eternal and
unspeakable agony of a world of souls, as a parent feels for a suffering
child? God felt MORE. He loved his only Son with a most tender
affection--inconceivably more tender than any earthly parent can
exercise towards a beloved child. And yet, when the Father placed before
him, on the one hand the eternal ruin of men, and on the other the
sufferings and death of his beloved Son, which did he choose? Let
Gethsemane and Calvary answer. Can Christians then have much of the
spirit of God, and not feel for the eternal agonies of untold millions,
more than for the temporal sufferings of a beloved child? But if
Christians felt thus, what exertion would they make--how immense the
sum they would cheerfully raise, this present year, to evangelize the
heathen! Feeling thus, a few of the wealthy churches might sustain the
present expenditures of all foreign operations. Yet all the American
churches combined, _feeling as they do now_, fail to send forth a few
waiting missionaries, and suffer the schools abroad to be disbanded. The
truth is, in the scale of giving, the church as a body (I say nothing of
individuals or of particular churches) has scarcely risen in its feeling
above the freezing point. What they now contribute is a mere fraction
compared with their ability.
Millions are squandered by professed Christians on a pampered appetite,
in obedience to fashion, a taste for expensive building, a love of
parade, and on newly-invented comforts and conveniences, of which the
hardy soldiers of Jesus Christ ought ever to be ignorant.
Then, again, some who are economical in their expenditures, have little
conception of what is meant by total consecration to God. There must be
an entire reform in this matter. Every Christian must feel that his
employment, whether it be agriculture, merchandise, medicine, law, or
anything else, is of no value any farther than it is connected with the
Redeemer's kingdom; that wealth is trash, and life a trifle, _except_ as
they may be used to advance the cause of Christ; and that so far as they
may be used for this purpose, they are of immense value. Let every
Christian feel this sentiment--let it be deeply engraven on his heart,
and how long, think you, would pecuniary means be wanting in the work of
the world's salvation?
And do we _go and instruct_ the heathen as we ought? This is indeed the
main point. To pray, formally at least, is quite easy; to give, is a
little more difficult; but to go, in the minds of most persons, is
entirely out of the question. Satan understood human nature when he
said, "All that a man hath will he give for his life." Speak of going,
and you touch the man, his skin and his bones. To go, requires that a
man have such feelings as to begin to act in earnest, as men do in other
matters. Men act in person, when they are deeply in earnest. In the case
supposed of a sick child, does the mother simply express a desire that
the child may recover? does she merely give money, and hire a nurse to
take little or no care of it? No: in her _own person_ she anticipates
its every want, with the utmost attention and watchfulness. When a son
is in bondage on a barbarous coast, does the father merely _pray_ that
his son may be redeemed? does he merely send _money_ for his ransom? No:
he chooses, if possible, _to go in person_ and carry the sum, that no
means may be left untried to accomplish the object he has so much at
heart. Men who are deeply interested in an important matter, where there
is much at stake, cannot be satisfied with sending; they choose to _go
themselves._ This remark is true in all the enterprises and transactions
of life the world over.
If then, after all, the measure of going is the true measure of
interest, to what extent, I inquire, have Christians of America gone to
the heathen? Alas! the number is few, very few.
Look at the proportion of _ministers_ who go abroad. In the United
States the number of preachers, of all denominations, is perhaps not far
from one to a thousand souls. This is in a land already intelligent and
Christian; in a land of universities, colleges, and schools; in a land
of enterprise, of industry, and of free institutions, where the arts
flourish, and where improvements are various and unnumbered; and more
than all, in a land where more than a million and a half of the people
are professed Christians, and ready to aid the ministers of Christ in
various ways. On the other hand, even if missionaries from all
Christendom be taken into the account, there is not more than one
minister to a million of pagan souls, with almost no intelligent
Christians to assist as teachers, elders, catechists, and tract
distributers; no physicians, artists, and judicious legislators, to
improve society and afford the means of civilized habits; no literature
worthy of the name; no colleges, or even common schools of any value; no
industry and enterprise, and every motive for it crushed by arbitrary
and tyrannical institutions: the mind degraded and besotted,
inconceivably so, and preoccupied also with the vilest superstition, the
most inveterate prejudices, and the most arrogant bigotry. Who can
measure the vast disproportion? What mind sufficient to balance extremes
so inconceivably immense? On the one hand a minister to a thousand
souls, with many helpers and a thousand auxiliary influences in his
favor; on the other, one minister to a million of souls, with no helpers
and no auxiliary influences, finding out an untrodden track amidst
unnumbered obstacles, and penetrating with his single lamp into the dark
and boundless chaos of heathenism. This is the manner in which
Christendom shows that she loves her neighbor as herself; and in view of
it, judge ye, whether American Christians go as much as they ought to
instruct and save the benighted nations.
We said, that the number of missionaries to the heathen population is
about one to a million of souls; but let not the conclusion be drawn,
that every million of heathen souls has a missionary. By no means. The
few hundred missionaries preach to a few hundred thousand souls. The
millions and hundreds of millions of heathen, are as destitute of
preaching as though a missionary had never sailed, as destitute of the
Scriptures as though a Bible were never printed, and as far from
salvation, I was about to say, as though Jesus Christ had never died.
Men speak of operating upon the _world_. Such language is delusive. The
present style of effort, or anything like it, can only operate on some
small portions of the earth. To influence materially the _wide world_,
Christians must awake to a style of praying, giving, and _going_ too, of
which they have as yet scarcely dreamed. The work of going into all the
world and preaching the Gospel to every creature, has scarcely been
undertaken in earnest. And how vain it would be to expect to make any
material impression on the world, as a whole, when so small a company
from all the ministers in the United States go abroad, and a less number
even of lay members from the vast body of a million and a half.
The heathen are not lost because a Saviour is not provided for them.
"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son." The
preaching of the cross is "the power of God and the wisdom of God" both
to the Jew and the Greek. Facts show, that in every nation, however
barbarous and degraded, the Gospel of Jesus has power to convert,
purify, elevate and save. These facts are irresistible.
Neither are the heathen lost, because the ocean separating them is
rarely passed. For the sake of gain, men can visit the most distant and
sultry climes. To solve a question of science or merely to gratify
curiosity, they can circumnavigate the globe, or penetrate far into the
icy regions of the poles. The improvements in navigation and the
extension of commerce have united the two continents in one. The
Atlantic ocean no longer separates you from Africa, nor the Pacific from
China. The amount of intercourse between the seekers of wealth from
Christian lands and almost every heathen country, is absolutely immense.
Why then are the heathen left to perish? There is a lack of earnestness
in the church in the work of the world's conversion. What does the
present earnestness of the church amount to? They contribute on an
average two cents a month each, and they find that the pittance of money
will more than suffice for the small number of men: and then the cry is
"More money than men." A few men are obtained and then the pittance of
money fails, and "More men than money" is the cry. A year or two
afterwards the supply of men is gone, and the cry again is reversed. As
if, in repairing the wastes of the New-York fire, the citizens collect
together a small quantity of brick, and then find they have more brick
than workmen. So they employ a few more men, and then find they have
more men than brick. Was this the rate at which the ravages of the great
fire were so soon repaired? Was this the measure of their engagedness in
rebuilding the city?
Some derangement takes place in the Erie Canal: a lock fails, an
aqueduct gives way, or a bank caves in. Is business stopped on the canal
till the next season, because the times are hard, and it is difficult to
obtain money to make repairs? Some derangement takes place in a
railroad: is travelling postponed till next year? But in the work of
doing good, the reverse of times is regarded as a sufficient excuse to
detain missionaries, disband schools, and take other retrograde steps.
We coolly block our wheels, lie still, and postpone our efforts for the
world's conversion till more favorable times. Men are earnest in worldly
matters: in digging a canal, in laying a railroad, or in repairing a
city; but in God's work--the work of saving the nations--their efforts
are so weak that one is at loss to know which is most prominent, the
folly, or the enormous guilt.
Is it not a fact, that in our efforts for the heathen we come so far
short of our ability, that God cannot consistently add his blessing.
Can it be that the service rendered by the church as a body is
acceptable to God? It is not according to that she hath--it forms an
immense and inconceivable contrast to that measure of effort which lies
fully within her power. Is it not, then, as though an imperfect
sacrifice were offered to the Lord--a lamb full of blemish? If the
church were weak, and it were really beyond her ability to do more than
she does at present, then God would accomplish great victories by the
feeble means. He can save by few as well as by many. He would make the
"worm Jacob to thresh mountains." But since God has blessed the American
church with numbers, and with great and peculiar advantages, he requires
of her efforts that accord with her ability. The poor widow's mites
accomplish much; but the wealthy man's mites, or the wealthy nation's
thousands, when she is fully able to give millions; and her very few
sons, when it would even benefit her to spare a host of her ablest men;
what shall we say of such an offering? The reason why God blesses the
efforts of the American church may be, that there are _some widows_, and
some others too who do what they can--who honestly come up to the
measure of their ability. For the sake of these God may add his
blessing, just as for the sake of ten righteous men he would have spared
Sodom. But no very great and conspicuous blessing can be expected to
attend the labors of missionaries, such as the conversion of China, or
of Africa, till the church begins to _pray_, _give_ and _go_, according
to her _ability_; till she begins to come up to the extent of her powers
in her efforts to save the heathen. Then, when she renders according to
that she hath, her service will be accepted; it will be a sweet savor
before God; his throne of love will come near the tabernacle of his
saints, and the noise of his chariot soon be heard among the ranks of
the enemy. The church then, with Christ at their head, shall go on
rapidly from conquering to conquer, till all nations, tongues and
people, shall bow the knee before him. As soon as the church shall put
forth all her strength so as to render an acceptable service to God, it
is of little consequence whether she be weak or strong, few or many, the
blessing will descend; the mountains will break forth into singing, and
the trees shall clap their hands for joy; God will come, take up his
abode with the saints, and verify all that is expressed by "the latter
day glory."
It is plain, then, not only that Christians come far short of doing what
they can to save the heathen, but that if they would come up to the
measure of their duty they might, under God, rescue the dying nations
from their impending doom. If they would engage in earnest, pray with
fervency and faith, and prove their zeal by giving and by going, then
the providence of God would not leave a bolt or a bar in their way,
except what might be necessary to test their perseverance. Let every
ambassador of Christ, and _every Christian too_, possess the unreserved
consecration of Paul, and manifest that burning zeal which carried him,
as on the wings of an angel, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ; let every redeemed sinner, minister or layman, stand
ready, not merely to contribute of his substance, but to traverse with
cheerful step the burning plains of Africa or the icy mountains of
Greenland: then the darkness that now envelopes the earth would soon be
dispelled, the torch of Revelation be carried to the most distant lands,
and its light be made to penetrate the most gloomy abodes of men; the
radiance of heavenly truth would be poured around the dying bed of every
pagan, intelligence now in to us from every quarter, not only of
individuals, but of nations converted to God, and the shout of triumph
would soon be heard, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom
of our Lord."
It seems to be true, therefore, that the heathen are sinking to
perdition; and true, also, that we might, under God, be the means of
saving them. Shall we not then be found _accountable_ for their eternal
agonies? O Christian, pause and look at this thought! Look at it
deliberately, for we shall be obliged to do so at the judgment day. No
one can plead exemption from it, unless he does _what he can_ to save
the heathen. O my soul, how much blood, how much weeping, wailing and
gnashing of teeth, will stand at thy account in the day of judgment!
I appeal to each one of you, examine yourselves in the light of this
truth. Call up your prayers, your contributions, and your personal
efforts. Compare what you have done with what Jesus did for you. I
entreat you, open your ears, and hearts too, to the groans of a dying
world. Listen to the notes which, like the noise of seven thunders, peal
after peal, are rolling in upon your shores.
"Hark! what mean those lamentations,
Rolling sadly through the sky?
'Tis the cry of heathen nations,
'Come and help us, or we die!'
"Hear the heathen's sad complaining,
Christians! hear their dying cry;
And, the love of Christ constraining,
Haste to help them, ere they die!"
Yes, reader, haste to help them. Confer not with flesh and blood. Meet
all vain excuses with a deaf ear and a determined spirit. Let pity move
you, the love of Christ constrain you, and a sense of responsibility
urge you, to take that precious Gospel on which your hopes rely, and to
carry it, without delay, to the perishing nations.
CHAPTER IV.
THE SAVIOUR'S LAST COMMAND.
Let us suppose that all kindreds and people of the earth are assembled,
and that the inhabitants of Africa, Asia, the Isles of the Pacific and
the wilds of America, are called upon to speak, and to give in their
testimony _how far the Saviour's last command has been obeyed_.
The inquiry is first put to Africa:
"Africa, to what extent and for what purpose have people from Christian
lands visited thee, and thine adjacent islands? What have they carried
to thy shores? And what is the treatment thou hast received from them?
Tell the whole truth: let it be known to what extent the Saviour's last
command has been obeyed in respect to thee."
To this inquiry Africa replies:
"The truth I can tell, but the _whole_ truth cannot be told. I have
indeed been visited by people from Christian lands. Thousands and
hundreds of thousands from those lands have visited my shores. Some
have come to measure the pyramids, and to gather relics of ancient
literature and decayed magnificence; some to search out the sources of
the Nile and the course of the Niger; some to possess the best of the
soil; and a vast multitude have come, with a cruelty that knows no
mercy, to tear the husband from his wife and the wife from her husband,
parents from their children and children from their parents, brother
from sister and sister from brother--to crowd them together without
distinction of age or sex in the suffocating holds of their ships, where
a large proportion of them die, and to convey the remainder far away to
spend their lives in degrading servitude. They have brought beads and
trinkets; they have brought _instruments of death_, such as muskets,
powder, knives and swords; and they have brought, too, full cargoes of
_liquid poison_. The navies of Christian, lands have fought in my
harbors, and their armies upon my shores. Their money by millions has
been lavished, and their blood has run in torrents.
"A few individuals, however, of a different character, have found their
way hither. They have come in the spirit of benevolence and of peace,
and have brought in their hands the precious treasure of the Gospel of
Christ. But their number is so small as to be almost lost among the
multitude. For one who has taught righteousness, purity, truth and
mercy, thousands have taught, by their example, rapacity, drunkenness,
lewdness and cruelty. For one who has led us in the path of life,
thousands have led us in the paths of destruction. For one who has
brought the Bible, thousands have brought rum. For one whose example has
been salutary, the intercourse of thousands has left a loathsome
disease, which with sure and rapid progress is depopulating the land.
Such is the sum of my testimony. Days and nights would be required to
give the detail."
This testimony of Africa being finished, the same inquiry is put to
Asia:
"Asia, to what extent have the nations of Christendom visited thee, and
thy numerous islands? What have they carried to thy shores? and what has
been their deportment towards thee?"
To which Asia replies:
"The vast number, either of men or of ships from Christian lands, that
have visited my shores, cannot be told. I know full well the
enterprise, the energy, and the perseverance of Christian lands; yes,
verily, and traits too of less honorable name. Large portions of my
territory acknowledge the control of their armies. Their thundering
navies lie in my harbors and sail along my coasts. Ships without
number--mighty ships whose masts pierce the clouds, have come for my
teas, my crapes, my silks, my spices and other precious merchandise.
Their consuls, superintendents, officers of various kinds, and merchants
in great numbers, dwell in almost every port, and have erected in those
ports stores, shops, offices and sumptuous dwellings. Many things
pleasant and useful have been brought hither, but many things also that
are ruinous: full cargoes of ardent spirits; and immense quantities of
opium too, a means of destruction no less sure.
"Among the multitudes who have come to my shores, some few, indeed, have
brought the Gospel of Christ, made known its truths and exemplified its
spirit; but the thousands and tens of thousands have inculcated by their
example, worldliness, drunkenness, lewdness, war, violence and
treachery. If needful, a volume of details might be given; but this is
the sum."
Next, the inquiry is put to the Isles of the Ocean:
"Great Pacific, to what extent has the last command of Christ been
obeyed by Christian lands, in respect to thy numerous islands?"
The reply is as follows:
"Thousands of ships from Christian lands continually cruise upon my wide
waters, and visit my numerous groups of islands. They have exchanged
with my ignorant and destitute inhabitants, beads, trinkets, and a few
inches of rusty iron hoop, for the best produce of the islands. They
have sold to them guns, powder and rum. Many of their ships have been
floating grog-shops--floating exhibitions too of Sodom and Gomorrah.
