Our Attitude Toward Others by Francis M. Wilcox

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Jul 23, 1914

Our Attitude Toward Others

By Francis M. Wilcox

THE attitude of others toward us will be very largely determined by our feelings toward them. He who would have friends must show himself friendly. The environment in which we live is homelike, the people surrounding us are neighborly, very largely in proportion as we kindly relate ourselves to men and conditions. This principle is true as applied to our relation to men and women of other Christian faiths and churches. Like Paul, we may belong to the sect which is everywhere spoken against, and this may result from the very nature of the message we are bearing to the world. But we should seek to give the message in such a spirit that no unnecessary antagonism will be aroused.

Our work in this world as a denomination is not to antagonize other denominations. We are not set to fight the Methodists, the Baptists, or the Catholics, or any other denomination. Heaven has ordained this movement for the proclamation of the everlasting gospel, the great saving message of truth. As the harbingers of this message, our work is to save men, not to condemn them. It is not for us to hold up the cherished views of others to jest or ridicule or scorning. Some of the religious bodies in the world today have a Christian experience and history antedating ours by many years. God has used them for the accomplishment of a great work in the world. They have sent to the mission fields many heroic souls who have watered the gospel seed with their blood. These denominations contain many earnest men and women who are serving God according to the best light they have. The recognition of these facts should lead us to the exercise of a kindly spirit in our relationship to them.

God has blessed this people with advanced light, with a special message for this day and generation. It is for us kindly and considerately to place this truth before those who know it not. In the preaching of the gospel it is inevitable that truth must clash with error, and that error should be exposed, but the best way to expose error is to preach the positive truths of the gospel. This message is designed to give a warning against great systems of error and evil. It sounds a warning against the beast, his image, and the reception of his mark. But the great foundation truths of the warning of the third angel's message are found in the proclamation of the first angel, “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”

These positive and negative truths constitute together the message. Without the preaching of the positive, the preaching of the negative will be of no avail. There are men in the world today sounding a warning against the beast and against his image, but they are not giving the warning of the prophecy of the Word; and in the giving of their own warning they fail to provide the antidote for the evil. The source of help for the ills against which they strike is contained in the positive truths of the message. The warning against the beast and his image is not designed of Heaven to hold up to ridicule the errors and weaknesses of the system represented by these symbols. It is designed to save men, and to present to them the truth and power of God which will enable them to break loose from the strongholds of error and darkness, and assert their liberty in Christ Jesus.

God has made us a distinct and separate people. This separation we must maintain. We must not compromise the message he has given us to bear. We must not lower the standard one iota for the sake of so-called peace and harmony. We must stand fearlessly in defense of the truth of God. But while we speak the plain truth, let us do it

in the spirit of the Master. We need today a greater love for perishing souls. We need more tenderness in our methods of labor. We need to enter new fields, not with a spirit of antagonism toward any, nor should we go necessarily anticipating opposition. This expectancy will place us on the defensive, and afford us poor preparation to bear the message of mercy and forgiveness to those in need.

Let us avoid as far as possible in our labors the spirit of contention, of debate, of criticism. Let us preach the truth and live the truth, revealing in our own lives its power. This will give strength to the witness we bear above any mere power of human reasoning or argumentation. The gospel of Christ is a gospel of peace and love and good will to men. To prove a savor of life the gospel must be preached in the spirit of its divine Author. F. M. W.