A Living Church the Only Hope of Success.
THE following article was published in the Sabbath Recorder of Dec. 22, 1870, under the title of “Suggestions;” and they are suggestions which we deem of vital importance, and hence lay them before the readers of the REVIEW. It is written from a S. D. Baptist standpoint, but is easily adapted to the longitude of S. D. Adventists. We commend it to the careful consideration of all our churches. Especially let these truths become stamped indelibly in the mind, that a spiritual, harmonious, Sabbath-keeping church, is the most effective exponent of the principles of the truth; and that Sabbath-keepers should be, and, if they expect to succeed in their work, must be, “the best Christian people in the country.” That as a people we might do more than we are doing for the dissemination of Sabbath truth, few will deny. That lecturing and the circulation of the printed page are indispensable agencies in such work, all will probably admit. There is some danger, however, that in our appreciation of these facts, we overlook features of the situation equally important. In calling attention to some of these, let nothing be interpreted as written in a spirit of antagonism to that concerning which all are agreed. A spiritual, harmonious, Seventh-day Baptist church is the most effective exponent of Seventh-day Baptist principles. The mere existence of such a body in any community is a fact, the significance of which is not to be forgotten. Such an organization is verily a city set upon a hill, whose light cannot be hid. No argument for the Sabbath is so convincing. They, whose faithfulness is instrumental in securing and maintaining such a condition, are doing a valiant service for the Sabbath. We might send men into every county in the Union to preach upon the subject, and yet make no real advancement, if in our churches we failed to sustain the cause of vital piety. Aggressive effort is only valuable when it is the result of internal power and fervency. Otherwise it is mere French bluster. It is Prussian discipline at home that gives Prussian victories abroad. The work of the former is more quiet, less interesting, more irksome, but not less important, than that of the latter. If all the membership of our churches were in first-rate working condition, we could soon take the country for the Sabbath. To secure the nearest practicable realization of this ideal condition, is the first requisite. The elements of all real power must be found in the churches, and laboriously evolved. If years pass while the work is being done, let them go, but let the work be done. We may talk and plan in our annual meetings, yet such work, however important, is of no consequence compared with the work to be performed in the churches. To open up new fields is a privilege to be accepted with joy. To retain the old ones is an imperative duty. There is no argument against Sabbatarianism so hard to meet, as that which is presented by a decaying church, unless it be that which is sounded forth from the grave of a buried one. The mere existence of a live Seventh-day Baptist church is a troublesome fact to Sunday-keepers around it, constantly challenging attention, provoking inquiry, requiring careful and sometimes embarrassing explanations. It places them constantly on the defensive, within and without. The influence of a Seventh-day Baptist church is, of necessity, more extensive than that of other churches of similar size and resources in its vicinity. Take the Pawcatuck church for an illustration. From its location, its business relations, its places of summer resort, it happens that few places of its size are so extensively known as is Westerly. And wherever it is known, it is notorious as the “place of two Sundays.” Of the hundreds of strangers who visit it yearly for business or pleasure, many attend the services of the Sabbath from motives of interest or curiosity, and to a great extent form their ideas of the denomination from what they see or hear; while nearly all, if they do not attend services, have the subject forced upon their attention. The worshipers quietly wending their way to the house of God, are preaching, perhaps unconsciously, the Sabbath, as they go. The bell that summons them, melodiously proclaims the seventh day of rest. The driving of carts, the clatter of machinery, the screaming of whistles, on Sunday, noisily announce it a day in which to obey the command for the six days of labor. The trains, passing through the place hour by hour, bear passengers, who, at the announcement of the station, make frequent inquiries concerning Seventh-day Baptists, whose presence is suggested by the name. A Sabbath tract afterward placed in their hands is likely to find readers. Of the printing presses carried from their places of manufacture in our midst to various places in nearly every State, almost every one is quite likely to print, among its first impressions, an article concerning Westerly, in which Seventh-day Baptists are sure to have their notice. What is true of Westerly, applies to a certain extent to all our churches. We cannot avoid preaching the Sabbath, if we would. We are doing it continually. But how much stronger and more effective would this preaching be, if we were as noted for our piety, as we are for our peculiarity of doctrine, and of practice! One of the most forcible arguments ever used against us as a people is, that our average Christian life and spiritual power are not above, or beyond, those of other Christians. Seventh-day Baptists ought to be the best Christian people in the country. To be greatly successful, they must be; for the Sabbath doctrine will be judged by its apparent fruits. Controversial effort in the locality of a church will be of little avail, unless the church itself is in such good working order that its religious power in the community is recognized as almost irresistible. Whoever, then, is laboring faithfully, persistently, even though quietly, to bring about this condition, whether he be layman or preacher, is working intelligently and efficiently for the promulgation of Sabbath truth. He who preaches Christ most faithfully, is doing most for the Sabbath, whether he make the preaching of the fourth commandment a specialty or not. And here it may not be out of place to suggest that the real friends of the Sabbath, and of the Sabbath Tract Society, cannot afford the insinuation that those who see the primary importance of this branch of the work, and humbly yet rejoicingly accept the responsibility connected with such apprehension, are less sincere or less earnest in their devotion to the truth than are those whose position, perceptions, inclinations, lead them into another department of labor in behalf of the common cause. Denominational effort must utterly fail, unless there be hopeful, self-denying, indefatigable labor in the churches. Let the fountains fail, and the streams that are supplied by them must soon disappear. Nor can we afford to consider that any, whose judgment may not lead them to coincide with every suggestion, or plan, or line of financial policy proposed, are not honestly and heartily desirous of the success of a cause that has received their sacrifices. Next to the necessity of being united to Christ, is the need of union with each other. United, we may succeed; divided, we cannot. Practically, he is the greatest enemy of the Sabbath, who sows the seeds of personal prejudices and sectional jealousies, or who seeks to carry a point for personal or partisan purposes, in the church, or in the denomination.