From some, on slight provocation, broadsides of cannon have been fired
on my heedless inhabitants, strewing the deep with the dead and the
dying. Rum and disease have been introduced. The one has slain its
thousands, and the other has slain, and is still slaying its tens of
thousands. Many useful things indeed have been introduced, but in
connection with a host of evils! A few individuals too, bearing the
Gospel of Jesus Christ, have visited some of my numerous islands; but
what are they among the multitude?"
After this testimony of the Isles of the Ocean, the inquiry is last
addressed to America:
"America, what is thy testimony? From Bhering's Straits to Cape Horn,
what treatment have thy native inhabitants received from Christian
nations?"
America replies:
"Alas! scarcely enough remain of my miserable inhabitants to return an
answer. They have been swept away by the same causes which are now
sweeping away the inhabitants of the Pacific. The rapacity of those
called Christians, which has not scrupled at any means of conquest and
extirpation, and the rum and diseases introduced, have laid my numerous
population in the grave. Have I been visited by those who bear the
Christian name? Yes, verily, they now possess the best portions of my
territory, and have grown into vast nations on my soil. Even my veriest
wilds have been repeatedly traversed by them in search of furs; and the
tracks they have made been too often marked with drunkenness, lewdness,
and treachery. Few, very few indeed of all that have come to this vast
continent, have come to instruct my ignorant inhabitants in the precious
Gospel of Jesus Christ, and lead them in the paths of righteousness and
peace. Few who explore my wilds, explore them for this purpose. Alas! a
far different object prompts their enterprise, their energy, and their
perseverance. This is the sum of my testimony."
Now, reader, let us look well at this testimony of Africa, of Asia, of
the Isles of the Ocean, and of America. Is it not overwhelming? Take,
the Encyclopedia of Geography, or McCulloch's Dictionary of Commerce, or
Howitt's Colonization and Christianity, and carefully examine the facts.
Are they not enough to strike us dumb? To what a vast extent heathen
nations have been visited by those who bear the Christian name. What
obscure island, or what obscure nook or corner of the earth has not been
visited? What immense multitudes have gone forth. AND, ALAS! FOR WHAT
PURPOSES. How few, how very few have gone forth to make known the
Gospel! What a powerful motive among men is the love of earthly gain,
and how weak a motive is love to Christ and regard to his last command.
The command reads, "GO YE INTO ALL THE WORLD AND PREACH THE GOSPEL TO
EVERY CREATURE." Christian nations, ye have not failed in great
multitudes to "GO INTO ALL THE WORLD;" scarcely have ye failed to visit
"EVERY CREATURE;" but for what purpose have ye gone forth? Has it been
mainly to make known the precious name of Jesus? Be entreated to look at
the case as it is, for a day of impartial retribution is at hand.
Many of you indeed, who go forth to heathen shores, do not profess to be
the disciples of Jesus; but imagine not, that on that account your guilt
is diminished. Ye who reject the Saviour, and disobey his commands--who
throw away your own souls as worthless, and are reckless of the souls of
your fellow men, what can you say in the day of Christ's appearing? If
ye had only destroyed your own souls, then your case would be more
tolerable; but since you withhold from the millions of ignorant heathen
the knowledge of salvation, which has been imparted to you--not only
refusing to enter the kingdom of heaven yourselves, but denying the key
to those who might be disposed to enter;--and not only do this, but in
your intercourse with the heathen, which has been very abundant, confirm
them in their evil practices by a pernicious example, and hurry them by
thousands to the grave by means of _deadly poison_ and _deadly
disease_--Oh! how will you endure the keen remorse and fearful looking
for of judgment, which may ere long overtake you? When the impartial
Judge shall appear, and your eyes shall meet his eye, what agonies must
rend your souls!
But some of you have the vows of God upon you. To such I would say, Be
entreated to look at the case as it is. As ye have gone forth on voyages
of just and honorable traffic, and on voyages of discovery, have you
manifested in all the heathen ports where you touched, that to make
known the Saviour was the great and absorbing desire of your hearts?
Alas! are there not some among you who, either as owners, masters or
agents, are connected with ships that sail from port on the Sabbath, or
do other unnecessary work on that day, and who thereby teach the
heathen, wherever those ships go, to disobey God when their gain or
convenience require it? Are there not also some among you, who, in one
way or another, are connected with ships whose outfits are wholly or in
part, beads, trinkets, guns, powder, rum and opium? and who thereby
teach the heathen injustice, cheating, drunkenness, lewdness, and
recklessness of life? Why is it that ye bear the name of the peaceful
disciples of the benevolent Jesus, whilst ye are concerned in scattering
among the heathen "fire-brands, arrows and death"--in teaching them
every species of iniquity, and in rearing a wall of prejudice strong and
high to the progress of the Gospel?
* * * * *
But most of my readers stand pure from all this crime; and of such I
simply inquire, with deep concern and affectionate earnestness, Why,
dear brethren, have ye not obeyed the Saviour's last command? Why have
ye not made known the Gospel of Christ to every creature? Each one of
you has doubtless some excuse at hand, or he could not escape the
goadings of conscience. Let us then, in the spirit of candor and
honesty, look at some EXCUSES.
Perhaps some one may be inclined to say, "The work enjoined by the
Saviour's last command is a very great work, and there has not been
time enough to perform it."
True, I reply, the work is great; but how does it appear that there has
not been sufficient time to accomplish it? _Not sufficient time!_ What
has been accomplished in the pursuit of wealth and honor during the same
period of time? What has been done at home in railroads, canals,
steamboats, manufactures, and in other departments of enterprise and
industry? What has been done abroad? Look at the testimony of Africa,
Asia, the Isles of the Pacific, and the wilds of America. There has been
time to carry rum to every shore. There has been time to introduce
diseases among every barbarous people, which are hurrying them to the
grave by thousands. There has been time to kidnap thousands and hundreds
of thousands of the degraded Africans. There has been time to extirpate
most of the native population of North and South America. There has been
time to wage war, till the blood of human beings has flowed in torrents.
And then, in regard to just and honorable traffic, compute, if human
arithmetic be competent to the task, the amount of merchandise brought
from India, and from other distant lands. There has been time for all
this. Now I ask with great plainness, for it is a solemn and practical
subject, Had you exhibited the same enterprise, energy and perseverance,
in making known the Gospel to all nations, as has been exhibited in
worldly pursuits, would not every human being, long ere this, have heard
the word of life? Will you not, Christian reader, look at this question,
weigh it well, and deal honestly with your own soul?
Here, I am suspicious that some may be inclined to excuse themselves
with a vague thought secretly entertained, which, if expressed, would be
somewhat as follows:
"True, we have not exhibited as much zeal in teaching all nations as has
been exhibited by the worldly, and by many of ourselves even, in the
pursuit of wealth. But we claim not the praise of a holy, self-denying
and apostolic life. We are content with an _humble_ walk in the
Christian course, and a _low_ seat in heaven. Entire consecration, in
the sense urged, is what we never _professed_."
Your standard, then, it appears is very low--too low, it may be, to
admit you even to that humble seat in the courts above which you
anticipate. You claim not the praise of an apostolic life, and I
seriously fear that you will not obtain even the testimony of being a
true Christian. But how does it appear, that you never professed an
entire consecration to Christ of all your powers of body and soul? It is
true, the conduct of some would seem to say, that they put on a form of
religion to silence their fears, to cheat themselves with a delusive
hope, and to enjoy a comfortable state of mind on earth. But what,
really, are the vows that rest upon you? What else than to seek by
prayer and effort, as your supreme aim, chief desire, and all-engrossing
object, the promotion of Christ's kingdom--the salvation of souls for
whom he died?
Besides, what is the great purpose for which the church was instituted?
Certainly, not to promote in its members a delusive comfort and quietude
of mind; neither mainly nor chiefly to secure their own ultimate
salvation; but _to take advantage of union of strength to convert the
world._ The church--the whole church, without the exception of any of
its members, is by profession, not merely a missionary society, but a
_missionary band:_ the minute-men of the Lord Jesus, ready to do his
will, at home or abroad, with singleness of aim, and with a spirit of
entire devotion.
"But," you say, "were we thus to live, the world would verily believe we
were deranged."
_Deranged!_ it would be the right kind of derangement. Were not the
apostles thought to be deranged? And the Reformers--Luther, Melancthon,
Calvin, Knox and others--were not they thought to be enthusiasts and
zealots? Why? Because they were somewhat in earnest in the cause of
Christ. Worldly men toil and strive night and day, in collecting
together a little of the pelf and dust of the earth, and think
themselves wise in doing so; but if the disciples of Christ show zeal or
earnestness, in pursuits as much higher than theirs as heaven is higher
than the earth, and as much more important as the immortal soul is more
valuable than corruption and vanity, they call them enthusiasts and
fanatics! But, alas! how few of us who profess to be the disciples of
Christ, have manifested such zeal in his service as to be called by such
epithets. Such persons alone God calls wise; and those worldly men, who
are mad in the pursuit of wealth, God calls "fools." The wisdom of God
and the wisdom of the world are utterly at variance. O that all who
profess to love Christ, manifested such zeal in obeying him as to be
strange and singular men! How soon would every human being hear his
Gospel! But since such zeal is not manifested, the heathen are left to
perish; and where, I ask affectionately and solemnly, where rests the
guilt?
But, here it may perhaps be replied, "Our sin is a sin of ignorance. We
have not been acquainted with the full import of the Saviour's last
command, nor with the extent of our obligations to Christ. Neither have
we been acquainted with the wretched and guilty condition of the heathen
world, nor with the exertions necessary to turn it from darkness to
light, from the power of Satan unto God. God will wink at our sin, if we
be indeed guilty, for we have not been enlightened on this subject."
I answer. Does ignorance of the laws of any nation excuse those who
transgress those laws; or is it not considered to be the duty of all
subjects to inform themselves in respect to the laws of their country?
And should it not be so in the kingdom of Christ? The requirements of
Christ in their full extent are contained in the New Testament, and are
expressed in language that need not be misunderstood. If any one has
mistaken their import, is it not on account of a self-seeking,
money-getting, or slothful disposition? Let such a one search his own
heart, and inquire with concern, "Did I desire to know my duty? Was not
my blindness a matter of choice; no infirmity, no misfortune, but my
guilt? If there had been a desire, nay, even a willingness to be
instructed, could I have mistaken such plain and unequivocal precepts of
the Gospel?"
The condition too of the heathen, their guilty and wretched condition,
is fully made known in the New Testament, especially in the first
chapter of Paul's epistle to the Romans. Besides, accounts of their
guilt and wretchedness have been presented before the Christian
community in Heralds, Chronicles, reports and newspapers, till they have
become too familiar to make an impression. Can ignorance at this day be
any other than a criminal ignorance--an ignorance of fearful
responsibility?
And, I ask again, Can it be an excuse to many Christians that they are
laymen and not preachers of the Gospel? Can they make it appear that
many of their number were not called to the office of preaching the
Gospel? Did they take the proper means to ascertain that point? How, I
anxiously inquire, did such persons determine so readily, when a world
was sinking to perdition for want of preachers of the Gospel, that they
were called to be lawyers, physicians, statesmen, merchants, farmers and
manufacturers? Can it be fairly shown that hundreds of laymen have not
rejected an office to which they were _called_--SOLEMNLY CALLED, by the
woes and dying groans of six hundred millions of their fellow men? Is
there not reason to fear, that it was from a carnal choice and selfish
inclination, rather than a sense of duty, that so great a majority slid
so easily into their present occupations?
Besides, how does it appear that only preachers of the Gospel are
required to labor directly for the destitute at home, and to go forth to
the heathen abroad? It was far otherwise in the days of the apostles.
Then the whole church--driven out, indeed, by persecution--went
everywhere making known the Saviour. And at the present hour, not only
are ministers needed in propagating the Gospel in destitute places at
home, and in raising up heathen nations from their deep degradation, but
there are needed also, in their appropriate spheres, teachers,
physicians, mechanics, farmers--in short, men of every useful profession
and employment.
Besides, much is to be done at home in sustaining those who go abroad.
Has there been no lack in this part of the work? Alas! there are facts
to meet such an inquiry, facts too well known to be named: disbanded
schools, detained missionaries, and deserted monthly concerts: facts
that stand registered on a book that shall hereafter be opened. Dear
brethren, I speak earnestly and boldly of your obligations, not
forgetting my own; and I would entreat you, by all that is affecting in
the death of souls, and by all that is constraining in the love of
Christ, to admit freely to your hearts, without subterfuge or excuse,
the full import of the Saviour's last command, and to commence at once a
life of sincere obedience. O! let us deal _honestly_ with ourselves, in
a matter of such immense moment.
CHAPTER V.
LAYMEN CALLED TO THE FIELD OF MISSIONS.
In Acts, 8:4, it is said, _Therefore they that were scattered abroad,
went everywhere preaching the word_. And from the previous verses it
seems that these persons, who were scattered abroad, were lay members of
the church. The history is instructive.
After the day of Pentecost, the number of converts to Christianity
amounted to several thousands. They were Jews, and had strong feelings
of attachment to the city of Jerusalem, to the temple, and to the land
of their fathers. They therefore clung to Jerusalem, and seemed inclined
to remain together as one large church. But it was the design of the
Lord Jesus, that the Gospel should be preached _everywhere_: such was
his last and most solemn command. As, therefore, the disciples seemed in
a measure unmindful of this command, the Saviour permitted a persecution
to rage, which scattered them abroad, and they went "everywhere
preaching the word." The term _preaching_, in this place, means simply
announcing or making known the news of salvation. This must be the
meaning, for they that were scattered abroad were laymen. As they went,
they told everywhere of Jesus Christ, and of the life and immortality
which he had brought to light. This subject engrossed their thoughts;
their hearts were full of it, and out of the abundance of their hearts
their mouths spake. It is clear from this history, that in early times
lay members of the church, in great numbers, were led, in the providence
of God, to go forth and engage personally in the work of propagating the
Gospel. And the more closely we look at the history, the more we shall
be impressed with this fact.
Notice the _time_ chosen by God for the first remarkable outpouring of
his Holy Spirit. It was on the day of Pentecost, when multitudes were
present, not only from all parts of Palestine, but from the surrounding
nations. There were present, "Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and
the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus and
Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the parts of Lybia about
Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and
Arabians." Upon this multitude, assembled from all the nations round
about, the Holy Ghost was poured out with such power, that three
thousand souls were converted in one day; and on succeeding days many
were added to the church. Many of these converts would naturally return
to the different nations and places from which they came, and make known
the Saviour far and wide. It was by the return of these converts to
their places of residence, that the Gospel was early introduced into
many places quite remote from Jerusalem, among which may be reckoned, in
all probability, the distant city of Rome. The first propagation of the
Gospel in that metropolis of the world, can be traced to no other source
with so much probability, as to the strangers from Rome who were present
at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. It seems evident, therefore, that
in the time chosen by God for this remarkable outpouring of his Spirit,
he had an eye to an extensive and rapid propagation of the Gospel by lay
members of the church.
Again, as hinted before, when the great body of the first converts chose
to remain at Jerusalem, God saw best to _drive them thence by
persecution_. This persecution began with the stoning of Stephen, and
raged with such violence, that it is said that all the church at
Jerusalem were scattered abroad, except the apostles. They were not only
a few individuals who were driven out, but so many as to justify the
expression, "all the church." By thus dispersing the great body of the
church, the Saviour propagated rapidly and extensively his precious
Gospel. For this multitude of lay members--and there were several
thousands of them--went everywhere preaching the word; announcing in all
places, in a way appropriate to their station, the news of salvation
through a crucified Redeemer. They propagated the Gospel throughout
Judea and Samaria; and some of them travelled as far as Phoenice and
Cyprus, and laid the foundation of the church at Antioch. It was not
till the apostles had heard of the success of these lay members at
Antioch, that they sent thither Barnabas to help in the work. It
appears, then, that the rapid and extensive propagation of the Gospel,
in early times, was accomplished in a great measure by the spreading
abroad of the great body of the church; by an actual going forth and
personal engagement of a great multitude of lay members.
Again, the treasurer of Candace, Queen of Ethiopia, seems to have been
converted on his return home, not simply out of regard to his own
personal salvation, but as a means of making known the Gospel in the
distant place of his residence; for soon after, we find in that region a
flourishing church of Christ.
