Helping after Conversion.
THE first aim of all true and faithful Christian work should be to bring souls to Christ, and yet the whole duty of the church to souls is not discharged when this is done. They are then to be watched over with warm, nourishing love, wisely guided through the perils of inexperience, trained in the duties of their new life, and built up in Christian character. When young people are pressed to make a public confession and unite with the church, one of the arguments used is their need of Christian sympathy, and that help which comes from the mutual association of Christian people. They are assured that the church will be to them a pillar of strength; that the love and cheer of its members will be to them a source of continual inspiration. When they are admitted to the communion, a pledge is given to them of affection, interest, sympathy, and care on the part of all the members. They are told in fervid words that they are now members of the family, and may depend upon receiving help at every point. The church will be to them a cherishing mother. If they are weak, she will put her own strength underneath them. If they have sorrow, she will come with comfort. If they are in sore temptation, she will shield them. If they fall, she will lift them up, and without chiding restore them. All this is very encouraging. The young Christian, trembling in his weakness, is strangely thrilled and uplifted as he listens to such earnest pledges. Life will not be hard, beneath whatever cross, in whatever struggle, with such strong and loving support. With the promise of all this sustaining tenderness circling about his weakness, he feels sure that he can be true and faithful as a Christian. Relying upon these loving pledges, he enters the church with glowing hope and enthusiastic zeal. How much of all this pledged sympathy and help does he receive? When his struggles begin, how many brotherly souls draw up close about him to strengthen him by their words and acts of cheer? If he falls under temptation, how many of those who were pledged to stand by him and help him to rise again, come with warm love and strong hands to fulfill their promise? If adversity overtakes him, how much does he realize of the ideal blessedness of Christian brotherhood? No doubt there are churches in which this covenant made with young Christians is in a large measure fulfilled; but is it so in ordinary cases? Far more frequently they are left to struggle alone. The very persons who so eagerly sought their conversion consider their responsibility at an end when they see them received into the church. Here is an experience in illustration: "When I first entered the class," said a young man, "my teacher manifested the deepest interest in me. I was not a Christian, and he let no fitting occasion pass without saying a word to me about personal religion. He wrote me earnest letters. He frequently came to see me. He would often walk home with me from the class. As each communion season drew near, he would urge me to settle the question, and unite with the church. At last I yielded my heart to Christ, and my teacher was very happy. The day I made a public confession, his heart seemed overflowing with love and joy. But from that day his attentions to me ceased. He appeared to consider his work for me finished. He called no more, wrote me no more letters, never asked me how I was getting along, said nothing to me about my new life. He has always been kind and courteous, but he has taken no apparent interest in my welfare as a young Christian. I have had many perplexities and struggles since then, in which I would have given anything for this help, but I looked in vain for aid." This is a true experience. It is easy to see where this teacher failed; he considered his work and responsibility ended when his pupil was led to give himself to Christ. The result shows also how sorely disappointed the young Christian was when the teacher's hopeful interest was withdrawn, and it shows in what peril this withdrawal left him. This is no rare case. There are thousands who have precisely similar experience. The interest in them ceases at the gate of the church. While they are outside they find love and sympathy, and tender regard, but when they pass inside they find a strange absence of the very things they specially expected. The beautiful words about brotherhood, and the promises of help and cheer, really seem to mean nothing when the time comes to prove their genuineness in a practical way. Yet any young Christian has a right to expect that all the pledges made to him when he unites with the church shall be faithfully kept. The church ought never to break covenant with her children. Besides, it is her very office to be a cherishing mother to all her members. The young Christian should not merely be pressed to enter and then welcomed at the door, but should receive encouragement, love, and fresh impulse at every step. The strong should help the weak. The secure should reach out a hand to the imperiled. The rejoicing should share their cup of gladness with the sad and sorrowing. Those who have gone over the hard places should assist younger souls in passing through similar experiences. Next to that of the home, the church tie should be the closest on the earth. When a number of God's children are associated together in the same church, no guild or fraternity on the earth should be so closely knit as that society, and compose so real a brotherhood. It should be in the truest sense a mutual help association. Each member should know that if he is sick he will receive such ministration of kindness as he may need; that if he is in any trouble he will not fail of sympathy and aid; that if sorrow enters his home he will have the best comfort which Christian friendship can bring; that if he falls under sore stress of any kind, he will not be left to sink beneath his burden, but will find brotherly hands outstretched to him.—S. S. Times.