INTRODUCTION THIS book is primarily the autobiography of an idea. Incidentally it contains the story of the author's personal experience in a particular church and a statement of the conclusions which his experience illustrates and enforces. The name of the church is suppressed to save it needless embarrassment, because the author loves it. Many facts of the story also are suppressed, and only those experiences narrated which he believes to be typical of a general condition in the churches, because only such experiences have practical value for others.. It is with great reluctance that I narrate my own experience, but to be of real value the story must be frankly personal. Truth embodied in the concrete form of a story is far more effective than the same truth stated in the abstract form of general propositions. In all questions of metaphysics it is a safe guiding principle that "egotism is the truest modesty." Although I diligently sought it, I could find no reason which my conscience would accept to justify me in escaping the performance of a difficult but obvious duty. Whenever a man discovers an important truth, or thinks he has, he be comes a traitor to that truth unless he is willing to pass it on to others. One cannot avoid the conviction that the permanent welfare of the church at large is more important than the temporary comfort of a few individuals. A small group in the church of which I speak will doubtless be disturbed by my book. But knowing as I do that the large majority of its members heartily agree with the ideals here expressed, I feel assured that they will rejoice that our mutual experience may be used to render service to other churches in effecting needed reforms. This hope at least will be some compensation to them, and to me, for the burden we bore together, and may go far in turning our mutual sorrow into joy. I have consented with myself to be frankly personal in my story, not only to furnish help to other churches, but also to inspire other ministers. I have found the way out. I have discovered an ample and satisfying solution for my personal problem. This fact may be a comfort to the large number of ministers who are seriously puzzled and often permanently crippled by the same kind of an experience, whose usual end is chiefly sorrow. My story may open for them a door of opportunity into a larger service for the Kingdom of God, from which the church has shut them out, and for which their painful experience has been an indispensable preparation and a blessing in disguise. If the experience here narrated seems incredible to any who have not had a like one, I would say to them that I have purposely understated rather than overstated it. It is my conviction that it is not at all uncommon. The frequent confessions, made to me in all parts of the country, have abundantly confirmed this conviction. I have heard directly from the lips of many ministers substantially the same story as that narrated by Harold Bell Wright in his novel, "The Calling of Dean Matthews." An awakened conscience among ministers is sure to make it increasingly frequent in the near future. The common tendency to put loyalty to the church above loyalty to the truth, and the average minister's lack of financial independence, cause these facts usually to be concealed, but they exist. Even when the facts are compromised and covered up before they reach the stage of crisis, their frequency reveals a general condition among churches today which is blighting their moral and spiritual life and destroying their usefulness. This fact is a matter of such common knowledge that it only needs to be stated to be generally accepted as true. My own experience has been in all essential |