Again, look at the example of Aquila and Priscilla, who labored
zealously at Corinth and at Ephesus. Look, too, at the whole list of
Paul's fellow travellers, and those whom he salutes in his letters as
helpers in the Gospel.
From all these facts it is evident, that in early times God made use of
common Christians in propagating the Gospel. Did he not so overrule
events in his providence, as to show it to be his design that lay
members of the church should go forth in great numbers, and engage
personally, in ways appropriate and proper for them, in the work of
making known Christ? We have then the force of primitive example--of
primitive example, too, brought about by the manifest overrulings of
God's providence. This example is not equivalent, indeed, to a "Thus
saith the Lord;" yet does it not strongly favor the sentiment, that lay
members of the church in great numbers are called to go forth and assist
in evangelizing the heathen?
_To elevate all nations requires a great variety of laborers._ In
illustrating this point, I cannot expect to present it with all the
clearness and force which are due to it. To appreciate fully its truth
and its weighty import, it is necessary to live in the midst of a
heathen people, and actually to witness the great variety and amount of
labor which must be put forth, in order to elevate and improve them. The
work of raising up a people from barbarism to Christianity is not only
an immense work, but emphatically a _various_ work--a work which
requires a great diversity both of means and of laborers. The minister
of the Gospel must perform a prominent part, but he must not be expected
to labor alone. His unaided efforts are altogether insufficient for the
task.
There is special need of other laborers, since the number of ministers
among the heathen is likely to be so small; but the need would exist,
even though the number of ministers were very much increased. Labors
analogous, both in respect to measure and variety, to those bestowed
upon a Christian congregation, must be expended on a congregation of
heathen. In Christian countries, a thousand important labors are
performed by intelligent and praying men and women in the church, as
direct aid to the minister in his arduous work; and a thousand offices
are performed by schoolmasters, physicians, lawyers, merchants, farmers,
mechanics and artisans, which, though in most cases not aimed directly
at the salvation of men, are, notwithstanding, most intimately connected
with the world's improvement and renovation. But while ministers at home
are assisted in their work, shall the missionary abroad receive little
or no help in his direct labors? And in respect to all improvements in
society indirectly connected with his main work, must the task of
introducing them and of urging them on, devolve entirely on him alone?
Why should not the various means of civilizing and improving society at
home, be brought to exert their influence upon the heathen abroad? Why
should not the aid enjoyed by the minister in Christian lands, from
intelligent members of his church, be afforded to the missionary among
the heathen? How, indeed, shall the world be converted, unless there be
a going forth to heathen lands from among all classes of Christians?
But I fear that these remarks are too general to be distinctly
understood. To make my meaning, then, a little more clear, I will
suppose a case.
A missionary goes forth to a barbarous nation, and locates himself in a
village of four thousand souls. He learns the language of the people,
and soon succeeds in giving them a superficial knowledge of the great
truths of the Gospel. God blesses his labors. The people throw away
their idols; many sincerely embrace the Lord Jesus; and the community at
large acknowledge Christianity as the religion of the land.
Now, a superficial thinker might imagine that the work of elevating the
people was almost done; but, in truth, it is but just commenced. The
missionary looks upon his people, and wishes them not only to be
Christians in name, but to exhibit also intelligence and good order,
purity and loveliness, industry and enterprise; in a word, a deportment
in all respects consistent with the religion of Jesus. But what is
their state? The government is despotic, and the principles of its
administration at variance with Scripture and reason. This takes away
all motives to industry and thrift. Then again, the people are ignorant;
have no mental discipline, no store of useful knowledge, but their minds
are marked with torpor, imbecility, and poverty of thought: while at the
same time they are full of grovelling ideas, false opinions, and
superstitious notions, imbibed in childhood and confirmed by age. The
children, too, are growing up in ignorance of all that is useful and
praiseworthy. Entirely uninstructed and ungoverned by their parents;
they range at large like the wild goats of the field. The people know
not the simple business of making cloth, of working iron, or of framing
wood; and have but a very imperfect knowledge of agriculture.
Of course, men, women and children, are almost houseless and
naked--destitute of everything but the rudest structures, the rudest
fabrications, and the rudest tools and implements of husbandry. A large
family herd together, of all ages and both sexes, in one little hut,
sleep on one mat, and eat from one dish. From irregularity of habits and
frequent exposure, they are often sick; and with the aid of a
superstitious quackery, sink rapidly and in great numbers to the grave.
The missionary looks upon his four thousand villagers, though nominally
Christian perhaps, yet still in this state of destitution, degradation
and ignorance. He sees, that to elevate them requires the labors not
only of a preacher of the Gospel, but the labors of the civilian, the
physician, the teacher, the agriculturist, the manufacturer, the
mechanic and the artist. Can all these professions and employments be
united in one man? Can one missionary sustain all this variety of labor?
Yet all these departments of labor are absolutely indispensable to the
improvement and elevation of society. They are necessary in a land
already Christian. Still more indispensable are they in the work of
raising up a people from barbarism.
_Teachers_ are needed. To raise a people from barbarism, the simple but
efficient means of common schools must be everywhere diffused; and
higher schools too must be established, and vigorously conducted. To
teach the hundreds of millions of adult heathen in week-day schools and
in Sabbath-schools, and more especially to instruct and train the
hundreds of millions of heathen children and youth, cannot be done by a
few hands. We forbear to make a numerical estimate: any one may estimate
for himself. The number must be great, even though we look upon them
rather as a commencing capital than as an adequate supply, and expect
that by far the greater part of laborers are to be trained up from among
the heathen themselves. It is preposterous to think of imposing all this
labor on a few ministers of the Gospel.
_Physicians_ are needed. They are needed to benefit the bodies of the
heathen; for disease, the fruit of sin, is depopulating with amazing
speed a large portion of the heathen world. The nations, many of them at
least, are melting away. Let physicians go forth, and while they seek to
stay the tide of desolation which is sweeping away the bodies of the
heathen, let them improve the numerous and very favorable opportunities
afforded them of benefiting their souls. The benevolent, sympathizing,
and compassionate spirit of Christ, led him to relieve the temporal
sufferings of men, while his main aim was to secure their eternal
salvation. Unless we show, by our exertions, a desire to mitigate the
present woes and miseries of men, how shall we convince them that we
truly seek their eternal welfare? Physicians must throw their skill in
the healing art at the feet of the Saviour, and be ready to use it when
and where he shall direct. The number who should go to the heathen
cannot, and need not, be named.
It is unnecessary to remark that _printers_, _book-binders_, and
_book-distributers_ are needed to carry on the work of the world's
conversion.
_Civilians_ too are needed: men skilled in laying the foundation of
nations and guiding their political economy. Should such men go forth,
and evince by a prayerful, godly, and disinterested deportment and
course of procedure, that their sole aim was to promote the happiness of
the people, both temporal and eternal; there are many barbarous
countries where they would readily acquire much influence, and be able
in a gradual manner, by friendly and prudent suggestions to the rulers,
and in other ways, to effect changes that would be productive of
incalculable good. Many changes, with pains-taking and care, could be
made to appear to the rulers to be really for their interest, as well as
for the interest of the people; and more light and knowledge, without
the intervention of any new motive, would soon introduce them.
A few years since, the king and chiefs of the Sandwich Islands sent a
united appeal to the United States for such an instructor, to guide them
in the government of their kingdom, and offered him a competent support.
While the nation had improved in religion and morals, the government had
remained much as it was--keeping the people in the condition of serfs.
The system was wrong throughout: of the very worst kind, both for the
interests of the rulers and of the subjects. The chiefs began to see
this, and asked for an instructor. Such an instructor was not obtained;
and one of the missionaries was constrained, by the urgent necessity, to
leave the service of the mission board, and to become a political
teacher to the king and chiefs. His efforts have been crowned with great
success.
Civilians might do good also, not only in the way of their profession,
but by a Christian example, and by instructing the people, as
opportunity should offer, in the knowledge of Christ.
_Commercial men_ also, actuated by the same benevolent and disinterested
spirit, might develope the resources of heathen lands, and apply them in
a wise manner for the benefit of those lands; promote industry, and
afford the means of civilized habits; increase knowledge, by expediting
communication; and in this way, indirectly, though efficiently, aid the
progress of the Gospel. By exhibiting also in their dealings an example
of honesty, uprightness, and a conscientious regard to justice and
truth; by showing practically the only proper use of wealth, the good of
men and the glory of God; by conversing daily with individuals, as did
Harlan Page and Normand Smith, at their houses and by the wayside, on
the great subject of the soul's salvation; and by presenting in
themselves and in their families examples of a prayerful and godly life,
they might exert a powerful influence, and perform a very important part
in Christianizing the world.
There is also much need of farmers, mechanics, manufacturers and
artisans. They should go forth like other laborers in the field, _not
with the selfish design of enriching themselves_, but with the
disinterested intention of benefiting the nations. Private gain must be
kept strictly, carefully, and absolutely _subordinate_, or immense evil
will be wrought and no good be done. They should be men who cheerfully
throw themselves and their property on the altar of _entire
consecration_, and go forth to labor and toil so long as the Saviour
pleases to employ them, with the _lofty design_ of doing good to the
bodies and souls of their perishing fellow men. Going forth with such a
spirit, and with emphasis I repeat, allowing _no other_ to intrude, they
could do much in raising up the nations from their deep degradation. In
the first place, they could do much good by communicating a knowledge of
their several employments. Not only is a reform in government necessary,
but an introduction of the useful arts also, to raise up the people from
their indolence and filthy habits, and to promote thrift, order,
neatness and consistency. Look at a heathen family as above described.
How can you expect from them refinement or elevation of soul? How can
you expect from them the proprieties and consistencies of a Christian
life? Even though they may attend the sanctuary, and be instructed in
schools; and even though the government be reformed, and hold out
motives to industry; yet will not something else be wanting? Unless the
various useful arts and occupations be introduced, how is the land to be
filled with fruitful fields, pleasant dwellings, and neatly clad
inhabitants? And to introduce these improvements, _men must go forth for
the purpose_. Such men too might do good, by exhibiting in themselves
and in their families habits of industry, domestic peace and strict
economy; by holding up the hands of Christ's ministers, and by
scattering the word of life in their appropriate spheres.
That laymen of every useful occupation are needed in heathen lands, is
by no means the opinion of one alone. In looking over the periodicals
and papers of the last few years, I find that such is the sober and
deliberate opinion of many foreign laborers. I find urgent appeals for
such helpers from at least five important missionary fields. Would such
appeals be made if the enterprise were not a feasible one?
Look too at the fact, that _there is scarcely a nation on the globe
where men do not go, and permanently reside for the purpose of making
money_. It is absolutely amazing to what an extent this is the truth.
Why then cannot men go forth, and while they obtain a livelihood, make
it their ultimate and chief aim to do good?
But the inquiry arises, In what way should laymen go forth? It may not
be desirable that they should go forth, to any great extent, under the
care of missionary boards at present existing, lest the objects of those
boards should become too numerous and complicated. And it may not
perhaps be desirable, or necessary, to have any other organization for
the purpose. I am not wise enough to give an opinion; but would suggest,
that men of some pecuniary means take those means, and emigrate to
heathen lands, just as some good men have gone to the far West. May
there not also be small combinations of men, not to help others, but
_each other_ into the field, just as there is in worldly enterprise?
When once established in the field, it is supposed that their trades and
occupations will afford them, with trials, hardships and reverses, an
adequate subsistence, and open before them a wide door of usefulness.
Some have suggested, that ministers of the Gospel should go forth and
sustain themselves abroad. That is a far different question. If
ministers of the Gospel ought not to sustain themselves in Christian
countries by laboring with their hands, still less should they attempt
such a course in foreign fields. They have _other work_ to do--enough to
occupy all their time.
But for laymen to go forth, and sustain themselves in this way, is it
not both proper and appropriate? and have not such enterprises, to some
extent, been already entered upon with success? Different fields, of
course, present greater or less obstacles; but what undertaking is
without its difficulties? Perplexities, embarrassments and sufferings,
would be a matter of course; but no greater and perhaps far less than
those Christians endured, who, being scattered abroad from their beloved
Jerusalem, went everywhere preaching the word.
It may perhaps be objected, that should many from all classes of
Christians thus go forth, to live and labor abroad, they would soon
possess the land, while the heathen would melt away before them. Let us
look at this point. And first, where is the evidence of such a result?
When and where has the experiment been tried to justify such a
supposition? When and where have individuals or companies gone forth
with the sole design of benefiting the heathen, and yet proved their
extermination? The settlers of New England are not an example in point,
for the improvement and salvation of the heathen was not their main aim.
It was indeed an idea in mind, but not fully and prominently carried
out. It is _yet to be proved_ that a company of persons, however
numerous, of disinterested views, aiming solely to save the nations, and
directing all their energies of body and of mind to that end, would
prove the extermination of the heathen, instead of their salvation.
Neither can it be presumed that the descendants of such persons,
trained, as ought to be supposed, with faith and prayer, would possess a
spirit so selfish and different from that of their fathers, as to prove
the extermination of the heathen. And if such is the necessary event,
what is the conclusion at which we must arrive? It seems certain, that a
mere handful of missionaries cannot put forth the instrumentality which,
according to God's usual providence, is necessary to save them: that a
great number and variety of laborers are needed to do the work. Let us
be slow, therefore, to trust in the objection; for if it must be
admitted, the lawful inference will not necessarily be, that Christians
of all classes and in great numbers should not go forth to the heathen;
but the inquiry will arise, whether heathen nations as nations must not
cease to exist, and remnants of them only be saved--a painful and dread
alternative, from which every benevolent heart must instinctively
recoil.
_There are other reasons why laymen should engage in the work of
missions._ The work of the world's conversion is too great, too
momentous and too pressing, to admit of exemption simply on the ground
of profession or employment. When the liberties of a people are at
stake, how few are excused from the field of battle? But now the
question is not one of temporal liberty: it is whether six hundred
millions of the human race shall be won to the company of the redeemed
on high, or left to sink in the untold agonies of the world of woe. In
this unparalleled emergency, when the question is, whether the destiny
of a world shall be heaven or hell, who can be excused on so slight a
ground as that of profession or employment? A few ministers cannot do
the work. It is too great. It is presumptuous to expect, that a speedy
and complete triumph is to be effected by a few missionaries of the
right stamp going through the length and breadth of Satan's extensive
and dark empire, and sounding as they go the trumpet of the Gospel
around his strong fortifications and deep intrenchments. Such an
expectation places an immeasurable disparity between the means and the
end. It supposes it to be so easy to effect a transformation of heathen
society, heathen habits, heathen minds, and heathen character, and to
raise them up from a degradation many ages deep, that a few sounds only
from the herald of salvation, as he passes on his way, are sufficient.
"Leviathan is not thus tamed." The prince of the power of the air is not
thus vanquished.
Neither can the work be effected by a small number of preachers,
stationed at different posts, in the midst of the wide domains of
darkness and death. Like specks of light, few and far between, how can
they illumine the broad canopy of darkness? To commit the work of the
world's conversion to a few missionaries is, in effect, to leave the
heathen to perish. A large company of preachers must go forth, and a
large company too of other laborers. There must be among the whole body
of Christians, not only an interest in the work, but to a greater extent
than is imagined, _a personal enlistment_--an actual going forth to
foreign lands.
Again, laymen must go abroad; for no less a movement than this will
convince them that the work of saving the heathen presses upon them
individually, and with all its weight and responsibility. Mere giving
does not seem to answer the purpose. Very few laymen at home seem to
imagine that they, individually, are as responsible for the life and
death of the heathen, as the laborers abroad. Many seem to act only as
they are acted upon. This _passive_ state will not answer: there must be
a more general feeling of personal responsibility. And how is such a
feeling of equal and individual responsibility to be induced, till
laymen in great numbers begin to go abroad? Till then, there will be a
spirit of luxury in the church; a spirit of worldly-mindedness, and a
spirit of committing the world's conversion to other hands. To destroy
this spirit, which is evidently eating out the piety of the churches,
laymen must be urged to arise; to break off their luxuries, to bury
their covetousness--to make an entire devotement of body, soul and
spirit, to the _direct_ and arduous work of saving the heathen.
Once, I remember, after urging laymen to go forth, and to assist in
evangelizing the heathen, a father in the church said to me, "Your
reasons are just and weighty, but it is of no use to present them before
the churches: they have not _piety_ enough to act upon them. If you can
clearly show that men can accumulate wealth, that they can really make
fortunes by going to heathen lands, then your appeals will succeed.
