p. 184 | CHARITY by George C. Tenney

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 23, 1888

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 14, No. 12.

CHARITY.

By George C. Tenney

If ever a beautiful word has been misused and abused, this one has. Etymologically it means high esteem or affection. It is defined to be, "That disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow-men, and to do them good; love; benevolence; good-will." In its use in the New Testament, it is invariably taken from the word agapē, of which the only signification is "love; as, the love of God to man." And the Revised Version recognizes this fact by always calling it "love."

In the common use of the word, it has come to have different meanings, more or less remote from the true. The worst perversion of the term is in the way it is made to apply to wrong principles or practices. And this perversion claims for its authority a false interpretation of those familiar words of Peter, "Charity shall cover the multitude of sins." It becomes in the popular sense little else than a hypocritical covering for that which is evil; a specious excuse for the wrong-doer, based upon no valid reason whatever, except a supposed obligation to look with favor upon the motives and deeds of others, no matter how erratic they may be. And he who fails to do this exposes himself to the charge of being uncharitable, narrow, and cynical.

Optimism sees good in everything. Charity is by many supposed to go much farther by not only ignoring the presence of evil, but transforming it into good by a sugar-coating process by which people are induced to swallow many a nauseous dose without considering its true nature. Iniquity ceases to be iniquity, if someone says, "He meant well." Wrong practices arising from erroneous doctrines cease to be wrong if a man is only "honest." Persistence in serving error and opposing the truth must be covered with the elastic blanket of this kind of charity, "because, you know, he is sincere."

The same faulty idea leads many who stand high in the Christian churches to-day, to seek affiliation with the Romish Church—a church whose soul and spirit consist of the most abominable dogmas and misleading heresies, whose characteristic tenets are opposed to God and his plan of grace; a system described by inspiration as "antichrist," "that man of sin," a blasphemous "beast," and "Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth;" and identified by all Bible students.

Her history reeks with the blood of martyrs and saints; and her utterances, many of them, "speak great words against the Most High." And while she yet pursues, as far as permitted to do so, the same policy, with no word or sign of repentance for the past, or reformation for the future, there are plenty of Protestant apologists whose "charity" is so ample as to cover all these sins and deformities and give Catholicism a place in the front ranks of evangelical Christian churches. A charity for which they get no Catholic thanks, however.

But let us suppose that all this untempered daubing succeeds; differences of faith and practice are ignored, crimes are "hushed up," errors and sins in private life, or in a denomination, are passed over in silence, or lightly alluded to, and the wrong-doer is called well-disposed, and made to think lightly of his offenses, what is the result? Oh, a very pleasant time. Truth and error join hands, sin becomes the protégé of charity, it loses its character and hideousness, while its seductive charms are enhanced, its victims are multiplied, and it is left for the Judgment of the great day to reveal the secret things. The hand of God strips off the frail refuge of hypocrisy called charity, and corruption and death meet the astonished eyes of those who had flattered themselves that all was fair.

Is this the work of charity? Nay, a thousand times! What is the nature and office of this chiefest grace? Let the Scriptures tell: "Charity shall cover the multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8. How it covers sin is shown in James 5:19, 20: "Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." Any attempt upon our part to cover one sin in ourselves or in another, is a long step towards eternal death. The only way sin can be successfully covered is brought to view in the following: "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity." Ps. 32:1, 2. "Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people; thou hast covered all their sin." Ps. 85:2. All other covering is worse than vain. Charity, then, or love, leads the sinner from his errors and sins, through repentance and reformation, to the foot of the cross, to the blood of Christ, and to the forgiving mercy of God. Thus and thus only can the dreadful nature of sin be canceled, and its consequences averted. Love for a person or a church in error or transgression, will not lead us to flatter them to destruction, nor to compromise our own sense of right; but, true to our conscience, and armed with the spirit of meekness, it will impel us to seek their restoration. G. C. TENNEY.