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Are You Afraid of Leprosy?

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 21, 1916

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 63.

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Are You Afraid of Leprosy?

By Meade MacGuire

MEADE MACGUIRE
Of all the diseases to which humanity is heir, there seems to be none which arouses such an instinctive horror in our minds as leprosy. We are told by physicians in these modern times that leprosy is not contagious, and that our fear of it and our aversion to its victim are to a great extent superstitious; still, when a case appears here in our land, the poor creature is shunned and feared as a fugitive and almost as a criminal. After all, this can hardly be wondered at when one reads the description of a case of real leprosy.
Thompson says: “The ‘scab’ comes on by degrees in different parts of the body; the hair falls from the head and eyebrows; the nails loosen, decay, and drop off; joint after joint of the fingers and toes shrink up and slowly fall away. The gums are absorbed, and the teeth disappear. The nose, the eyes, the tongue, and the palate are slowly consumed.”
How could any one help shrinking from the unfortunate victim of such a dreadful malady? But let us consider a very striking statement found in “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI, page 217: “We should shun debt as we should shun the leprosy.”
Think for a moment what it would mean to us as individuals, and as a people, if we really had that instinctive horror of debt that we have of contact with the dread disease—leprosy. True the contracting of debt is the way of the world; but the world is wrong, it has lost its way financially and economically as well as morally.
God has plainly told us his way,—“Owe no man anything, but to love one another.” Why, in the face of this positive command, do we feel free, individually or collectively, to plunge deeply into debt, only to groan under the burden of financial perplexities.
While some do not think the methods of that mighty man of faith, George Müller, are practicable for us to follow in our work, we certainly may learn some valuable lessons from him. When his institution was first established, he laid down several principles which were to govern its policy. Among them were the following:—
“4. We reject altogether the help of unbelievers in managing, or carrying on, the affairs of the institution (2 Cor. 6: 14-18).
“5. We intend never to enlarge the field of labor by contracting debts (Rom. 13: 8), and afterward appealing to the church of Christ for help; because this we consider to be opposed both to the letter and the spirit of the New Testament; but in secret prayer, God helping us, we shall carry the wants of the institution to the Lord, and act according to the means that God shall give.
“6. We do not mean to reckon the success of the institution by the amount of money given, or the number of Bibles distributed, etc., but by the Lord’s blessing upon the work (Zech. 4: 6); and we expect this in the proportion in which he shall help us to wait upon him in prayer.”
God so honored the faithfulness of his servant and the principles for which he stood that he was able to carry on an immense work of Bible and tract distribution, assistance to foreign missionaries, and support of orphans. During his whole life, great institutions were maintained and enterprises carried on for which he was wholly responsible financially, yet he never incurred one dollar of debt, but through prayer and waiting upon God he was enabled to go forward with confidence, the Lord providing upwards of seven million dollars for his use.
Brethren, is there not altogether too much laxity in the way we manage our personal affairs? and is this not one reason why our cause suffers from its burden of debt? It is not so important to remedy the condition as to cure the disease. God says to his children, “Owe no man anything, but to love one another.” “We should shun debt as we would shun the leprosy.” Let us settle down upon these principles, and then God will help us to lift our present burdens, and we can turn our strength and means to saving perishing souls.