Bring this selfish principle to operate, and colonies will quickly
scatter over the world. But to go forth with a spirit of self-denial,
running the risk of trials and straitened circumstances, and with merely
the prospect at best of obtaining a comfortable livelihood and doing
good, is a measure not adapted to the present standard of piety in the
churches. Until the spirit of devotedness shall rise many degrees in the
churches, the course you urge will be looked upon as entirely
visionary."
Alas! can the church be so low in grace? If it be a fact, it is painful
and humiliating. If it be true, then the church is lacking in the most
essential qualification required of it--is unfitted for the main design
of its organization; and is there not reason to fear that God may cast
it away, as he has the Roman church, and raise up another after his own
heart, that shall do all his pleasure? Christian reader, can you calmly
entertain the thought of being set aside by the Lord as unworthy of his
employment--of being rejected on the ground of not fulfilling the
purpose for which you were called?
CHAPTER VI.
CLAIM OF MISSIONS ON MINISTERS OF INFLUENCE.
In early days, ministers of the greatest influence were called to the
work of missions. To prove this assertion, let us read the first verse
of the 13th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. "Now there were in the
church that was at Antioch, certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas,
and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen,
which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they
ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me
Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them." Paul had
been at Antioch a whole year, and Barnabas a still longer time. Their
labors there had been blessed. The word had been attended with the
demonstration of the Spirit and with power, and many people had turned
to the Lord, so that a large church had been gathered in that great and
opulent city. Believers there became so conspicuous for their numbers,
as to be designated by a particular name: "The disciples were called
Christians first in Antioch."
There were laboring in that city, besides Paul and Barnabas, three other
ministers; "Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and
Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch." The Holy Ghost
saw that this city, though very important for its numbers, wealth and
enterprise, could not claim the labors of five ministers, while the
world at large was entirely destitute of the Gospel. Therefore, on a
certain occasion, when the church were worshipping before the Lord and
fasting, the Holy Ghost said, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the
work whereunto I have called them."
The Holy Ghost did not say, "Separate me Simeon, and Lucius, and
Manaen," but, "Separate me BARNABAS and SAUL"--the spiritual fathers,
and main pillars of the church. Had the church been allowed to vote, it
doubtless would have spared its sons, rather than its fathers: they
would have stated their fond attachment to their first instructors;
would have plead the great influence of these two fathers in the church,
and the irreparable injury which would be sustained by their leaving it;
and would have said, If we must part with some of our teachers, take
Simeon, and Lucius, and Manaen, but bereave us not of our spiritual
fathers. The question however was not left to their decision. The demand
is stern and solemn from the Holy Spirit, with whom there is no selfish
bias, "Separate me BARNABAS and SAUL."
In reflecting on this narration, do we not come to the conclusion, that
MEN OF TALENTS AND INFLUENCE ARE CALLED TO THE WORK OF MISSIONS?
If this sentiment be true, it is one of immense and practical
importance; one that not only ministers, but churches also ought fully
to understand. Let us, then, dwell a moment longer on the practice of
early times.
The instance to which we have alluded is a striking one; it contains,
distinctly and impressively uttered, the mind of the Holy Spirit. It is
infallible authority that speaks, and what does it declare? The
paramount claim of missions to the ablest, holiest, and most experienced
men. If Antioch was required to spare her two ablest men, what may not
be required of such cities as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and
Baltimore? And judging too from this case of Antioch, what is the mind
of the Holy Ghost in regard to the twelve thousand or more evangelical
ministers in the United States? Can it be his will that they should all
quietly remain where they are?
Again, God in early times made known his mind on this point, not only by
the express admonition of the Holy Ghost, but also by the _overrulings
of his Providence_. Take the account of the first dispersion. The
Saviour ascended from the Mount of Olives, and the disciples returned to
Jerusalem. The day of Pentecost arrived, and three thousand converts
were added to their number. This multitude of believers was daily and
rapidly increased. Here, then, was a very large city, the capital and
pride of the nation, and a place of immense resort from all the nations
round about. And in this city were many thousands of Christians, who
were in peculiar need of constant care and faithful instruction, and had
they been divided out to the pastoral care of the twelve apostles, would
have made perhaps as large churches as any twelve in the city of
New-York. Jerusalem then presented to the apostles a vast amount of
pastoral care, and a field of labor unequalled perhaps in religious
influence, considering the world as it then was, by any city that can be
named within the limits of Christendom. The apostles were inclined to
remain in Jerusalem, and considering the call for labor there, it is not
wonderful that they were thus inclined. They seemed for a time to have
forgotten the last command of their ascended Lord, and to have chosen a
work more resembling that of settled pastors. But the Saviour allowed a
persecution to rage in the city, till first the great body of the
church, and afterwards all the apostles, except James, were scattered
abroad. So the great Jerusalem was left with but one apostle. Eleven of
the twelve, who had become in a measure settled there, were driven
abroad; and not from Jerusalem only, but without the limits of
Palestine. Such is evidently the _fact_. Let every one draw from it the
instruction it affords. To my mind it clashes irreconcilably with the
present distribution of ministers.
Take another case. Paul had been laboring at Ephesus two whole years,
and had collected a very large church in that city. This city was the
emporium of Asia Minor; a place of much resort, and greatly celebrated
throughout the known world. The large number of disciples there, who
needed a pastor to warn them day and night with tears, and the wide door
which was there opened for preaching the Gospel, presented such strong
claims to the mind of Paul, as seemed likely to fix there his permanent
abode. What pastor of the present day can urge stronger reasons for
continuing his charge, than Paul might have urged for continuing his
relation to the large church at Ephesus? For in addition to a large city
and a large church, the converts had been but lately gathered from
heathenism--were but babes in Christ--and needed constant instruction
and unwearied care. Yet God was pleased to allow Demetrius to excite an
uproar, and thus to sever Paul from his church and congregation, and
send him abroad into Macedonia. This is another _fact_--a STUBBORN FACT,
which we ought to bear in mind, and weigh well. If God saw best thus to
break tender ties, separate Paul from a large city and a large body of
such converts as, above all others, needed special care, and to leave
the important post almost destitute, _can it be_ his will that all the
pastors of the present day should stay in their places, and that none of
them should go forth to the heathen? If the city had been Boston, with
its thousand means of grace, the case would have been comparatively
weak; but it was Ephesus, a heathen city, and depending almost entirely
on the living voice of Paul, and yet this one preacher must become a
missionary. Let us look at this fact, and each one for himself draw
conclusions; not those that are wild and extravagant, but such as are
_true and sober_.
We have here a commentary on the last command of Jesus. It was commented
upon by the providence of God, separating the apostles from Jerusalem,
Antioch, and Ephesus. It was commented upon by the direct admonition of
the Holy Ghost in a particular case. It was commented upon by the
practice of the apostles. Let us beware that we substitute not, for this
correct commentary, any worldly-wise interpretation of our own. Let us
admit it just as it comes to us from early days, fresh and unmodified,
and allow it to govern our lives.
There are but few who do not admit, that the present distribution of
ministers is anti-apostolic--that many, who are now pastors, ought to
have become missionaries before they were settled. And can the mere fact
of being settled have produced such a vast change in the question of
duty, as to place it forever at rest? If the clustering together of
twelve thousand ministers within the bounds of the United States, where
a thousand means of grace and improvement exist besides the voice of
the living teacher, is a very different thing from going into all the
world, and preaching the Gospel to every creature--an egregious
disproportion to the wants of the world--must we stifle all emotion and
all inquiry, in taking it for granted that it is now too late for
change? And yet there seems to be a tacit understanding, that any other
distribution than that now existing, of the _present generation_ of
ministers, is a point not to be agitated. At least, many a pastor quiets
himself with the thought, that no change is to be contemplated in his
particular case, for the care of a church is on his hands. Almost by
common consent, pastors are excused; and missionaries are looked for
from the young men and the children; and the hope of the heathen amounts
to this, that some young men may be kept from imitating the example of
their fathers and elder brethren, and be prevailed upon to enter the
missionary work before they _become pastors_. For if the mere fact of
being a pastor places the question at rest, young men will feel
themselves relieved as soon as they enter that office.
I have known young men whose minds were goaded on the question of going
to the heathen, like the conscience of a convicted sinner, till a call
was presented to some important church; and then they succeeded in
laying the subject at once and entirely aside. Like the pursued ostrich,
who thrusts her head into the sand, and vainly imagines that she is
concealed from her pursuers, so, I fear, some endeavor to elude the
convictions of conscience. I put the question to your own good sense,
your candor, and your pious feelings: Can the mere fact of being a
pastor excuse a man from going to the heathen, when perhaps he became a
pastor in violation of the Saviour's command?
It is acknowledged, that many pastors ought to have become missionaries
before they were settled--that the present amazing disproportion between
settled ministers at home, and missionaries abroad, ought never to have
existed. To argue so plain a case would be a waste of breath. How then
can the fact of having wandered from duty excuse one from the
performance of it? To-day, it is the duty of Jonah to go to Nineveh.
To-morrow, he has engaged his passage to Tarshish, has paid his fare,
has gone down into the sides of the ship, and is quietly at rest. Is he
therefore excused? To-day, the command of Christ presses upon me the
obligation to go to the heathen. To-morrow, leaving out of mind this
command, which still applies in all its force, I enter into an
obligation with a particular church to take upon me its pastoral care:
which obligation is binding? The last, do you say? Can I then thus
easily thrust aside the Saviour's last and most impressive command? Can
I, by such a course, shield myself effectually from its further
application? I have yet to learn, that by any change of place or
circumstances we can free ourselves from the weight of the Saviour's
injunction. I mean not to assert, that all who ought to have become
missionaries before they were settled, ought to become so now. Some have
entirely hedged up their way; and though they may have been disobedient
in doing so, yet deep regret and sincere repentance is all the
reparation they can now make. But those who ought to have gone to the
heathen, and before whom the door is still open for going, _such_ should
still become missionaries, and on the obvious principle, that it is
better to do our duty late than not to do it all. The mere plea of being
a pastor is not a sufficient excuse; and it is losing too, continually,
more and more of its force. It is a wonder that it should be relied upon
so much as a _quietus_, since, in the present age, the residence of a
pastor is very transient and uncertain.
Again let me say, it is a great thing, a good thing, and a rare thing,
to be entirely honest in the sight of God. Let us endeavor to be so. It
is to be feared, that there may be some who exempt themselves from
becoming missionaries on the ground of being pastors, who are not
altogether honest in their excuse. Are there not some individuals, who
make it, who would manifest but little hesitation in leaving the
pastoral office to take the oversight of a college, to become a
professor in a theological seminary, or to take charge of some prominent
religious periodical? When urged to become a missionary, the pastor
pleads his attachment to his people; their affection for him, which
gives him great influence; and his acquaintance with their prejudices,
opinions, habits, and whole character, so as to adapt his instructions
to their particular case. He mentions these, and the like
considerations, and concludes very readily that he can be more useful in
his present situation than in any other. But when a presidency, a
professorship, or a more influential church is offered, the reasons
before urged seem to lose something of their force; and through the
intervention of some new light, which I shall not account for, the
conclusion is formed that another situation would be more _useful_. The
motive for a change is a good one; but it is to be remembered that this
same motive, that of being more useful, could not prevail upon them to
become missionaries.
Facts of this kind could be collected, I think to a considerable extent;
and they lead me, however unwilling, to suspect that, in some cases, the
honest reason why ministers do not become missionaries is not that they
are pastors, but something quite different.
Another fact, too, makes me suspicious that there is some lack of entire
honesty. A pastor says he cannot become a missionary, for he has the
care of a church. In a few months, for some cause or other, he is
dismissed from his church and people. What does he do? become a
missionary? I have one in my eye who was a pastor of a church in a large
city. He told me, that nothing but his relation as pastor in that city
could keep him a moment from the missionary work. Soon after, he was
dismissed from his church and people; and think you he became a
missionary? You would betray a very limited knowledge of human nature to
think so.
"But," says one, "I am opposed to fickleness and change." Ah! indeed;
does it betray fickleness to leave a church to become a missionary? Did
God favor fickleness and change when he prevented the permanent location
of the apostles in Palestine, by a voice from heaven, and by violent
persecutions? Did the Saviour favor fickleness in his last command? When
a presidency, a professorship, or a more prominent and influential
church is offered you, then speak of fickleness--the excuse may possibly
be in place; but never, never in place, while untold millions of our
race are dying for lack of vision, and our commission reads, "GO YE INTO
ALL THE WORLD, AND PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE."
* * * * *
One pastor excuses himself, by saying, "The attachment between me and my
people is very dear, and this attachment gives me great influence with
them." I reply, Was not the attachment very dear between the apostles
and the disciples at Jerusalem, and also between Paul and the converts
at Antioch, and at Ephesus? What language of affection and solicitude
can equal that of Paul for his converts? He calls them his "joy and
crown"--the "little children for whom he travails in birth, till Christ
be formed in them." He says to them, "I live, if ye stand fast in the
Lord."
And had not the apostles great influence in the churches in which they
labored? Had not Paul and Barnabas great influence in the church at
Antioch? Did not the church love and respect them, and hang in
breathless silence upon their lips, and look upon their departure as an
irreparable loss? Yet, though entwined into the hearts of the people,
and possessing every advantage to instruct them which intimate
acquaintance and unbounded influence could give, the Holy Ghost,
notwithstanding, said, "Separate me BARNABAS and SAUL."
Attachment is your plea; but the spirit of the Gospel is a spirit of
self-denial, and requires us not only to forsake church and people, but
also father and mother, brother and sister, son and daughter, and to
hold our own lives loosely. Those persons to whom attachment is
strongest, and who _can't be spared_ on that account, are the best
fitted for missions.
You plead the _influence_ which you possess with your church and people.
This, instead of being a reason for remaining at home, is a powerful
argument for going abroad. In that very influence you possess an
advantage and qualification for the missionary work, which very few
missionaries enjoy. It is greatly to be lamented that the church has but
little acquaintance with her missionaries. It was not so in primitive
times. On this account there is room for the question to arise, Whether
there ought not to be less of the home minister for life, and the exile
for life; a narrower gulf between the two, and more passing and
repassing, as the apostles were wont to do; a breaking up of caste,
grade and condition among ministers, as regards various fields--a more
literal compliance with the precept of "going into all the world, and
preaching the Gospel to every creature." Be this however as it may--for
there is much that can be said on either side of the question--it is
most certainly true, that the pastor possesses one very great advantage:
that by going to the heathen he can wake up, in one church at least,
the spirit of doing good--the enterprising and benevolent spirit of
Christ and his apostles. He may take with him, as helpers, some of its
most intelligent and active members, and call forth the contributions
and enlist the prayers of those who may remain.
It seems, that nothing less than such means as the separation of pastors
for the work of missions, can avail to awake the slumbering churches,
and to lead them to begin in earnest to seek the salvation of the
heathen; to feel that the work presses upon them individually, and
demands all their energies and their personal enlistment. For it is a
sober and humiliating fact, as I have had some opportunity of judging,
that there are few churches comparatively, in our land, who seem to have
drunk deeply into the missionary spirit. There is need, therefore, of a
movement on the part of pastors, to arouse the churches from their
guilty slumbers.
A pastor possesses much influence with his church and congregation. The
Lord then has given him five talents, and he can easily make them ten:
by going abroad he can benefit his church perhaps as much as by
remaining their pastor, and, at the same time, be the instrument of
saving many heathen souls. "There is that scattereth, and yet
increaseth;" and "he that watereth shall be watered also himself." God's
blessing distils upon the liberal soul, and the liberal church. The
performance of duty is attended with the Saviour's smiles and a rich
reward. Who does not see, that a pastor could in no way so effectually
awaken in his church a spirit of benevolent feeling and action, as by
exhibiting it in his own person; by rising up, and going forth to the
heathen, urging a part of his flock to accompany him, and the rest to
sustain him in the field? Who doubts, that by such a course he would do
more to arouse the pure and active religion of Jesus Christ and his
apostles, than he could possibly do in any other way; that he would give
an impulse to his church in favor of primitive piety and practice, that
should add vastly to its strength, its glory and its numbers, and be
felt in all time to come. Let not the pastor, then, excuse himself from
the missionary work, because he has acquired influence in his church and
congregation; for that very fact is a powerful argument for going
abroad.
