Reflections by the Way by James White

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Oct 7, 1875

Reflections by the Way.

By James White

(Copied from the Review and Herald.)

We are now nearing the Rocky Mountains. We have been on the Union Pacific from Omaha twenty-four hours, and in two hours our train is due at Cheyenne, the capital of Wyoming. Thus far, our journey has been very pleasant. There is no dust, by reason of recent rains, neither is there excess of heat or cold. And what time has not been spent in sleeping, which has been fully one-half since we left Battle Creek in consequence of being short of time for sleep the ten days previous, we have occupied in reflecting upon the

WANTS OF THE CAUSE.

During the past six months, our labors have extended from the Pacific to the Atlantic, as far north as Minnesota and Maine, and as far south as Missouri and Southern Illinois. And it is apparent that the greatest want of the cause is men of God, to preach the word, and labor for the conversion of men and women to Christ and the truth. The destitution of real laborers among us as a people is very great. In some of our Conferences credentials are given year after year to men who have been doing next to nothing, and very few young men are entering the work. This course of things goes too far toward giving the impression that it is a small thing to fill the ministry of the last message, and that but little should be expected of those who enter upon it. These things are hindering young men of moral worth and energy, and are against us.

And it is a painful fact that we as a people have been letting some of the best talent slip through our fingers. For want of the very best school in the land, which by the help of God the Battle Creek College shall be, not a few of our young people have patronized other schools where they have lost interest in the present truth and to-day are hardly within our reach. Others, who should now be in the ministry, or preparing for it, or be connected with some working department of the cause, have left their homes to seek positions in the world, and, to say the least of many of them, they are lost to the cause at present.

And what gives this matter a most painful aspect is that these are generally the most enterprising and talented of our youth, the very ones the Lord wants in his cause. The fact is well-nigh heart-rending that in the older fields, such as New England and New York, the general gatherings at our camp-meetings are made up of persons of middle and advanced ages, while the young, in whom we should hope for the future, yield to the claims of this world.

The more promising young ladies among our people are pressed to give their hands in marriage at an early age, and many of them are overwhelmed with the cares and toils of household duties before they have matured real womanhood. And these, who might be laborers and shining lights to the world, are nearly lost to the cause, destined to spend the little time of probation left them in the perpetual rounds of the narrow home. And many of our young men marry before they have any well-defined plans for the future—before they have proved themselves capable of filling any important position; and later sometimes find themselves disappointed in choice, and thereby embarrassed and hindered from preparing themselves to fill important positions in the cause. Some of these, after throwing away five or more years of the best of life, seek the ministry with a helpless family on their hands. Under these circumstances it is exceedingly hard for them to become fullgrown ministers. Indeed, if the church ventures to give them encouragement, a great and doubtful burden is sometimes taken.

The world with its deceptive power is holding our people, young and old, back from the duties of the present hour. It can hardly be expected that our young people will consecrate themselves to the Lord, give up the world, and devote their lives to the work of God, while their parents still hold their worn energies in devotion to the interests of this life to such a degree as to deprive themselves of many of the means of grace. What is wanted, and what must be in order for the cause to move forward as would please God, is a general turning to the Lord by repentance, confession, and a spirit of sacrifice.

OUR SCHOOL.

There is no want of means among our people to carry forward the several enterprises at this time. Hundreds of men among us have grown wealthy since they embraced the doctrines of S. D. Adventists. And there are no good reasons why the debt still remaining on our College should not be lifted, and ten thousand dollars more raised before New-Years, to purchase much needed apparatus, and to give free tuition to those young men who should be urged to enter the ministry, but are hindered for want of means. Our people are making a terrible mistake in relation to our school. That debt must be lifted. Our school must possess all real advantages and be the best in our country. Our most promising young men and women from the Atlantic to the Pacific should be induced to fill our College rooms, and hastened to active service in the cause of God. We are losing time in this matter. While our people are sleeping over it, Satan is stealing a march upon us, and is securing to himself and the world precious talent which should be sanctified to the cause of Christ.

