Christ came “to seek and to save that which was lost.” This implies an effort on his part to find those who were sick of this life of sin, and lead them to a life of purity and holiness. To this end, he “went about doing good.” He was no recluse. He mingled so freely with his fellow men, and so often accepted their hospitality, that he was called “a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.” Yet all this while, he was about his “Father’s business,” seeking to save humanity; and never for one moment did he lower the standard of his life to that of the world around him. With the tenderest sympathy and love, he ministered to the physical wants of the multitude, while with the greatest tact he broke to them the bread of life.
We not only have the example of Christ before us as a guide to direct us in our association with our fellow men, but we have direct instruction in regard to our intercourse with them. When he sent forth the twelve apostles, he told them to minister to the physical and spiritual wants of the people as freely as they had been ministered unto, but cautioned them to be “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves,” because they were “as sheep in the midst of wolves.”
He has given to every man his work; and as the Father sent him into the world, so also has he sent us into the world, not to live in obscurity, but to be the light of the world, a city set on a hill, which can not be hid. When the King shall say to those on his left hand, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels,” he will not accuse them of any flagrant crimes, but simply of neglect of duty, giving as the reason of their rejection: “For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not;” and adding: “Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.”
Sins of Omission
It has been said that more individuals will be condemned for sins of omission than for sins of commission, and is there not great danger that this will be the case with us as a people? Are we who claim to have the last message of mercy to a fallen world doing all that we can to bring the light of the truth before others? How many of the rank and file of our people are so engrossed in business and home cares that they have no time to attend to social duties, to show to their neighbors that Christ dwells in them, and, like him, they are interested in the welfare of those around them?
Some years ago, as we entered a railway carriage at a station where one of our largest churches is located, a gentleman on the train said that he formerly resided at that place, and began at once to inquire for the Seventh-day Adventists, and the progress of their work. He seemed interested in the prosperity of their institutions, offered no criticism upon their religious views, but said they were “the most clannish people” that he had ever known. In proof of this assertion, he gave the fact that he “was sick a whole year,” while living among them, and only three members of the church where he was located ever called upon him.
“Pure Religion” Is “to Visit”
The apostle James tells us that “pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” Here is a work in which every one can have a part. Weary mothers and tired home-keepers, whose lives are circumscribed by the four walls in which you live, and who long for a wider field of usefulness, an open door is before you. Call upon your neighbors who are in affliction; alleviate their suffering so far as possible; show them that you sympathize with them; tell them of the love of Christ, that he does not afflict willingly, but for our profit; and point them to the joy of the Christian’s hope.
When you have become acquainted with your neighbors, have won their confidence, have shown them by your life that there is a reality in your religion unknown to them, they will desire to learn why you entertain such peculiar religious views. Do not, even then, attempt to bring unpopular truth before them without careful thought and earnest prayer that you may present it in an acceptable manner. Much may be learned by studying the discourses of Christ and the apostles, and noticing the tact which they exercised in adapting the truth to the minds of their hearers.
How to Present the Truth
We are first to sanctify the Lord God in our hearts, and then be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh us a reason of the hope that is in us; but it is to be given with meekness and fear, not with any spirit of controversy or assumption. While our object should be to draw those around us to Christ and his truth, great care should be taken that we do not drive them from it by giving prominence to points of doctrine that they are not prepared to receive.
Our views upon the questions of temperance, health, dress, and social purity reforms, furnish topics which, if properly introduced, will not arouse prejudice, but will create confidence in our work, and prepare the way for other views to be received with favor. The love of Christ, his sacrifice for us, the privilege he grants fallen humanity of laboring together with him, are inexhaustible themes that can not fail to interest all who are subjects of his mercy. Go to your neighbors with your heart filled with this love, and their hearts will open to receive you.
“There are many who have no desire to become acquainted with their unbelieving neighbors, and those with whom they come in contact; and they do not feel it their duty to overcome this reluctance. . . . They should remember that they must meet these very men and women in the Judgment.”
I Have No Time
Do we hear some busy housewife say, “I have no time for this work”? Then there is need of a temperance reform on our part, which very likely may be brought about by a dress reform, and perhaps by a reform in cookery. Let our adorning not be “that outward adorning.” Let us dress plainly, live simply, and take time to sit at the feet of Jesus, and enjoy the rest that communion with him brings to the weary soul. Then, with a light heart we may go to our neighbors, and give them the benefit of our experience.