For the same reason, no one can excuse himself because he fills a _post
of vast importance_. He is the pastor of an influential church, a
president of a college, a professor in a theological seminary, the
editor of a religious paper of immense circulation, or the secretary of
some society: his station is one of vast responsibility, and he imagines
that he is therefore excused from becoming a missionary. But was not
Jerusalem an important place? more prominent, compared with other cities
of that time, than any city in the United States? And yet all the
apostles, except one, were required not only to leave that city, but to
go without the limits of Palestine. Was not Antioch as important as
Boston or Philadelphia? Yet Paul and Barnabas were not suffered to
remain there.
Besides, is not the work of a missionary a difficult, important, and
responsible work? The Holy Spirit thought so in apostolic times. When a
man was needed to preach to Cornelius and his household, a man of no
less ability and influence than Peter was chosen. When a man was called
to go to Antioch, Barnabas was sent, a man of great piety and influence.
And when two of the five preachers at Antioch were called to go to the
heathen, the Holy Ghost did not choose Simeon, or Lucius, or Manaen, but
said, "Separate me BARNABAS and SAUL;" the men of the greatest ability,
experience, piety and wisdom. Thus the Holy Spirit seemed to declare
that the work of a missionary required greater talents, more mature
wisdom, and deeper piety, than the work of a pastor in the largest and
most influential churches.
And is not this doctrine, while it accords with the instructions of the
Holy Ghost and the practice of primitive times, also a dictate of common
sense? Would you choose weak men to penetrate into the very midst of the
enemy, and to grapple with the Anaks of the land, and keep those who are
strong in a garrison at home? Would you select indifferent statesmen to
settle the affairs of revolutionary France, or to reduce to order the
chaotic mass of the South American states; and employ the able, the wise
and talented, in governing a country already quiet and peaceful? Did it
require less wisdom to lay the foundation and form the constitution of
our good government, than it requires to manage the state on principles
already established? Does it require less skill to draft the plan of a
capitol, than to work at the building when the plan is mature? Does it
require less wisdom to govern a camp in a state of mutiny, than when in
subjection and at peace? Look, then, at the work of missions. Does it
require less talent to deal with minds clouded by ignorance, perverted
by superstition, and barred by arrogance, bigotry, and pride, than to
instruct the unbiassed, the willing, and intelligent? Does it require
less wisdom to tear up the foundations of heathen society, and lay it
anew on the principles of the Gospel--to change society morally,
religiously, and socially, than to preserve in a good condition a people
already intelligent, industrious, and Christian? Surely, if talent is
needed anywhere in the kingdom of Christ, it is in the missionary work.
That minister, whose talents and piety make him so useful at home that
he _cannot be spared_, that is the minister who is needed abroad. The
foreign field calls for no laborers who can be conveniently spared.
Then, is the church of a pastor wealthy and influential? It is the very
church that needs to be aroused by his leaving it. Or is he connected
with a literary, or theological institution? Some thus connected are
needed to go, to produce the best impression on the young men who are in
training. The more important and influential then one's place is, the
more like a rushing flood do reasons crowd upon him to arise and go.
It is very common for men to excuse themselves from the work of
missions, on the ground, that they are somewhat _advanced in years_.
There is weight in this excuse. That person would exhibit the want of a
proper balance of mind, who should urge all indiscriminately, whatever
their age and however circumstanced in life, to go forth to the heathen.
But still the excuse of age ought to be looked at cautiously.
Age implies experience, authority, dignity, and wisdom--the very
qualities most wanted in the difficult work of missions. The work of
tearing up and laying anew the foundations of society, moral, religious,
and social, is a task that ought by no means to be committed to the
young and inexperienced. It is preposterous to commit altogether to
novices in the ministry a work so new, so complicated, so beset with
difficulties, on the right hand and on the left, and so momentous, too,
in its responsibilities. Can Satan be driven so easily from his own
territory, that none but raw troops are needed for the contest? Can the
broad and deep intrenchments of Paganism, Mohammedism, and Romanism be
so easily taken, as not to need men of age, experience and skill, to
direct the assault? Can the snares in which the heathen are held; which
are laid with all the subtlety of the arch-fiend, be so easily divested
of their specious character, and traced into their thousand windings, as
not to require the wisdom and experience of age? A minister has age: he
has then one great qualification for the work. "Paul the aged" had none
too much experience, dignity and wisdom, for the work of a missionary to
heathen lands.
But age, it is said, is a great barrier in acquiring a foreign language.
There is force in this remark; but let us be cautious, that we do not
trust too much to it. A great amount of labor may be performed on
heathen ground without a knowledge of the language. Much can be done in
the English language, and much, too, can be done through interpreters.
All that David Brainerd accomplished was in this way.
But how certain is it, that persons somewhat advanced cannot acquire a
foreign language? This plea is not peculiar to those who have been some
time in the ministry. No excuse is more frequently offered, and with
more appearance of honesty, even in the college and the theological
seminary. It is difficult to place the mark of age where this excuse may
be properly offered, and where it may not. Shall we place it at
thirty-five? Some missionaries now in the field entered on the work at
that age, and acquired the language without much difficulty. It may be
remarked, too, that men of traffic abroad, from youth to gray hairs,
usually learn so much of a foreign language as to answer their purpose.
Let us beware, then, _how much_ we depend on the excuse of age; and be
cautious, too, _how far up_ the scale of years we place the mark.
Another excuse which has some weight is this: "I must remain at home _to
take care of my aged parents_." So said one to Christ: "Lord, I will
follow thee, but suffer me first to go and bury my father." Jesus
answered, "Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the
Gospel." I leave to the reader to determine the precise meaning and
force of this reply of our Saviour. This much it certainly means, that
some _may_ excuse themselves from preaching to take care of their
parents, when the excuse is not valid. I will not say, that the excuse
is not sufficient in some cases; but I am inclined to think that such
cases are rare. A parent must be _very_ dependent upon a son, to be
liable to such inconvenience and suffering from his absence, as can
reasonably weigh in the balance against the claims of the hundreds of
millions of dying heathen.
But the excuse which seems to be the most valid, is this: "My going to
the heathen is out of the question, for _I have a family of children_."
This is indeed a tender point. God has given me some experience on this
subject, and I know how to appreciate the excuse. But the Saviour says,
"He that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me." This
declaration means nothing, unless it requires us to make great
sacrifices in regard to our children. So far as we can at present see,
the world cannot be converted without great self-denial on this point.
Precisely what sacrifices are to be made in regard to children, is a
question which is not, as yet, fully determined.
But let us look at the excuse. If a minister may _stay_ at home because
he has children, may not the missionary who has children _return_ home?
A pastor has one child, and cannot go. Then may not the missionary who
has one child, come back? A pastor has six children, and cannot go. Many
missionaries have six children, shall not they return? The mere
circumstance of being already abroad cannot have much weight; and the
sacrifice of a voyage in such a question, and among a multitude of other
weighty reasons, is scarcely worth being named. If children then are an
excuse, let missionaries return. No, you say; missionaries who have
children must not return on that account. What then shall they do with
their children? Keep them, and train them up to be helpers in the work?
Let pastors then take their children into the field, and train them up
for that purpose. You certainly have hearts too noble to impose a burden
on the shoulders of others which you would not bear yourselves. Your
children would have the advantage of the children of missionaries,
having been thus far trained in a Christian land. As to future
advantages of education, they will have the same with the children now
abroad. You certainly cannot complain of equality.
But, you say, let missionaries send their children home. Then let
pastors leave their children at home and go abroad. Ah, you say, pastors
cannot endure the thought; it would be a shock to their parental
feelings that they cannot sustain. But, I ask, have missionaries no
feelings? have their hearts become hard, like blocks of wood and pieces
of rock? Does love to Christ, and compassion for the heathen, tend to
make men and women obtuse in their feelings, so that a father or mother
on heathen ground does not feel as intensely for the present and eternal
welfare of a child, as a parent who has never gone to the heathen? Ah!
had you seen what my eyes have witnessed, facts then should speak and I
would be silent. Missionaries, indeed, are trained to cast their care
upon God; their feelings are chastened and disciplined, but at the same
time deep and intense. To a thousand dangers, toils and hardships, they
may be inured; but when the separation of children is thought of, they
show full well that they are no proof against an agony of feeling.
Certainly, then, you will not plead for exemption. You would not place
upon others this burden, and pull away your own shoulders from it. You
have souls too generous and benevolent to do that. You cannot find it in
your hearts to offer to the lips of others a cup more bitter than you
would drink yourselves. You can choose guardians for your children far
better than the missionaries can who are abroad, and your children shall
have the same provision for their support and education as theirs have.
We have glanced at some excuses. Many others there are in this
excuse-making age. Be entreated to look at them with the command of
Christ, a sinking world and a coming judgment, in your eye, and as far
as they have weight and _no farther_ be influenced by them. Where
exemption cannot honestly be pleaded, the command in all its force is
binding.
That some pastors of influence and talent should become missionaries,
seems necessary; for _how otherwise can the means be raised to sustain
missions abroad, and to send forth young men who may offer themselves_?
It is well known, that operations abroad have been and are still
exceedingly crippled. It is well known, too, that quite a company of
young men have at different times been waiting, for want of requisite
funds to send them forth to the heathen.
Now this is the state of things, not because there is not money enough
in the hands of Christians--no one imagines that such is the fact--but
because Christians, as a body, are not aroused to duty. What means shall
be taken to arouse them? I, for one, am inclined to think that there
would be hope, if some influential and prominent pastors would enter the
missionary work. In such a case, I should indeed have strong hope that
the impulse, falling in with the spirit of primitive practice and the
will of the Holy Ghost, would be such as to bring forth the funds needed
to sustain the operations now begun, send forth waiting young men, and
carry themselves also into the field. I feel quite confident, that the
measure would soon clear the seaboard of all who might be detained, and
place their joyful feet on foreign soil.
The great body of professed Christians are becoming luxurious in their
modes of life. One cannot go through the churches, after the absence of
several years, without being forcibly impressed with this fact. They
press forward after wealth, and profess to be accumulating it for
Christ; but in the end, spend it on themselves and on their children.
Now what, under God, shall break up this covetousness, and luxurious
manner of life? What shall bring them back to the pure and unadulterated
principles of the Gospel--to live, labor, and die for Christ, as did the
primitive disciples? Let pastors, like the apostles, go into all the
world and preach the Gospel to every creature. There is reason to hope
that the church members would likewise imbibe the right spirit, and act
on right principles. Then we should hear no more of schools disbanded
and missionaries detained, but troops of heralds would be carrying out
the news of salvation and sending back tidings of success. There is much
philosophical and Bible truth in the proverb, "Like people like priest."
O, what responsibility rests on the ministers of Christ!
Again, if all settled ministers of talent and influence remain at home,
how can such a number of missionaries be secured as seem needed for the
world's conversion? If many of those already in the sacred office do
not go, it is absolutely certain, that the present generation of heathen
must die without the Gospel. The angel of death continues hovering over
the dying nations, mowing down his twenty millions a year; and before
ministers can be raised up from among the youth and children, will be
drawing a stroke at the last man of all that are now heathen. The
present generation of ministers must preach the Gospel to the present
generation of mankind. It will be the duty of the next generation of
ministers to preach to the inhabitants that shall be then on the globe.
To look for missionaries from among the young alone, is making no
provision for the present generation of heathen. If the heathen are to
be left till missionaries can be trained up, they are to be left--the
soul shudders at the thought--till they shall be in hell! By making this
postponement, the churches, in effect, though certainly without
intending it, sign the death warrant of a great portion of the present
six hundred millions of perishing heathen; relinquish all effort for
this vast multitude, and only dream of saving the next generation--of
whom it would be a mercy never to be born, unless there shall be more
hope of their salvation than can be seen at present--_dream_, I say, of
saving the next generation; for to think much of raising up the young to
be missionaries, without going ourselves, is little better than
dreaming.
To induce young men, to any great extent, to become missionaries, when
their fathers and elder brethren do not, is hopeless. Precept must
become more powerful than example, before such a result can take place.
How can you so blindfold the young, stop their ears, and wall them off
from surrounding influences, as to expect such a result? If their eyes
are left open, what do they see? They see their fathers and elder
brethren settled at home, and some of them in quiet, comfort and honor.
If their ears are left open, what do they hear? They hear various
excuses for remaining at home, and among others, the specious idea of
training up children to be missionaries. And what will they do? They
will dream of training your grandchildren for missions, and your
grandchildren dream of training the next generation, and so on, as the
sixty generations past have done, from the time of the Saviour down. But
the fire of God's Spirit shall burn up this chaff. The world shall not
be cheated out of its millenium. The judgment trumpet shall not sound
before the arrival of the latter day glory.
To become a missionary, in the present state of things, is sailing
against wind and tide; so that those who find their way to the heathen,
compared with the number who ought to go, are very few indeed. To urge a
large number into the field is hopeless. Bonaparte might as well have
urged his soldiers over the Alps without leading them. We cannot expect
the nature of things to change, and precept to become more powerful than
example. A portion of the more talented of the settled ministry must
lead the way. Then there shall be found a resuscitating principle; our
eyes shall beam with joy, and we shall fondly cherish a rational hope of
the world's renovation.
Again, many pastors should become missionaries, for all things await
their personal enlistment in the service. God, in his providence, is
causing a state of preparation in the world which calls for some mighty
movement on the part of the church. A door is opened into almost every
nation on the earth, and ships are ready to carry us to almost every
port. Now is the time for a great effort. All the elements are ready for
action, and need only to be brought to bear on the glorious cause of the
world's conversion. To effect this, there must be a high stand of
prayerful enterprise on the part of the present generation of ministers.
The Lord has brought us to the ministry for such a time as this; and
surely my brethren will not prove themselves unworthy of so vast a
responsibility, but come up joyfully to the work, and reap the harvest
of the world.
And here let me say, that the millions of souls already lost are
immense; and it would be awfully presumptuous in Christians to neglect
the millions and hundreds of millions of the present generation. Century
after century has rolled along, ingulfing generation after generation,
till one would think that Satan himself would be satisfied with the
enormous havoc. Eighteen centuries have passed away, and sixty
generations, five hundred millions each--thirty billions of immortal
souls left to perish since Christ gave command to evangelize them. Are
not thirty billions enough? Shall we, by any guilty neglect, suffer the
present generation, six hundred millions more, to be added? O, let the
billions of souls already lost suffice. O, let us arise, and go and
preach the Gospel to the nations, that the generations that remain
between this and the judgment may be saved.
Let me suggest, too, that nothing would so readily produce _union among
ministers at home_, as to divert all their powers of body and mind into
some all-absorbing and self-denying enterprise. Now, what angel of
heaven has not wept over the contentions and jealousies that cloud the
glory of the American churches. How has the heart of Jesus bled over the
dissensions and strife of his own ministers! And is there no remedy? Let
pastors become so engrossed in fulfilling their commission as to obey
its literal import, and arise and go; and I mistake much, if the
movement would not make a material impression on their contentions and
jealousies. They would feel that they were doing a great work, and could
not come down. For contention they would find neither time nor
inclination. It would be difficult to state, in a foreign tongue, their
metaphysical distinctions, so as to make a difference. Higher and nobler
objects would engross the soul. Be entreated to try this course. Then
the recording angel shall not be compelled, with aching heart and
streaming eyes, to inscribe "ICHABOD" on our American Zion; but, with
willing soul and ready hands, shall write in fairer lines, "BEAUTIFUL
FOR SITUATION, THE JOY OF THE WHOLE EARTH."
* * * * *
But it is often said, "I never _felt_ it to be my duty to go to the
heathen: I never had any such impression."
_No such impression!_ Did then the command of our ascended Lord, his
_last_ command, delivered under the most solemn circumstances, make no
impression upon you? Did the temporal and eternal miseries of six
hundred millions of your fellow men make no impression upon you? Did
their groans and sighs, which came over the waters like the voice of
seven thunders, peal after peal, make no impression upon you? And could
you remain at home with comfort and peace of mind, with the weeping and
wailing of millions of dying souls in your ears, backed up with the
command of Christ to go and seek their salvation? While Jesus plead,
"Lo, I died for them, go, preach my Gospel to them, that they may
live;" could you remain unimpressed and unmoved? And have all these
considerations, and a hundred more, been urged upon you for years, and
yet failed to make an _impression_? Alas! of what is your heart made,
that it does not feel? Look for no _supernatural_ impression.
