p. 21 | Christ, the Reformer by S. B. H.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 8, 1912

“Christ, the Reformer.”

By S. B. H.

The following editorial from the Marion (Ohio) Daily Star, under the heading “Christ, the Reformer,” Seeks the Individual,” is worth reproducing:—

“It is to be regretted that Rev. Mr. King, of Trinity Baptist Church, could not have preached his morning sermon of last Sunday to all of Marion; nay, more, such a sermon should be thundered throughout the length and breadth of the land. It is a bit of the convincing gospel that the whole country needs.

“Rev. Mr. King had for his theme “Christ, the Reformer,” and the central, dominant thought was that reformation must reach the individual. The pulpit application, of course, is that the saving grace of Jesus Christ in the heart is the key to all reformation. A Christian world will not dispute, it can not; but whether or not one accepts Christianity, he must accept the logic of a better order with any people beginning in the individuals that make up that people.

“The world needs more of such convincing sermons. We need more converts to righteousness, and less futile efforts to legislate everybody into a righteous state. We need more convincing, and less attempt to coerce by law.

“It has always struck us that it was a confession of weakness that the great and good Christian religion never deserved, to confess an inability to reach men through its teaching, and seek to reform them by legislation. It has detracted from the influence of the church. But upon reflection, the weakness is not of the church; it is the ineffectiveness of the ministry. The American people are not drifting from the influence of the church, but the pulpit has too often failed to convince and carry the needed conviction. The great truth has never failed; the failure is in its utterance. Not enough preaching has stirred the individual conscience.

“The truth is that the uplifting, helpful, moralizing influence of Christian teaching has been too much neglected, while accomplishment has been sought in legislation. The force of moral law has been ignored in seeking cure-alls in statutory law enacted by men. There has been more concentration on civic correction than moral redemption; and as Rev. Mr. King so forcefully pointed out, the latter must come first, and must have its beginning in the individual heart.

“Sermons like this of Rev. Mr. King at Trinity Church are more than devotional pabulum to his congregation. They stir thought and conscience and a new consecration, and the effects reach beyond congregational and denominational lines. And more men and women, with righteousness in their hearts, will soon make Marion a fairer and better city, no matter what the statutes require, no matter who is elected president or what goes into the new constitution, no matter whether initiative and referendum and recall prevail.”

S. B. H.