EVIDENCES OF SPIRITUAL DEARTH IN THE CHURCH.
By W. N. G.
The spiritual declension of the church is always a signal for efforts to enforce religion by civil law. The past decade has been noted for efforts of this kind, and the tendency is fast increasing. Many people refuse to acknowledge that these efforts are evidence of such declension, but there is no denying the fact that the appeals of religious people to the civil law are coincident with many other marked evidences of spiritual dearth in the church. These evidences are particularly noticeable in ways and means for raising money for church purposes. Here is an instance cited by the New York Journal of the 9th inst:— “Fifty bare feet of young women protruding under a curtain were auctioned off in pairs Friday night for the benefit of the Bath Beach M. E. Church. The auction took place at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Peter C. Moore, on Benson Avenue and Bay Twenty-second Street.
“It was called a Trilby party.
“The bidders and buyers were young men of the church. The first bid for a pair of feet was 50 cents, but these were ‘homely.’ In the center of the row was one pair that the young men went into ecstasies over, and the bidding was lively. This particular pair was the property of one of the most active of the church workers, tho no one in front of the curtain, except Mr. Moore, who acted as auctioneer, knew who the fair owner was.
“Each toe on this young woman's feet was encircled with a ring or piece of ribbon. The offer was something fabulous, considering that the purchaser could not take away the feet nor the decorations upon them. But every purchaser of feet was privileged to take the young woman owner out to supper, which he had also the pleasure of paying for.”
The man at whose house the “entertainment” was held is a deacon of the church. The pastor, be it said to his credit, was much opposed to the innovation, and, as might have been expected, there is a warm discussion of the affair, with some prospect of a division of the congregation. This church entertainment mania has been run to such an extreme degree of folly that it is causing alarm even in some of the churches that have been freely indulging it. But a real cause of further alarm lies in the fact that many who see the falling off of deep spiritual interest in the churches, and its consequent effect upon the world, are prone to seek a remedy in various “reform” schemes at the hands of Congress, State Legislatures, and municipal councils. There is but one true means of reform in the church, and that is to turn to the Lord, and seek the counsel of his Word. The “saints” that are recognized in the Scriptures are those who “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14:12. And these must do so voluntarily, not under the compulsion or restraint of any human authority. W. N. G.