Missionaries have none. There is no need of any. He that can live and
not be impressed, may well tremble for his own salvation. It appears
that you are easily impressed that it is your duty to remain at home.
The motives, I fear, that come before your mind are well suited to make
an impression. You quickly perceive a _call_, when country, home,
friends, the endearments of society, and the like considerations crowd
upon your mind. O, dear brethren, let us be _entirely honest_, as we
expect soon to meet the Saviour and the world of perishing souls for
whom he died.
Another similar excuse is often made: "Did I possess the requisite
attainments in holiness, I should delight to go abroad. But as the case
is, I cannot become a missionary: I have not piety enough."
_Not piety enough!_ Then be entreated to become more pious without
delay. As you value the souls of dying men, defer not to become more
holy. Through your want of piety the heathen may be left to perish. But
what is holiness? Is it not obedience to the commands of Christ? Obey,
then, his last command: _that will be becoming more holy_. Go forth to
the heathen from love to Christ: that will be becoming more pious. "NOT
PIETY ENOUGH!" Will you presume to offer that excuse to the Lord Jesus,
when you shall stand before him to render account for the blood of the
heathen? And when you shall see multitudes of the heathen sinking into
hell, whom, under the blessing of the Spirit, you might have saved; and
hear their weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth; will it ease your
mind, and quiet your conscience, that you had not piety enough to go and
make known to them the way of life? This is a solemn subject. Let us
try, dear brethren, to look at it as we ought.
Allied to this excuse is the following: "I have never thought myself
qualified for the work of missions. It is a work which in my view
requires rare endowments. Did I possess the requisite qualifications, I
should delight to engage in so glorious a work."
To this excuse I would say, There is room in the wide field of missions
for every grade and variety of talent. Such is the universal testimony
of those who have gone forth. Neither could it be otherwise in so
various and vast a work as that of converting all nations, many of whom
need to be instructed in the simplest arts of civilized life, and in the
very alphabet of knowledge. But the excuse you render is entirely at
variance with the facts in the case. If the work of missions be deemed
worthy of the greatest talents, why is it that a large number do not go
forth from among the more prominent and influential in the sacred
office? The plea of disqualification is a popular one. There is in it
much appearance of humility and self-depreciation. But facts testify,
that many who plead their want of talent do not hesitate, if invited, to
take upon them the care of a college, or of a large and opulent church.
If the conduct of men is to be regarded as a just interpreter of their
sentiments, then the great body of the Christian ministry, instead of
regarding themselves unfit for the work of missions, consider themselves
too well qualified to enter it. They really think, that those of
inferior qualifications will do for missions; while those of superior
minds and brilliant talents must be reserved for important stations at
home.
It is said again, "_All_ cannot go abroad."
I reply, Do not use the word "all" till there shall be some need of it.
There is no danger _yet_ that the home company will be comparatively too
small.
There is another excuse which is worthy of more notice. One says, "My
own country claims my first attention. It presents a field of vast
extent, and demands a vast amount of labor. Its schools, colleges and
seminaries, must be sustained. Its religious periodicals must be edited.
The churches must be watched over, and brought up to a higher standard
of piety. Revivals must be promoted. But passing by these claims for
labor, look at the wide-spreading desolations of the West, where
ignorance, infidelity, and Romanism prevail, and threaten, at no very
future day, to be the overthrow of our government--the extinguishment of
our dearly-bought and precious inheritance. All our exertions must be
put forth to save our country; for the progress of light and knowledge
throughout the world depends on its existence. The overthrow of our
government would put back the dial of the moral world ten centuries. Our
own nation lost, and what would become of the heathen? when would the
millenium arrive? Our present attention must be directed to the
salvation of our own country, and our missionary exertions must be
concentrated on the West."
The excuse does not stop here; but a citizen from Great Britain would
say, "I too must speak in behalf of my country--a country whose
possessions encircle the globe. The existence and religious prosperity
of a nation whose commerce is so great, and whose dominions embrace a
large portion of the heathen world, cannot but be intimately connected
with the universal prevalence of light and peace. It is of the first
importance, that the _heart_ of such a nation should beat with a healthy
pulse; that much effort should be made to promote a high standard of
vital godliness in the universities and churches at home. But more than
this, look at the vast body of laboring men in England and Ireland, who
are living in ignorance and in sin. They call loudly for teachers and
for preachers of the Gospel, and ought to receive, for the present at
least, all we can educate and all we can support."
In reply to this excuse I would first say, Let us look a moment at the
conclusion to which we are reduced. "The United States cannot furnish
missionaries, for the present at least; far less can Great Britain; and
still less the Continent of Europe." The inevitable conclusion is, that
the present generation of heathen must be left to perish. Six hundred
millions of our race must be deliberately relinquished to endure the
agonies of eternal death. But what is the plea that so readily leaves
the millions of ignorant heathen to hopelessness and despair? "We must
go to the West." "We must direct our efforts to the laboring class of
England and Ireland." Then, I say, be consistent, and actually _do_ what
you profess. As yet, how many of the learned, the eloquent and
influential of the ministry, have become missionaries at the West? Some
have gone to the West, to be presidents of colleges there; but how many
have gone to engage in the more appropriate duties of the _missionary_?
And in Great Britain, how many have left their professorships in the
universities, and their wealthy churches, to labor as _missionaries_
among the ignorant class of society in England and Ireland? O! the West,
and the ignorant class in England and Ireland, would lift up their
hearts to God in gratitude if you would go forth to the heathen: for the
reflex influence of such a course would scatter among them the means of
grace as thick as the stars of heaven, and as bright as the sun in his
glory. I could almost assert, from personal observation, that every
missionary to the heathen sends ten to the West. If men are pressed to
go to China, they cannot stop short of the West. Besides, have you
forgotten the nature of benevolence? If you wish to strengthen it, to
increase it and expand it, so as to be the means of saving the United
States, and of saving Great Britain, then bring it into exercise. Let
the church impart liberally of what she has, both of men and money. She
will have the more left, paradoxical as the assertion may at first seem.
Let the principle of benevolence be aroused in the churches, and it is
literally inexhaustible in its resources, both of money and of men; for
the more it exhausts the more it still possesses. This is not mere
missionary philosophy, but Bible doctrine; and so plainly inculcated,
that he that doubts it is a novice in the Scriptures, and a babe in the
school of Christ. There is a backwardness, an apathy and deadness in the
ministry, and in the churches; and it is THEREFORE that infidelity and
Romanism prevail at the West, and that the ignorant class in England and
Ireland remain in wretchedness. The great thing needed is that the
spirit of benevolence, the spirit of Christ, or in other words true
religion, be aroused in the churches. And in no way can you so
effectually do it as by giving yourself to the missionary work. God's
wisdom is very much at variance with the cold, calculating,
short-sighted and sin-blinded wisdom of man. Let us follow heavenly
wisdom, as laid down in the Bible: "GIVE," "GO," and thereby save
ourselves, our country, and the world. _That nation that obeys God_
shall prosper. Let us try the Bible philosophy of saving the United
States and Great Britain, BY OBEYING GOD--by going forth and teaching
all nations.
CHAPTER VII.
IMPORT OF THE GREAT COMMISSION.
The Founder of the church was a missionary. The church is a _missionary
band_, professedly aiming to carry out the design of its Founder, in the
wide field of the WORLD. The commission to the apostles is the
commission to Christ's ministers in every age. This commission, it is to
be feared, is losing much of its force from misinterpretation.
That a construction somewhat incorrect is placed by some ministers on
the commission which they hold, seems to be evident; for how otherwise
should an impression obtain, that there is something _peculiar_ about
the office of the missionary--that his commission is quite different
from that of other ministers of Christ.
Let the commission of both the minister at home and missionary abroad be
exhibited and read. The terms, word for word, are the same. It is
unhappy, extremely so, that a _peculiarity_ is thrown about the word
_missionary_, since the New Testament authorizes no such distinction.
Both ministers at home and those abroad claim to be successors of the
apostles or first missionaries, whose letter of instructions, short but
explicit, reads thus: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel
to every creature." This is the commission of every ambassador, and no
one, at home or abroad, can consistently hold his office any longer than
he continues to act in accordance with its import.
The Saviour is all-wise, and knew precisely what commission to give. He
carefully chose every word in which it is expressed. The apostles showed
by their conduct how they understood it--that they knew what was meant
by "all the world" and "every creature." Now, I ask, how can such a
construction be placed on these obvious phrases, as to make it
consistent for about eleven thousand eight hundred ministers out of
twelve thousand to stay in the United States, and about the same
proportion in Great Britain? The apostles showed by their conduct what
they understood by the word "Go." By what reasoning, I ask, has it been
made to mean, in fifty-nine cases out of sixty, _send, contribute_,
_and educate young men_? If an inhabitant of another planet should visit
this earth, and see ministers clustered together in a few favored spots,
could you make him believe that they hold in their hands the commission
first delivered to the apostles?
Would it be thought dutiful, in military officers, to treat the orders
of their commander-in-chief as we do the command of our Master; or in
mercantile agents, to interpret thus loosely the instructions of their
employers? The perversion, however, has become so familiar to us, that
we are insensible of it; and the fact may be numbered among other
wonders of a like kind, which the experience of a few past years has
exhibited. A few years since, good men were in the use of intoxicating
drinks without dreaming it a sin; and so now we may be shaping our
course very wide from the command of our Saviour, and yet think not of
the guilt we incur.
The misconstruction has become so universal, and so firmly
established--the true and obvious interpretation buried so deep in the
rubbish of things gone by--that all books written on ministerial duty,
which I have seen, take it for granted that the persons addressed, for
the most part at least, are to preach and labor among a people who have
long had the Gospel. And may I not inquire--and I would do it with due
deference and respect--Do not lectures on pastoral theology in the
schools of the prophets take it too much for granted, that the hearers
are to labor in Christian lands? Is not the business of going into all
the world, and preaching the Gospel to every creature, regarded,
practically at least, as an _exception_, for which there need be no
provision in books or lectures? If Paul were to write or lecture on
pastoral theology, would he not give more prominence to the duties that
might devolve upon his students in foreign lands? Would he not, indeed,
make the work of missions stand forth as _the_ work, and not as an
exception or a peculiarity?
Few men, in these last days, can quiet their consciences, and yet live
in entire neglect of the heathen. Almost all professed Christians feel
that they must have some interest in the great enterprise. To begin to
act just as the last command of Christ requires, in its plain literal
import, as the apostles understood it, would be a hard and self-denying
service. What then shall they do? Will they operate _by proxy_? This is
the charming suggestion, by which often conscience is lulled to sleep
and the heathen are left to perish.
It is true that many, and perhaps most, must aid in the work by
proxy--by training up others, by sending them forth, by encouraging
them, and by furnishing the necessary means. But the error is, that all,
with the exception of perhaps one minister out of sixty, and one layman
out of three thousand, are inclined so to act. It is wonderful with what
electrical rapidity the soothing suggestion has spread abroad. It is so
insidious and speciously good, that it has found its way, like an angel
of light, to the best hearts and holiest places. Indeed, it is a point
very difficult to be determined; and many judge no doubt with perfect
correctness, when they decide to act in this way. The danger consists in
the eager rush and universal resort. To be sensible that there is such a
rush, begin and enumerate. Directors and officers of various
societies--and they are not few--of theological seminaries too, and of
colleges, think they are employed in furnishing the requisite men, the
requisite means, and the requisite instrumentalities, and so are
preaching to the heathen by proxy. Among ministers, the talented and
eloquent, the learned and the influential, think they must labor in the
important field at home; keep the churches in a state to operate upon
the world, and so preach to the heathen by proxy. Ministers generally,
about eleven thousand eight hundred out of twelve thousand, are zealous
for training up young men, and think in that way of preaching to the
heathen by proxy. Pious men of wealth, and those who are in
circumstances to acquire wealth, or imagine that they have a talent to
acquire it, profess to be accumulating the necessary means, and to be
thus preaching to the heathen by proxy. Sabbath-school teachers, fathers
and mothers, are fond of the notion of raising up children to be
missionaries, and of thus preaching by proxy. Proxy is the universal
resort. Now _some_ proxy effort, and much indeed, is proper and
indispensable; but must it not strike every mind, that such a universal
and indiscriminate resort to it is utterly unreasonable?
How often do we hear the exhortation, "Let mothers consecrate their
children to the missionary work in their earliest infancy. Let them be
taught, as they grow up, that to labor among the heathen is the most
glorious work on earth. Let teachers in Sabbath-schools impart such
instructions, and ministers in their pulpits. Let ministers and elders
search out young men, urge them to engage in the work of missions, and
let the churches educate them for that end, and pray for them that their
zeal fail not. Let no pains be spared and no efforts be wanting, to
raise up and send forth a large body of young men to labor for the
heathen."
Now in regard to such an effort, every reflecting mind can see that it
must be insufficient, if not hopeless. To succeed thus, as I have
already said, precept must become more powerful than example. Commit the
work of converting the world to your children, and they will commit it
to your grandchildren. Try instruction in the nursery, try instruction
in the Sabbath-school, try instruction from the pulpit: it will fall
powerless as a ray of moonlight on a lake of ice, while contradicted by
the _example_ of mothers, of Sabbath-school teachers, and of ministers.
Urge young men into the missionary field without going yourselves? A
general might as well urge his army over the Alps without leading them.
Consecrate them to the work? Would it not be an unholy consecration--a
consecration at the hands of those who were not themselves consecrated?
The command does not say, _send_, but "Go." Let us then go, and urge
others to _come_. We shall find this mode of persuasion the most
effectual.
Let us commit to proxy that work which is pleasant and easy, and betake
ourselves in person to those kinds of labor that are more self-denying,
and to those posts that are likely to be deserted. This is the only
principle of action that will secure success in any enterprise within
the range of human efforts. Suppose the opposite principle is acted
upon--that every one seeks for himself the most easy and pleasant work,
and the most delightful and honorable station, and leaves for others the
most obscure, the most self-denying, and the most perilous. Discover
such a spirit in any enterprise, secular or religious, and it requires
not the gift of prophecy to predict a failure. Practical and business
men understand full well the truth and force of this remark. The true
method is this: if there is a work that is likely to be neglected on
account of its obscurity or self-denial, let every one, first of all,
see that _that_ service is attended to. And if there is a post likely to
be left deserted on account of its hardships or its perils, let every
one be sure, first of all, that _that_ post is occupied. Let there be an
emulation among all to do the drudgery of the service, and to man the
Thermopylæ of danger. Then you shall read in the vigor and nerve of the
action the certainty of success.
In this way Bonaparte conquered Europe. If a portion of his army was
likely to fall back, there the general pressed forward in person,
inspiring courage and firmness. If all others shrunk from the deadly
breach, thither he rushed, at once, with the flower of his army.
This principle of action is not more indispensable in the conquests of
war, than in the great enterprise of the world's conversion. And how
truly glorious, how sublime by contrast, to exhibit this principle of
action, not in destroying mankind, but in laboring for their salvation!
Let all Christians be filled with this spirit, let every redeemed sinner
adopt in practice this rule of action, _to do the most self-denying, the
most difficult and perilous work in person, and to commit the easiest to
proxy_, then there would be a sight of moral sublimity that earth has
not seen--all the elements in action that are needed, under God, to
usher in the millenial day.
O, if to angels were committed the instrumentality of the world's
conversion, where would Gabriel speed his way if not to the post of
peril, and to the post of self-denying and toilsome drudgery? I mistake
his character much, if he would not betake himself at once to the most
arduous service. O, how he would delight to come down and labor with the
lowest being on New Holland or New Guinea, and be the instrument of
raising him up to the throne of Jesus! But to angels is not committed
the stewardship of propagating that precious Gospel, which God has
ordained for the world's renovation. The infinite treasure is placed in
our hands, the immense responsibility is thrown upon us. O, let us prove
ourselves worthy of such a trust, and not become traitorous to the
cause, by falling into the general spirit of operating by proxy.
But, in truth, how far do we act on the principle named, that of
performing in person the most arduous service, and of leaving the most
pleasant work for others? Look over the desolate and secluded parts of
the United States; look over the heathen world, and make out an answer.
Let facts speak. Is a residence in Arkansas preferred to a residence in
New-York, or a voyage to New Guinea before one to Europe?
Our blessed Saviour and his apostles did not feel inclined to shrink
from the more self-denying service, and to shift it upon others. If they
had felt so, then we should have continued in a state of darkness, and
have known full well the import of present wretchedness and eternal woe.
