The Spirit of Confederating.
IN the one hundred and twentieth General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, recently held in Kansas City, Mo., Rev. M. A. Matthews, a Seattle pastor, gave a talk on federation. The reporters say that his talk created a deep impression on the delegates, and that it was discussed favorably with a good deal of interest. Mr. Matthews said that the church must agree on some kind of organization thru which it can speak as one man. He would not favor a Protestant pope, but would confine the actions of the church to questions of divorce, educational problems, the drink evil, civic righteousness, and such other questions as involve the whole people. The Protestant churches need a head, says Mr. Matthews, so that they can speak with authority and become a political power. He says that the federation of churches which has already been organized is not effective in its work, because it does not have a central body that can speak with authority when matters come up where the church might make itself felt in civic affairs. He recommends that the evangelical Protestant bodies should agree on a system by which delegates could be elected from all the various churches to form a central electoral college. This college should elect a permanent president, and the college itself should be the executive committee. The president and the executive committee should be vested with authority to voice the sentiment of the combined Christian world; to speak authoritively on questions of civic righteousness, etc. Mr. Matthews thinks that faith in Christ should be maintained; he believes that we are just as much in need of visions and miracles now as at any time in the world's history. This combination of the churches should be confined to political morality, and not be allowed to invade the realm of religion. In 1829 a number of religious people combined to petition Congress not to allow the mails to be carried on Sunday. With the men living at that time the question of religious liberty was a very live issue. They had tasted of the real experiences of religious intolerance, and had fought the hard battle and won out against it. They were determined to put freedom, both civil and religious, on its proper foundation. A paragraph from the action of the Senate in response to those petitions is very much to the point here: "Extensive religious combinations to effect a political object are, in the opinion of the committee, always dangerous. This first effort of the kind calls for the establishment of a principle, which, in the opinion of the committee, would lay the foundation for dangerous innovations upon the spirit of the Constitution, and upon the religious rights of the citizens. If admitted, it may be justly apprehended that the future measures of the government will be strongly marked, if not eventually controlled, by the same influence. All religious despotism commences by combination and influence, and when that influence begins to operate upon the political institutions of a country, the civil power soon bends under it; and the catastrophe of other nations furnishes an awful warning of the consequences."11That is the manner in which the men of a generation ago looked at "extensive religious combinations" that are formed to "effect a political object." When the church as such goes into politics, the church and not the state is the dominating factor. The politician who is always on the lookout for votes is ever ready to yield to the influences of the church in order that he may carry his elections and remain in power. The question of what ought to be done is swallowed up by the desire to please the church. This causes the church to feel its power, and then the downward course into religious despotism is natural and rapid. God does not call for federations in His work. He calls for union. When Christ was about to make the great sacrifice of giving up His life for the sins of the world, He was surrounded by His disciples and praying earnestly to His Father. In that wonderful prayer is this petition: "Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on Me thru their word; that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in us: that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me. And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as We are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and lovedest them, even as Thou lovedest Me." John 17:20-23. Unity with Christ brings unity between the individuals who are thus brought into harmony with the Master. This is the only real Christian unity. This is the unity that Christ desires in each of us; this is the unity for which He prayed so earnestly to His Father. Instead of Christian people seeking for a plan on which they can combine or federate, Christ's method, as is clearly shown by His prayer, is for us to become one in Him. This can be done only by an earnest seeking of Him by faithful prayer and by an unprejudiced study of His word. The trouble with the Christian world is that the majority of the people have settled down to the belief that all the various sects of Christians are necessary; that we could not believe alike, and, therefore, all the various religions of the Christian world are a necessity. But the prayer of Christ from which the foregoing paragraph is quoted shows this to be a fallacy of the worst kind. He prayed that they all might be one, and He desired this unity "that the world may believe" that the Father had sent Him. If we seek for this unity with Christ as He prayed that we should, we will have perfect unity with one another, and this will so clothe us with power that we will not need federations or anything of the kind in order to influence the state in political matters. Christ not only prayed earnestly for our unity, but thru His prophet He has warned us against confederating: "For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of Hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread." Isa. 8:11-13. The prayer of Christ for perfect unity between Him and His followers, and this warning thru the prophet against a confederacy make a very striking contrast with conditions in the state and church to-day. The warnings of Isaiah apply in the main to the Gospel dispensation, and certainly this one against forming a confederacy is most applicable in this our day. It is always safe and desirable to seek the things for which Christ prayed, and it is also desirable and safe to shun the things against which His prophets utter such pronounced warnings.