Neither is there want of ability among the S. D. Adventists. From the very nature of our specific message, based upon the prophetic word and the moral code, it is an appeal to the moral and the intellectual, and necessarily develops the higher order of mind and talent. Fortunately we have not our share of the superficial and dashy; while our ranks are largely made up of people of conscientious, reasoning, God-fearing minds which need urging to their proper position. That a large proportion of our male membership are first-class mechanics is remarkable. This may be accounted for in the perfection with which the great doctrines pertaining to life and salvation harmonize as taught by our people.

Again, the children of our people are, or should be, separated from the corrupting influences of this fast age, and their minds are comparatively free from that false and feverish excitement which is dwarfing and belittling the intellect of those who are carried away by the follies of our time. God save and bless our dear youth! At school they excel because in addition to a good mental inheritance they are in a healthy mental condition to attend to, and make rapid progress in their studies.

And again, the priceless doctrine of Christian temperance, so fully diffused among our people, is of the highest physical, and, consequently, mental, benefit to our young people. Their parents rejoice in the great physical improvement, the mental clearness, and buoyancy of spirit, obtained by adopting improved habits of life. How much greater benefits may be realized on youthful constitutions and minds! With these advantages our young people should and will excel. It is really a disgrace to our people to do a second-class job at anything. God and his cause call for our best talent, and demand immediate, energetic action of all our people. We have beat the world in publishing, and a little time will show that we can equally excel in health institutions and schools.

It is of no use to talk to us of accomplishing the great work demanded of our people with second-class talent in a corner. May the spirit of still broader plans be diffused among the friends of the cause everywhere, and may energetic, united action follow. We shall be glad to hear from the presidents of our State Conferences, and other interested persons, relative to the foregoing, at Oakland, Cal. As our train shall speed its way to the Pacific, we shall endeavor to continue our train of reflections for other numbers of the Review. We close with a few words relative to

GOSSIP AND SLANDER.

People will talk. And from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Some hearts are so full of envy and bitterness that they would burst unless they could let off steam. In such cases the organs of speech constitute their safety valve. Poor creatures, let them talk. But such should not be allowed in the church of Christ, until the heart becomes converted and the tongue sanctified.

Church organization is for at least a threefold purpose: first, to secure co-operation and mutual benefit; secondly, to prevent impositions; and, thirdly, to execute that discipline necessary to the purity of the church. The first two benefits are secured to S. D. Adventists in their simple and Scriptural organization. But our people fail in the third.

True discipline is greatly neglected in many of our churches. So far as discipline partakes of the nature of law, penalty must exist. But law without penalty is void. Therefore, any acting association without the observance of law, or rule, becomes a mob. This mob spirit prevails in gossip and slander in some of our churches. But investigation and wholesome rebuke have wilted and withered it as a frozen tomato vine wilts and withers in the heat of the sun. Certain friends of the cause, who stand at the head of matters and things at Battle Creek, are under a vow to each other and to God to stand for the right, and expose this lawless spirit that would corrupt the moral and religious atmosphere at head-quarters. We covet a humble place with them.

Of course, this spirit will attack our Washington. No loyal city was fortified and guarded during the American civil war, as was the seat of our general government. Had Washington been no better fortified and guarded than other cities of the loyal North, she would have been the object of successful confederate attack. And how certain will the dragon, who was to make war with those who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ, hurl his poisonous missiles into our head-quarters. The time has fully come to arouse to the situation.

Our leading men must be men who love mercy, deal justly, and walk humbly with God. And our people must have confidence in such men, in order for the cause to move forward. No official in the church, or one managing in any of our institutions, should object to the most careful investigations of his course and management. If he is faithful and true he will covet this. And there is a way to come at this without the assistance of the vulgar ignorance of gossip, or the malice of slander. Wherever doubt exists as to the management of an official, there should be a call for investigation by persons appointed at the session of our General Conference, and the report be made officially. This should be decisive with all who regard that Conference as the highest earthly authority of our people.

J. W.