Let us suppose, for a moment, that the apostles had made the discovery
of obeying by proxy the Saviour's last command. But I hesitate to make
such a supposition, lest the force of such an immense contrast should
make it to be regarded as a caricature upon the operations of the
present age. In other words, our efforts to convert the world become so
clumsy, slow and inefficient, from a lack of the right spirit and enough
of it, in ministers and in the churches, that to impute the same kind
and degree of effort to the apostles and primitive Christians, might
excite a smile, rather than a sigh; and be deemed an attempt to
ridicule what is at present done, rather than an earnest, serious, and
solemn expostulation. Such a result I should deplore. But if my readers
will believe me to be aiming simply, with weeping eyes and an aching
heart, to illustrate with force my own defects and their short-comings
in duty, by detecting and tracing out a wrong principle of action, I
will venture cautiously to make the supposition.
The words of the last command have fallen from the lips of the ascended
Saviour, and the apostles assemble to deliberate how they shall carry
them into execution. In the first place, Peter delivers an address. It
is an able and thrilling discourse. He seems impatient to wing his way
to foreign lands. After the discourse, they form themselves into a
society. Arrangements being made, and the machinery being complete, they
send forth John to solicit funds. He finds the disciples willing to
contribute on an average, after much urging, about twenty-four cents
each. A pittance of money is obtained, and then they search for a man.
They thought Peter would be ready to go, from the speech he delivered,
but he wishes to be excused: he has a family to support. They then fall
upon various plans: some think of training up young men to go forth,
and others exhort parents to infuse a missionary spirit into their
children. At length, however, it is found that one of the twelve begins
to feel that he has a call to go--but this would be at the rate of one
thousand from the twelve thousand ministers in the United States. This
one man is sent forth to "go into all the world, and to preach the
Gospel to every creature." The rest of the apostles sustain the various
offices of the society, and have charge of important posts in Jerusalem,
and in the cities and villages round about. They meet yearly, to
deliberate upon the missionary enterprise. Some feel much, and humbly
pray, and some say eloquent things about the glorious cause, and tell
how they have found a fulcrum, where to place the lever of Archimides to
elevate the world.
Now I ask most solemnly, and in a spirit of grief and humiliation, how
such a course of conduct would have appeared in the apostles? Would it
have evinced a spirit of obedience? Believe me, in early times, a
readiness to obey supplied a great deal of machinery. Bring back into
the ministers of the present day the spirit of the apostles, and into
the churches the spirit of the early disciples, and operations at once
would be more simple and more efficient. A backwardness in duty--a
disposition, if we do anything for the heathen, to do it by proxy,
_this_ is it that makes the wheels so ponderous and encumbered. "The
letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life." Give us the spirit, and
annihilate the notion of operating so much by proxy, and we shall soon
see a multitude of angels flying in the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting Gospel to preach to the nations.
There is _no cheap or easy way of converting the world_. It is to be
feared that some fall into the contrary notion, because they do not wish
to believe that _all_ they possess is needed in the work of the Lord,
and that there is absolute necessity that they themselves go to the
heathen. It is to be feared, that it is for this reason that so many are
ready to imagine that the work is to be done by a few men, and a small
amount of means. It would seem they expect to form lines of these few
men, and encircle the globe in various directions; to place them on
prominent points, like light-houses, and leave each with his single lamp
to dispel the darkness of a wide circumference. They seem to imagine
that nations can be elevated from a degradation many ages deep, and
thoroughly transformed, religiously, morally, mentally and socially, by
the influence of a few missionaries, scattered here and there on some
high eminences of the earth: that a single missionary, under a withering
atmosphere, is to be preacher, physician, teacher, lawyer, mechanic, and
everything that is necessary in raising a whole community from the
inconceivable degradation of heathenism, up to the elevation of an
industrious, intelligent, and Christian people.
Neither are the expectations formed by many, of mission seminaries, less
visionary. A school, with two or three teachers, limited accommodations
and small funds, with all its school-books to make, and the whole
literature to form, is expected to accomplish all the work of the
academy, college, and theological seminary, and speedily to transform
untutored savages into able preachers of the Gospel.
And it is expected, by not a few, of the wife of the missionary--though
living under a burning sun, in a house of poor accommodations, with
unfaithful domestics, or none at all; that notwithstanding, she will
not only attend to the arduous duties of the household and educate her
own children, but teach a school among the people, and superintend the
female portion of the congregation--a task which a minister's wife in a
Christian land, and under a bracing air, does not often attempt.
Now, would it be really a benefit to the church thus to flatter her
indolence and her avarice, and convert the heathen with a fraction of
wealth and a handful of men? Be assured, God loves the church too well
thus to pamper a luxurious and self-indulgent spirit: he will allow no
cheap and easy way of accomplishing the work. The object is worth more:
worthy not only of the combined wealth of Christendom, but worthy also
of the energies, the toil, and the blood if necessary, of the greatest
and holiest men. It will not be in consistence with God's usual
providence that a victory so noble should be achieved, till the
treasures of the church shall be literally emptied in the contest, and
the precious blood of thousands and tens of thousands of her ablest and
best men poured out on the field. The work has already cost the blood
of God's only Son; and the prosecution and finishing of it shall be
through toil, self-denial, entire devotement, and obedience even unto
death.
_Some rules that may be of use in agitating the question of becoming
missionaries._
1. Guard against an _excuse-making_ spirit. This is an age of excuses.
There is no need of seeking for them; they are already at hand, and of
every variety, size and shape. They are kept ready for every occasion.
If one will not suit, another may be tried. Be admonished then, that a
disposition to be excused is not much different from a disposition to
disobey.
2. Guard against _antinomianism_ on the subject of missions. There is a
great tendency in these days to _say and do not_. The thrill of the
missionary theme, like an exhilarating gas, is pleasant to many; but the
sober and humble business of engaging in the work is not so welcome. A
disposition to say much and do little is a feature of the most alarming
kind. It shows an obtuseness of conscience.
3. Remember that Divine direction is better than human wisdom. We are
very much inclined to argue the question, "Where can I do the most
good?" Be assured we can do the most good by _obeying_ the Saviour: by
carrying out the spirit of his last command. Let us keep _close_ to that
command: it is safer than to determine by our own dark and biased
reasoning, and by our very limited foresight, where we can be the most
useful.
4. The nearer you live to Jesus, the more hope will there be of your
coming to a right decision. There is a process of conviction and
conversion before a man becomes a missionary--a serious conflict.
Nothing but nearness to the Saviour will prepare a man to pass through
such a conflict, and keep safely on the side of truth and duty.
5. If, after examining thoroughly and prayerfully the question of
becoming a missionary, the mind waver between conflicting reasons, it
will be safest to lean to the side of the greatest self-denial.
6. In selecting the place of the greatest usefulness in the wide field
of the world, the best rule is, to fly to the post most likely to be
deserted.
7. A kindred principle is, to do in person the more difficult and
unpleasant work, and to commit the more easy and delightful to proxy.
8. Remember the time is short. A few days more, and we shall meet our
Saviour in the presence of a world of souls.
9. Keep in mind the conduct of our blessed Saviour, and be imbued with
his spirit. Feel as he felt, and do as he did, when he beheld us in
misery and in sin.
CHAPTER VIII.
TRIALS TO BE MET.
Common trials need not be named: we allude only to a few of those that
are most severe. Take then first, the trial of leaving friends. The
Saviour says, "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not
worthy of me, and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not
worthy of me." The plain meaning is, to be Christians, our love to
Christ must be supreme. Now, if it is supreme, it will show itself to be
so in our conduct. There is full room, even at the present day, for a
practical test of this condition of discipleship. Not only is the
_spirit_ of this passage required, but in many cases, a _literal
compliance_ with the identical things named in it. This saying of our
Saviour has been too much forgotten. Like some other important sayings
of our Lord, it has been virtually expunged. It has been regarded as
applying only to apostolic times--to times of persecution. This is a
wide mistake. If all nations are to be enlightened by the use of means,
there must be a practical exhibition among Christians at the present
time, and in all time to come, of a love to Christ superior to the love
which we owe to father, mother, son or daughter. And this love is not
spoken of as a high attainment in piety, but as an indispensable
condition of discipleship. The missionary enterprise presents many
instances of stern necessity to test and exhibit this principle.
The occasion most familiar to the general reader, and the one best
appreciated by him, is the time when missionaries go forth to the
heathen. They are compelled to break away from almost every tie. The
strength of attachment to all that is dear on earth, is a feeling that
may be experienced, and can be imagined too, in part, but can never be
described. There are a thousand ties, and tender ties too, that must be
sundered. The loved scenes of childhood and youth, and scenes of sacred
peace and pleasure that cluster about the sanctuary, the conference-room
and the praying circle, must all receive a parting thought.
Friends--dear friends and connections, must receive a last adieu and a
lingering look. But O how keen the sensation when the last sigh, the
last tear, and the last embrace is to be exchanged with father and
mother, brother and sister--when all the touching associations of
kindred and home are for once revived to be dismissed forever!
Imagine not that the sensibilities of missionaries are less exquisite
than those of other persons. The pangs they endure are indeed alleviated
by soothing considerations drawn from the Gospel; but they are,
notwithstanding, deep--deeper than the looker-on may at first suppose.
There may be some persons--I have heard of such--who misrepresent the
feelings and motives of missionaries in leaving their friends; who
impute to them cold hearts and a bluntness of sensibility; who say that
they are wanting in filial devotion, and can therefore leave aged
parents to droop and die: that they have a small share of fraternal
affection, and that it is therefore they can break away from the embrace
of brothers and sisters, and leave them in anguish and in tears. All
these remarks are sometimes made, and perhaps oftener secretly indulged,
than openly expressed. It is often that the missionary is not allowed to
take his leave merely with a bleeding heart and a soul gushing with
emotion, but is compelled to endure a keener anguish: that of knowing
that the course he is taking, agonizing as it is, is imputed by some to
a want of sensibility; to a destitution of the finer, tenderer, and more
delicate feelings, that adorn society, and that make families lovely and
happy. Here then are trials: such, however, as he must cheerfully meet
for Christ's sake.
But the separation from home, with its numerous and nameless
endearments, and at the risk of misrepresentation, is but the first
lesson of obedience. That person whose love to Christ is so weak as to
fail here on the threshold, would give but poor evidence of being
prepared for similar and severer trials in prospect. The _main_ occasion
for exemplifying the spirit of the Saviour's words to which we have
alluded, is on heathen ground, when stern necessity calls upon parents
to make the best disposition in their power in regard to their own
children. This is an occasion not so well understood by the Christian
community as the one I have noticed. The difficulties in the way of
properly training children on heathen ground are not clearly seen;
neither are all the objections appreciated which attend the usual
alternative, that of sending them to a Christian land. These are the
occasions of trial, compared with which all other sufferings of the
missionary are scarcely worthy of being named. They are trials, however,
that must be met, not evaded; for the Saviour says, "He that loveth son
or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." They must be cheerfully
met, and counted "all joy," or we cannot claim the spirit of the first
disciples.
There are those, I know, who would relieve this subject at once by
proposing the celibacy of missionaries; but the argument of such persons
can hardly be deemed worth considering, till they shall know a little
more "what they say, and whereof they affirm." Celibacy for ministers
at home would be a much more proper and expedient arrangement, than for
missionaries in most foreign fields. And one would think that the
experience of the church, from the days of the apostles till now, had
taught us enough to silence at once any such proposition, and to place
it forever at rest. Were it in place for me, I could give reasons here
to the heart's content: but I deem it more prudent to forbear.
The DIFFICULTIES in the way of training children on heathen ground,
cannot all be named; and fewer still can be justly appreciated by those
who have never made the attempt. What I shall say will apply
particularly to barbarous and degraded nations, such as the Sandwich
Islanders once were; for it is to such nations that the missionary's eye
should be specially directed.
I shall mention first, _the difficulty of keeping children from the
pollutions and vices of the heathen_. Children have eyes, and among the
heathen what do they see? I need only refer you to the knowledge you
already possess of the naked condition, vile habits, and gross vices of
a barbarous people. There is much in heathen society which cannot be
described, but which children must more or less witness. The state of
things, in this respect, is very much improved at the Sandwich Islands;
but I refer to that condition in which they once were--to that condition
in which all barbarous nations are, without the light of the Gospel.
Imagine then to yourself this feature of heathen society, and then
repeat the inquiry, What do children see?
Again, children have ears, and they cannot be so effectually closed as
to be kept from learning in some measure the language of the heathen.
And if they become acquainted with the language of the heathen, what do
they hear day after day? In many a pagan country they are liable to hear
disputes, contentions, revilings, execration and blasphemy; but what is
more, they are liable to hear in familiar, unblushing and open
conversation, words and phrases which are not so much as to be named.
The heathen have no forbidden words in their language. Every term is
liable to be brought into public and frequent use without the least
sense of impropriety.
On account of this pernicious example and vile conversation, many
missionaries, where it is practicable, make walls about their houses,
and endeavor by strict inclosures to prevent their children from having
intercourse with the natives. This can be done in some places, and to
some degree, while children are young; but when they are somewhat grown
up, it is preposterous to think of keeping them within inclosures. And
as soon as they are out of their inclosures, there are a thousand
pitfalls ready for their feet, on the right hand and on the left. How
much solicitude was felt by Abraham and Isaac for their children, on
account of the heathen population which surrounded them. This pernicious
influence, better imagined than described, and still better seen than
imagined, is one of the reasons which lead missionaries to undergo the
agony of separation, and to send their children to a Christian land.
This evil at the Sandwich Islands is much diminished, but not so much so
as may at first glance be supposed from the progress in Christianity
which has been made, and from the powerful revivals which have here been
experienced.
Again it must be remarked, that children trained up on heathen shores
are in danger of _contracting habits of indolence_. The heathen, as a
general remark, exert themselves no oftener and no longer than they
feel the pressure of present want. They are far from being industrious,
and farther still from anything like enterprise. Those nations that are
partly civilized exhibit more or less industry, and are acquainted with
some of the arts; but barbarous nations are acquainted with none of the
improvements that elevate society, and exhibit a state of lounging
indolence and torpid inactivity. If there be noise, it is not the rattle
and whirl of business, or the hum of industry; but the noise of giddy
mirth, boisterous and unmeaning laughter, or fierce and angry
contention. If there be stillness, it is not the peace and quiet of
well-ordered society, but the gloomy and deathlike stillness of
indolence, sensuality, and beastly degradation. Now, who does not know
that children are likely to be much influenced by the aspect and
character of the society by which they are surrounded? Who does not know
that they are likely to imbibe the spirit of the nation in which they
live, whether on the one hand it be that of industry and enterprise, or
on the other, that of sensual ease and torpid indolence? Let a youth be
trained up in a village of intelligence, active industry and stirring
enterprise; let his ears be filled with the noise of business from
morning till night; let him travel in stages, in steamboats and on
railroads, and it will be next to impossible for him to be indolent and
sluggish. But in heathen society, the whole atmosphere is entirely
different; it is a choke-damp to all activity, and it falls on the
senses with a benumbing and deadening influence.
But more than this, missionaries have no business in which to employ
their children; and if it were possible to devise business in which to
employ them, there is no one to superintend their labor. Missionaries
have no time for the purpose, and no other persons, among most pagan
nations, can be found who are trusty and competent. This is a stubborn
fact, and stands in the way as a very great obstacle. Neither, in most
cases, can the children of missionaries be kept industrious in the
acquisition of knowledge. Their fathers and mothers cannot devote so
much of their time to their children, as to keep their minds
industriously employed in the pursuit of knowledge; and as to schools,
most missions are not thus favored. Missionaries then, if they keep
their children on heathen ground, run the risk of seeing them grow up
in habits of inactivity and indolence. This, if a risk, is a fearful
one; for missionaries ardently wish their children to be useful when
they themselves shall be dead. But indolence and usefulness are the
opposites of each other; whereas indolence and vice are closely allied.
To prevent then this deadly evil, of having their children grow up in
indolent habits, is one of the strong reasons why missionaries resort to
the heart-rending alternative of parting with their children, with but
little probability of seeing them again this side the grave.
