Name or Character?

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 20, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 51.

Name or Character?

Consistency is a jewel, and most people like to see it. But there are sad perversions of it. For instance, before us is a neatly-printed paper with colored cover, The Gentlewoman; but the illustration belies the name. In the background of the picture a buck stands in the edge of a lake, and in the foreground a female in a loud dress stands with gun at her shoulder just ready to fire upon the deer. Evidently, "gentlewoman" is used as belonging to a certain "class" in "society," some exclusive set; it does not mean a gentle woman.

"Hot meat pies, hot meat pies," shouted the old colored man on a cold winter's day in Boston. A stranger, cold and shivering, thought one of the hot pastries would warm him up, and purchased, set his teeth into it, and found it frozen. He remonstrated with the man for his falsehood; and the old man replied, "That's the name ob 'em, boss; that's the name ob 'em." And so we conclude The Gentlewoman to be the name, not necessarily the character.

There are many Christians in name. Jesus says to such, "Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead." Be consistent. Let the character match the name; do not attempt to assume character by adopting a name. For all the women we love to see a gentle woman; for the pies we wish to get meat pies that are hot; for Christians we wish to find persons having Christlikeness.