Great, but a Leper by L. D. SANTEE

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 23, 1908

Great, but a Leper

By L. D. SANTEE

L. D. SANTEE

Naaman was a great man, but he was a leper. 2 Kings 5:1. What a cause of humiliation!—“captain of the host of the king of Syria,” “a great man with his master,” as great as the world could make him, and yet being eaten up by a loathsome disease that was incurable! He was “a mighty man in valor, but”—a leper. Soldiers would come and go at his bidding; yet the basest slave in Syria would not change skins with him.

There is an object-lesson here that finds its counterpart in all the walks of life. There are Naamans, men of brilliant minds, capable of blessing the world, but whose imaginations are fervid with licentiousness, who stimulate the passions of the basest. They are capable of better things, yet they lead the minds of their readers along the streets of Sodom. While it is true that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh,” we can only say of them, Great, but a leper.

There are political Naamans,—politically famous, but personally infamous,—who stand before the world as “honorable,” while they are debased in vice,—men who would contaminate the pure, and yet, through intrigue and chicanery have secured political power; masters of assemblies, but slaves to appetite; professing to stand for principle, yet selling themselves for graft. We can only say of them, as was said of the Syrian captain, Great, but a leper.

There are society Naamans. They are envied by the vulgar, but despised by the pure and virtuous. They enjoy notoriety in the divorce courts, and their names have been smirched with the tongue of scandal. They keep themselves before the public by questionable practises. They may win the admiration of those who do not know their wickedness, but when they reach the pinnacle of their greatness, and can write Success above their names, we can only say, Great, but a leper.

There are religious Naamans,—those who draw around them the cloak of hypocrisy, whose hearts are “whited sepulchres;” who, while professing to follow the Man of Calvary, are leading unholy lives. “The Judge of all the earth” will do right, and the book of remembrance is steadily receiving a record of their lives.

As Naaman’s leprosy was an offset to all his greatness, so with these whom we have considered. Obedience to the command of God was the only way for Naaman to become clean; so with these other Naamans whom we have mentioned, their malady is incurable also unless the Great Physician shall heal them. We can only say of each of them, Great, but a leper.

Chicago, Ill.