Bernard Shaw says: “I am ready to admit that after contemplating the world and human nature for nearly sixty years, I see no way out of the world’s misery but the way which would have been found by Christ’s will if He had undertaken the work of a practical statesman.”
WE STAND between two worlds,—one dead, the other hardly born; and our fate is chaos for a generation.” Thus declares Will Durant in his book, “The Mansions of Philosophy,” with perhaps more truth than he realized; and nowhere is this chaos more evident than in the general cultural standards accepted by the vast majority of people. It must be allowed as an axiom of spiritual life that a religion that is not productive of high cultural standards is lacking in some very fundamental feature. A shallow religious experience is very readily reflected in the cultural and aesthetic interests of man.
Much as we would like to believe otherwise, the fact remains that Christian refinement and elevation of thought and conduct in this day are practically unsought by the masses. Let those who are happily sheltered from the crudities of life suffer no delusions in this respect. We have heard much, particularly from a certain group of swivel-chair preachers, about this being an intensely religious age. Close contact with the masses does not bear out such a conclusion. In fact, we no longer wonder about the Saviour’s question as to whether He would find faith on the earth at His return. Cultural superiority is not at a premium, and the so-called highbrow is a lonely person, shunned by the crowd.
ATTACK ON NERVES
A great restlessness has gripped every phase of man’s thought and activity, with a consequent utter confusion of values. Security is now a word to conjure with; but it is only a word. Ideas have not kept pace with material advancement. Mass production, both spiritual and industrial, is the order of the day, but the resulting leisure simply means more dances, more movies, more games, and more newspapers. In addition, it seems as if almost all modern paths of interest and effort converge on the very citadel of man’s physical and intellectual being,—the nerve system. Sex magazines and novels, the automobile, the great city, high-pressure business and industry, economic uncertainty, and movies fit only for morons, all contrive to waste his nervous energies. Neither is a jazz-saturated brain capable of functioning smoothly enough for modern demands or of withstanding any sustained effort. Good music is an appeal to the head through the heart; jazz is an appeal direct to the nerves. What can we expect in the way of religious leadership from the millions of laborers and business men and women and society parasites who seek relief from a drab existence in a giddy whirl of jazz, bridge parties, cocktails, and prize fights? Nothing.
With the advent of the radio, it was hoped that we should escape the disgusting banalities of the movies, but it was only a partial escape. True it is, that it is possible, generally, after much dial turning, to tune in on something that will not offend the intelligence or taste; but one wonders whether the average radio program is a fair indication of the mental acuteness of the American public. We hope not.
The world-famous electrical wizard, Thomas A. Edison, congratulating Arthur O. Williams, Jr., of Rhode Island, who won the Thomas A. Edison scholarship for 1930 with a general average of 91.1 and a rating of 92.7 in the technical subjects.
What, indeed, can be said for a generation that pays two million dollars to watch two men batter each other into masses of bloody flesh; that worships a movie star while at the same time it buries a college president with scarcely a comment; that revels in wild west and risqué society movies; that makes a salacious novel a best seller; that kills twenty millions of its best in the most brutal of wars? The Master gave utterance to much of what might be said when He told the disciples that “as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:37.
We do not wish to appear unduly pessimistic, but the fact is that it is impossible for a man to retain his honesty and self-respect under present world conditions without being somewhat critical. We are in good company in sensing the necessity of a reformation. President Hoover, in his Inaugural Address, said: “We are confronted with a national crisis of the first degree. We are suffering, not from an ephemeral crime wave, but from a subsidence of our foundations.” And it is no mere coincidence that the confession magazines, Freudian psychology, the breakdown of the family, and the lowered cultural standards have simultaneously poured their vile floods upon us. They are interrelated with the great problem of crime and sin in general, and they need the same remedy,—a judgment and the coming of the Lord Jesus.
Moreover, we are not unaware of the tremendous advances that have been made during the last few decades in material and humanitarian affairs; but here, again, values are confused. Does a man’s worth consist in the things that he has? And is a civilization to be measured by the amount of gasoline it can consume, or even by the number of hospitals it has built? Shall we continue to be tricked into believing that we are religious, by professional pep-mongers who are forever dinning into our ears that weThreehave a national income of ninety billion dollars and that we have attained the highest standard of living ever known to man? What does that have to do with religion or refinement? Four hundred million dollars was spent in American beauty parlors in 1928. What does that have to do with the beauty of the heart? For purposes of government—Federal, state, and local—the United States spends eleven billion dollars annually, and of the three billions allotted to the Federal government, four fifths go to warfare, past and future. What of it? How much of that vast sum leads to the growth of the Christian virtues in the nation? Yes, and $500,000,000 is spent annually by the churches, but what of that? The Son of man had not where to lay His head. And let us not forget that while half a billion goes into the churches, one billion goes for candy and two billions into the theaters.
A DECISION MUST BE MADE
These cultural aberrations we have mentioned are but the outward evidences of inward confusion. Every age has had its calamity howlers, who, without clear vision of the eternal purposes of God, have periodically proclaimed the failure of the church and the wickedness of their generation. We disclaim any sympathy with such. But here is a situation unprecedented in the history of mankind, and accumulated experience proves inadequate to solve the problems that have insinuated themselves into every phase of human activity. Turn where he will, man is confronted by vital issues that must be clarified if peace is to ensue.
The time is ripe for a clear-cut decision to be made by the church and all earnest Christian people. “I am ready to admit,” says Bernard Shaw, “that after contemplating the world and human nature for nearly sixty years, I see no way out of the world’s misery but the way which would have been found by Christ’s will if He had undertaken the work of a practical statesman.” For once, the cynic is right, for he is but paraphrasing Scripture. There is only one remedy for perversity, vice, stupidity, suffering, uncertainty, selfishness, and death. “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” “And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” 1 Peter 5:6, 4.
And thus the plotting and the counter-plotting go on. Europe seems to be the same old Europe, always paying for the last war and getting ready for the next. And in such fashion will the world go on until that happy day when the Prince of Peace shall be revealed in the clouds of heaven. The idealists will talk of peace and the realists will prepare for war until He comes with power and for all will end war by ending those who make war. Our hearts long for the peace the coming King will bring. Let us hasten His coming by fulfilling the gospel commission.
