Serving God from Principle.
By Burton S. Barnes
PRINCIPLE implies law; and the existence of law indicates that it and not conscience is the rule of action. Conscience is the cause of all imagination; and, as in every case there are a million ways to imagine wrong, and but one, right, surely we are in great danger if we trust to conscience as a guide. A healthful conscience, a conscience moulded by the word of God, is not always a safe guide. We are nowhere instructed in the Bible to follow conscience; but, on the contrary, Jesus says, “Follow thou me,” and, “If ye love me keep my commandments.” Conscience is just what it is taught; and, as no two are taught alike, so no two will guide alike. A firm, fixed determination to serve God from principle is the only safeguard against the ungodly spirit and customs of the world. Deep-grounded principles, principles drawn from the word of God, are the true standard. If we have no settled principles as to what is right and wrong; if we are guided principally by what we conceive to be right; there is, in these days of worldly-mindedness, scarcely a chance for our purity. One great command is, keep yourselves unspotted from the world. This, without imagination, includes a total abstinence from attending the petty shows and concerts which are so numerous at the present time. We must have fixed principles concerning them. When the bill names, be it Menagerie, Stereopticon, Concert, Panorama, or any other such useless thing, is it safe to trust to conscience to dictate the propriety of attending them? Even let our conscience be educated against them; let it be firmly grounded to yield to nothing that is wrong; let it have a fixed determination against all shows, no matter of what kind, for they all belong to the same family; let it be deeply rooted against unnecessarily witnessing the silly fears of wicked men; but, let one be presented with a complimentary ticket, and how soon the fixed character of conscience takes wings. Instead of soberly reflecting upon the propriety of attending, it sets itself busily at work to hatch up all the real and imaginary virtues of a Magic Lantern, and of a set of men who live off of community without returning an honest equivalent for their support. How quickly our long-faced bolsterings of a stout conscience disappear under the pressure of a trivial temptation. Says H. W. Beecher, “The most miserable pettifogging in the world, is that of a man in the court of his own conscience.” Is it safe, then, to trust to the decision of conscience when it can be so easily blinded? Let me here give a few reasons for believing it to be dangerous, and especially for the young, as to them principally I write, to attend shows or concerts of any kind. 1. The first reason is, their waste of time. You will go once, and wish to go again; you will go twice, and seek it a third time, a fourth, and so on; and whenever an opportunity offers, you will be seized with a restlessness and craving to go, until the appetite will become a passion. 2. They ought not to be countenanced, because they will waste your money. But if money could buy one off from the yet worse effects, the bargain would not be so dear. 3. Another reason why these deceitful pleasures should be let alone is, they engage one in bad company. Those who defend shows upon the plea of morality, would scorn to admit their managers into their own society. While I do not say that no man of good morals has ever attended shows, I do say that bad people invariably have a striking passion for attending them; and where the wicked all love to go, the Christian ought never to go. The dog that gnaws a bone, pays for it in barking at a thief; but what good do showmen and concert singers leave behind them? Did virtue ever gain any valuable accession from their performances? If so, why do not the actors learn the valuable lesson they so zealously teach? It is a poor reform that does not better its advocates. If shows are so thoroughly moral, why does it happen that Christian men and women are never engaged in that enterprise? “By their fruits ye shall know them.” Yes, their trade is comical buffoonery, the trade of exciting the mirth of men and women. Lofty enterprise! No one feels the need of them before they come; and when they leave, the only effects are, witty boys, aping apprentices, and empty pocket-books. If shows are conducive of virtue and holiness (and, if not, they should be left alone), why do they attract so many from the dram-shop, so many of the worldly-minded, and so few from the chosen of God? Look upon this question in whatever light you choose, these places of stimulation cannot bear the test of close scrutiny. They may be proper for those who are seeking the pleasures of the world, but there is not a doubt in my mind, that S. D. Adventists should have nothing to do with them. A strong man might not be contaminated by attending once; but his example might lead many weaker ones to go, to whom this would be the first step toward their ruin. Millions to-day are empty in purse, character and godliness, and empty of hope, from having “just attended a show once, to see what was to be seen.” Every downfall has its first step to be taken; step by step we are led on, the last step is taken, and we are dashed down the precipice and crushed to atoms. Doubtless each entertainment will set forth some claim, be it never so small, for the patronage of Christians; and not unfrequently do they gain the very object for which the pretension is made. These are but garlands which cover the knife with which they will stab. The sheath never does harm; it is the sword that cuts. Let each remember that he carries, by nature, a breast of passions just such as bad men have; and, be we never so firm, temptation can awake them, wicked men can influence them; they know the road, they can open the door and elope with each passion. There is but one surety against them: Barr the window! bolt the door! and never yield a hair to these fashionable corrupters! Oh! there is more than magic in temptation! When it bears down upon the heart; when it wreaths a thousand fantastic forms of delusion around our pathway, by a single bound of the imagination, one sudden rush of the capricious heart, the vows and determinations of years may be prostrated in a moment, the heart entered by the enemy, we no longer able to boast of holiness and consecration to God, and every holy principle readily seized and given to ravishment and ruin. Oh! let us avoid these places of amusement, and thus shun their temptation to wrong. There is no such thing at the present day as a moral, traveling show. We might as well speak of good corrupters, a mild and pleasant murder, a grateful cholera, or a pious devil. Nothing will cause us to partake so much of the spirit of the world, as to attend shows and concerts. They must be shunned. We must serve God from principle. We must have fixed principles concerning everything that is dangerous. We ought to be on the safe side; and surely there is safety in not attending them. Finally, let us have iron principles concerning all shows; and the best one I know is, LEAVE THEM ALONE. The great test should always be, would Jesus Christ attend if he were personally on earth? All, and especially the young, need recreation; but let us not seek it by attending shows. Oh blessed Saviour! let thy service be my unending recreation, thy presence my everlasting delight! Let us serve God, let us live, let us overcome, let us do all we do, from principles drawn from the blessed word of God; and soon, oh! soon, we shall live on Canaan’s fair shore. BURTON S. BARNES.
Battle Creek, Mich., April 19. 1867.