Again, as the state of things now is, the children of missionaries, if
kept on heathen ground, can possess but _very limited advantages for
mental improvement_. Their mothers cannot be depended upon to instruct
them much in literature and the sciences. Under the influence of a
withering atmosphere, often sick, with no help in many countries in
their domestic affairs but untrusty domestics, and often with none at
all, and obliged to attend to many calls from the people, or run the
risk of giving offence, how can they be expected to find much time and
strength for disciplining the minds of their children, and storing them
with useful knowledge? They may succeed in giving them an acquaintance
with the branches of common education, but to carry them into the higher
branches is, as a general remark, entirely out of the question. Such a
task is by no means expected of a minister's wife at home, much less can
it be expected of the wife of a missionary.
Neither can their fathers be depended upon to give a thorough education.
Ministers at home would find it a great encroachment upon their time to
spend several hours each day in instructing their own children; but they
have _vastly_ more leisure to do so than the foreign missionary. To
instruct a class of three or four requires the same apparatus, the same
preparation in the teacher, and the same number of hours each day, as
would be required for a class of thirty or forty. But should a
missionary devote such an amount of time and means to his own family, it
must be to the neglect of other labor. The most economical, and the most
efficient course by far, evidently is, to collect together a sufficient
number of missionaries' children to form a school, and devote a
competent number of teachers entirely to that work.
But even where such schools can be enjoyed, they must be attended with
many risks and privations, and be only preparatory in their nature.
Those scholars, who may need a thorough education, must be still under
the necessity of visiting a Christian land. It is too of great, and
perhaps indispensable importance, that youth who are trained for active
life should see the industry, enterprise, and intelligence of a
Christian land, and so far, at least, partake of its character and
imbibe its spirit.
Missionaries, then, must either suffer their children to grow up with a
very limited education, or submit to the alternative sooner or later of
sending them to a Christian land. But missionaries see the want of
laborers in the great field of the world, and ardently desire that their
children may be qualified to take part in the work. They choose
therefore the present anguish of separation, bitter as it may be, that
there may exist a reasonable prospect that their children, at some
future day, may be eminently useful in the vineyard of the Lord.
One other difficulty I must name, and that is, that missionaries'
children, if kept on heathen ground, will have _no prospect of suitable
employment when old enough to settle in life_. They will have no trades.
To be merchants they will not have means. They will not be acquainted
with agriculture, and in many countries will not be able to obtain land
to cultivate. Some, who are fit for the work, may become preachers and
teachers, but will not command the influence that they would if they
were educated in a Christian land. Thus the prospect of suitable
employment is very dark, and is a fact in the case of much weight.
These reasons and others that might be named, possess in the minds of
missionaries immense force--force enough, in many instances, to induce
them to tear from their embrace the dear objects of their love, and to
send them over a wide ocean to the care of friends, and often to the
care of strangers. They do not lead all parents to this result; for on
the other hand, there are strong, very strong objections to such a
course. The trial in either case is great; but it is one that must be
met, not evaded. It is wise to count the cost, but it is treason to be
faint-hearted; for the trial, after all, cannot weigh much in the
balance against the eternal interests of the dying heathen. HOW MUCH
WORSE IS THE CONDITION OF MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS OF HEATHEN CHILDREN!
The first OBJECTION in the minds of missionaries against sending their
children home, is, that _such a measure seems unnatural_. That it is a
violation of nature, all parents not only admit, but most deeply _feel_.
God has implanted feelings in the breast of natural parents, which
peculiarly fit them to take care of their own children. No other persons
can precisely take their place, and feel the same interest, the same
unwearied concern--the same unprovoked temper and unchangeable love
through good report and through evil report. In a word, no other
persons, however good and worthy, can be _natural parents_. Guardians
can be found, who will feel a warm interest in those children who are
bright, interesting, well-behaved and pious. But to feel properly for
children that are dull, uninteresting and wayward, requires a _parent's
heart_.
That this is the state of the case, is too true to be denied. For
parents, then, to violate this provision of nature, is causing a sword
to pierce through their own bosoms, and the bosoms of their children: to
do it without sufficient reasons, is to act at variance with the God who
made them. In the feelings implanted in the breasts of parents towards
their children, God has established a general rule: has made known his
will, his law, and indelibly inscribed it on the parent's heart.
Missionaries must be able to plead an _exception_ to this general law,
or they will be found to be opposing the will of their Maker. That the
very strong reasons they can urge really justify an exception, is plain
to the minds of many, but not to the minds of all.
Another objection arises from the command binding upon parents to train
up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It is clear
to the minds of some missionaries, that the spirit of this and similar
commands is complied with when they make provision, according to the
best of their judgment, for the religious education of their children.
By others it is thought, that these explicit commands of God cannot be
obeyed by any arrangement which commits the work to proxy; that there is
risk in committing the work to others; that fully to obey God, parents,
if not removed by death, must _in person_ pray with their children and
instruct them in the truths of the Gospel; and that they must do this,
not only through the period of childhood, but also through the season of
youth, or till their children are old enough to think and act for
themselves. It is admitted by all, that it is _desirable_ that parents
should do this interesting and responsible work in person. No one else
can do it with the feeling and unction natural to parents. All not only
admit this to be true, but _feel_ it, too, to the very centre of their
souls. But some think that it is not only very desirable, but altogether
indispensable--that any other course is an unwarrantable substitution of
human wisdom for the explicit direction of the all-wise God. The reader
must judge whether this position is tenable or not.
There is another objection: If missionaries' children are sent home,
then one very important _influence of a missionary's family upon the
heathen_ is in a great measure lost. Among the heathen, the family
constitution is in ruins. The state of society is almost a perfect
chaos. It is of immense importance, therefore, not only to inculcate the
principles of domestic peace, but actually to bring before their eyes
living examples of well-ordered and happy families. They need to see,
not only young children well governed, but also the mutual interchanges
of love, affection and duty, between young people and their aged
parents. But this they cannot see if children are sent home. A
missionary's family, who sends his older children home, and keeps with
him only those that are quite young, is not like a tree adorned with its
natural and well-proportioned branches, but presents the aspect of a
tree closely trimmed, and with only a few twigs left at the very top.
And when all his children are sent away, his family presents the aspect
of a trunk without branch, shoot, twig or foliage, standing alone in an
open field. This is unnatural, blighting to much of the comfort and
cheerfulness of the parental abode, and is not the example which it is
desirable to hold up before the eyes of the heathen. One important
reason, then, why a missionary should have a family, is lost in sending
his children home.
I mention as another objection, the dangerous influence to which
children are more or less exposed on a _long voyage at sea_. From some
of the missionary fields, the voyage must be five, six, or seven months.
I speak not of what are called the dangers of the deep, or the hardships
of a sea life for six or seven months. These are of little account. The
danger of which I speak is, the pernicious influence to which for that
length of time they are exposed. This is an objection which, though not
of sufficient weight in itself to determine one's course, may yet come
in as an item in making up the account.
On the supposition that children are sent, they go of course without
their parents. In some cases the protector to whom they are to be
intrusted may not be altogether such as could be desired. Even in case a
parent accompanies the children, he will find it a great task to keep
them from many pernicious influences during a long voyage. In very many
ships they will hear more or less profane, low, vulgar and infamous
language, both in conversation and in song. They will see exhibitions of
anger, impatience, fretfulness, boisterous laughter and giddy mirth.
They will see the holy Sabbath made a day of business, or at best a day
of lounging and idleness. They will be likely on the one hand to
receive such caresses as to make them vain and self-important; or, on
the other hand, to be so treated as to chafe their tempers and injure
their dispositions. In short, for six or seven months, they must be
thrown into a strange family; into a family confined to the narrow
limits of a ship's cabin and deck; into a family over which the parent
of the children has no control; into a family, too, composed of the
variety of character and disposition of those who sail on the ocean.
Thus circumstanced, children inevitably suffer much, even under the
vigilant eye of a parent, and still more would they suffer under any eye
less careful and attentive. This moral danger to which children are
exposed at sea, though not an objection of the strongest kind, is yet an
item worthy of being noticed. Missionaries think of it when sending away
their children, and dread it far more than tempests and tornadoes.
Another objection is, that _no adequate provision is made for the
support and education of missionaries' children_, if sent to a Christian
land. The provision that is made by the American Board of Commissioners
is $60 a year for a boy till he is eighteen years of age, and $50 a
year for a girl during the same period. Now, every one sees that this is
a sum scarcely sufficient to furnish them with food and clothing,
without provision for sickness or means of education. It may be said,
that they must be thrown much upon the spontaneous charities of
Christians and of friends. But such a dependence must be uncertain,
especially as few Christians appreciate the reasons and feelings of
missionaries in sending home their children. Who of my readers in
Christian lands would be willing to throw his own child on such a
precarious subsistence?
But the strongest objection, in my opinion is this: _If no other course
can be adopted than that of sending the children home, it is to be
feared that the number of missionaries will never be so increased as to
afford a rational prospect of the world's conversion._ While the plan of
sending children home is cherished, it will seem so incompatible with a
large number of laborers, that it will tend to perpetuate the
destructive notion, that the nations are to be saved by the labors of
merely a few hundred men. But if means are to be employed in any measure
commensurate with the end in view, a few men cannot put forth the
instrumentality needed to elevate all nations. To commit the work to a
few is in truth to relinquish it. If, then, the measure of sending
children home should tend in the least to favor this destructive notion,
it must, if possible, be avoided. This tendency is disastrous; and is,
of course, an objection of immense force.
It is clear that there are, on the one hand, very strong reasons for
sending children home, and on the other hand, very strong objections to
such a course. Missionaries, then, are reduced to a very trying dilemma.
Whichever course they choose, it is equally distressing. Whichever way
they turn, they find enough to rend their hearts with anguish. There are
two cups, mixed indeed with different ingredients, but equally bitter,
one of which they must drink. Their only comfort is to look upward, pour
their sorrows into the ear of God, and cast their cares on him who
careth for them. This is a trial, the sting of which cannot be
appreciated except by those who have felt it. It is by far the greatest
trial of the missionary, and probably greater than all his other trials
combined. The pain of leaving one's kindred and country is nothing
compared with it.
But if the cup be of such a mixture, can there be found those whose
hearts are so insensible as to throw in other ingredients to make the
draught more bitter? If missionaries keep their children, and ask for
the requisite means of education, shall they be called extravagant? If
they send them home, shall they be regarded as possessing but a small
share of natural affection?
Here, then, are trials; but however great, they are to be met, not
evaded--met by the churches, met by missionaries; and however severe and
agonizing such trials, they are nothing in the balance against the dying
condition of the heathen. The situation of our children, trying as it
is, is unspeakably better than that of three hundred millions of heathen
children and youth. The Saviour commands--the world is dying--and he
that loveth son or daughter more than Christ is not worthy of him.
* * * * *
The inquiry is worth notice, Whether the situation of missionaries
cannot be so altered as to change very materially the state of the
question, in regard to their children? Would not such a change be
effected by the going forth of laymen in great numbers, and of all the
useful professions, arts and employments, so as to form little circles
here and there over the earth?
A great part of the heathen world is open for such classes of men.
Appeals for such men have been sent from Africa, Asia Minor, Siam, the
Sandwich Islands, and in short from almost every mission. They would of
course labor under greater or less disadvantages; but these
disadvantages should only have the effect to call forth the more energy,
patience and perseverance.
But it will be asked, How would the going forth of such classes of men
better the condition of missionaries' children?
1. They would afford society, form a public sentiment, and thus serve in
a measure to keep children from the influence of a heathen population.
It is already found on heathen ground, that where there are several
families of missionaries, the children form a society among themselves;
but where there is but one family, the children are more inclined to
seek society among the degraded objects about them.
2. Again, if men of various useful employments should be located with
the missionary, there would be held up before the children examples of
Christian industry and enterprise; whereas, in their present isolated
condition, the children suffer from an atmosphere of indolence and
stagnation.
3. The going forth of such men to introduce the different arts and
occupations, would afford suitable employment for the children and youth
of missionaries, and furnish them to some extent with permanent
situations in mature life.
4. If there were such little circles of laymen as we suppose, they would
have at whatever sacrifice, as the Pilgrims of New England did,
institutions of learning among themselves, where children and youth
might receive a suitable education.
Unless some arrangement of this kind can be made, the trials of
missionaries must remain unrelieved and unmitigated. And even with such
an arrangement, the trial would be only in part removed. Even then the
children of foreign laborers would by no means receive all the
advantages of a Christian land, neither would they be shielded from all
the evils of a heathen community. But it is worthy of thought, whether
by such an arrangement they would not be so far shielded, and possess
advantages to such an amount, as to change the preponderance of
argument.
Then, in addition to this or some similar arrangement, should not
Christians _be more liberal in affording means and facilities for
education, and expect of missionaries to devote to their children more
of their time_?
I have now brought before your minds the greatest of all missionary
trials; and yet I urge many of you, ministers and laymen, and urge you
considerately and solemnly too, to enter the work. I have not hesitated
to state freely the whole difficulty, for I am in no wise unwilling that
you should count the cost. And I would say with Gideon, "Whosoever is
fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early." God desires no
faint-hearted men in his service. He desires men that shrink from no
self-denial for his sake. For after their trials are over--and they will
be but short[*]--he wishes to crown them with glory, and place them at
his own right hand as partners of his throne. He will place no
unbelieving, faint-hearted men there. He will place none there who are
not "worthy of him." And remember that he said, "He that loveth son or
daughter more than me, is not worthy of me."
[Footnote *: The author, soon after writing this appeal, was called to
enter into the joy of his Lord.]
* * * * *
In looking at the embarrassment of missionaries in regard to their
children, a thought something like this is apt to arise: missionaries
are by profession a class of self-denying persons, and this trial is
only in consistency with the life they have chosen. Now, where in the
Bible do you find, that a spirit of self-denial and of consecration is
enjoined peculiarly upon missionaries more than upon others? Where do
you find it intimated, that a missionary spirit is a thing superadded to
Christian character? An entire consecration of our children to Christ is
not a test of missionary spirit, but a test of discipleship. Not the
missionary, but "_He_, that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not
worthy of me."
The spirit of this injunction requires _all_ parents to train up their
children in that way in which they may be of the greatest service to
Christ; and not only to be willing--that would be but a small measure of
Christian feeling--but earnestly and constantly to pray, that they may
be employed in that part of his vineyard, and in that kind of work,
where they can be instrumental of the most good, even though it be on
some distant shore, teaching the alphabet to the ignorant and degraded.
But is this the spirit which prevails in the churches? I have seen it
stated that, of twenty or more young men in a theological institution,
who were at the same time agitating the question of their duty to become
missionaries, _all but two were discouraged by their parents, and these
two were the sons of widows_. Many other facts of a similar kind might
be added, if it were best to name them. Many parents give their children
to the Lord when young, and talk of locating them on the shores of
Japan, or New Guinea; but the very manner of educating them--in
softness, delicacy and helplessness--shows at once the inefficacy of
such a profession. Many parents are quite ready to consecrate their
children before they become pious. "O, if the Saviour would only convert
my child, I would readily yield him to go to any part of the world, and
to perform any service for which he might be fitted." The child becomes
a Christian, and proposes to go to the heathen. The parents cling,
dissuade, and throw every consideration in the way to keep him at home.
At the judgment day, if I mistake not, we shall see a great deal of our
conduct in a different light from what we do now.
The spirit of the Gospel is a spirit of self-denial for the sake of
Christ. The Saviour is worthy of our highest love, and no earthly
attachment can be allowed to come in competition with the supreme
affection which we owe to him. This love to Christ must be manifested by
obeying his commandments. To yield strict obedience to Christ in this
world, disordered and confused by sin, it is frequently necessary to
sunder some of the tenderest ties on earth. Keen as is the sensation, it
must be endured. A child must not cling unduly to a parent, nor a parent
to a child, but each cling with more ardent feelings and firmer grasp to
Jesus Christ and his cause. This world is not our rest. Neither is it a
place to give much indulgence to many of the fond affections of the
soul. There is no time for it. We live in a world of sin--a confused,
disordered and chaotic world--in a revolted territory, among a crowd of
sinners dying an eternal death. The main point then is, to save our own
souls and the souls of as many as possible of our fellow men, before the
grave shall close upon us. The indulgence of many of our tenderer
feelings of love and fondness must be postponed to a more peaceful
abode. While in a world of dying souls, self-denial and laborious effort
are most in place. Parental and filial affection should be deep and
ardent indeed, but under the control of judgment. Love to Christ and to
souls must predominate and govern our conduct.
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