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Let Us Pull in Even Lines

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 9, 1913

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 90, No. 2.

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Let Us Pull in Even Lines

By Francis M. Wilcox

WE need to pull together. Christian unity is essential to success in organized Christian work. We need as well to pull in even lines. Only by preserving an even balance, by the exercise of sanctified common sense, can we be kept from extremes. The human mind, left to itself, follows the pendulous extremes of caprice and passion, of impulse and excitement. Thousands are adrift on the great sea of human thought and philosophy without rudder or sail, the prey of every wind, the sport of every wave. Unless these can recover their chart and compass, a new hold upon God, and a new faith in his Word, they are doomed to inevitable wreck on the shoals and rocks of human reasoning.
Many important principles are brought to view in the Scriptures of Truth which constitute the basis of our faith as a people. This denominational movement is made up of many important lines of work. It is not wise for us to neglect or ignore any feature of the movement. It is not wise for us to press to the front one doctrine or one department to the neglect or disparagement of others. We should preach Christ as the only source of righteousness, and faith in him as the only condition of salvation; we should stand stiffly for the defense of the downtrodden Sabbath of Jehovah; we should carry in the forefront of our advance the message of the soon coming of the Lord; we should present the ministry of our great High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary; we should advocate the principles of religious liberty, and sound the warning against the beast and the formation of the image to the beast; we should advocate earnestly and consistently the principles of Christian temperance and healthful living; we should warn our fellows against the great deception of Spiritualism; we should show the place of the work of the spirit of prophecy in this movement; we should teach the Bible method for the support of the ministry, and other cardinal doctrines composing the system of truth comprehended in the third angel's message,—all this we should do earnestly, faithfully, considerately, and wisely, giving each truth its proper setting and relative importance.
We need in our work as a church to pull in even lines. If we would have a well-balanced, well-planned work, every department must receive its due share of attention and fostering care. We must be considerate in seeking to restrain the impulsive, patient in seeking to quicken the pace of the slow and conservative.
The writer well remembers two horses which he drove in his youthful days. One was quick and fiery, ready to respond to the slightest impulse. The other was slow and plodding. It required constant watchfulness and steady reining to lead them to pull in even lines. It is only as the members of the church of God are governed and controlled by his Holy Spirit, and held in by the bonds of Christian unity and love, that they will be able to labor together as brethren, and their natures be blended into harmonious working. Naturally froward, as is the human heart, it is possible through the operation of divine grace for the church of Christ to be one in faith and one in service.
Let us pray constantly that God may give us sound minds, well-balanced judgment, good common sense, and the tempering of his Holy Spirit, in the work that we are seeking to carry forward for him. Let us seek to form in our Christian lives well-balanced, well-rounded experiences, and in carrying forward the work of God pull together and pull in even lines. F. M. W.