prophet's assurance and power, "Thus saith the Lord." And out of that experience he can guide other men and say to them: Trust your own free spirit, made free by obedience to Christ. Trust thyself! Every heart vibrates to that iron string." Stand before the bar of your own soul, stripped of casuistry and inclination and subterfuge and beware of that worst hypocrisy which is self-deception. Be downright honest with yourself and obedient to what your soul tells you. When men go down into an old well, they first lower a candle and if the light is dimmed they know there are poison gases below. So, submit every question to the light of your spirit in obedience to God's spirit. If you find an instinctive shrinking back of the soul; if you feel that the sympathies will be dulled and the finer sensibilities numbed, know you that there is something foul and deadly which must be shunned at peril of your life. And know you that the great God has spoken to you in the sanctity of your own soul, and dare not disobey. And may God help you all, when you speak to men!

THE CHURCH AND THE WORKING MAN.

JOHN McDowell.

An institution without problems is an institution without opportunities.

Define opportunity in terms of problems and no institution can compare with the church in the greatness of its present opportunity.

The greatness of the problems which confront the church today, consists, First, in their number. Second, in their nature. In the last analysis, all of our modern problems are moral and ethical; they concern human relationships; they are problems in human brotherhood and since brotherhood is at the core of Christianity, these problems are religious, and as such deserve the serious consideration of the church.

Of all the questions before the church today, no one is more important than that suggested by the topic before us this morning, namely-" The Church and the Workingman."

The importance of this question is manifest in many ways. FIRST. By the place given to it on the programs of religious organizations and conventions.

SECOND. By the official action taken by the different denominations of our country among them, the Congregationalist, the Episcopalian, Roman Catholic and Presbyterian.

THIRD. By the number of books and articles published on the subject in the last five years.

FOURTH. By the careful attention given it by our theological seminaries.

FIFTH. By the general and genuine interest on the part of labor organizations throughout the land.

It is not too much to say that the future character of civilization depends to a very large degree on the way in which the church meets this problem.

As leaders in the church it behooves us to appreciate its far reaching importance. Ignorance of its significance is fatal and indifference to it is criminal.

'When you are a-going to talk about Democracy," said an observant negro, speaking in a political campaign in Texas, you better name the brand." This is excellent advice and it should not be restricted to political campaigning in Texas. It applies with equal force to any one who undertakes to discuss the relation of the church to the workingman. Daniel Webster, when asked how he obtained his clear ideas, replied, "By careful attention to definitions."

Careful attention to definitions will be of immense help in dealing with the present question.

What should be the relation of the church to the workingman?

The answer to this question depends-first, on our conception of the church and second on our definition of the workingman.

FIRST. What is the Church? By the Church I mean the Christian Church, and in defining the Christian Church I take Jesus Christ as my supreme authority and the New Testament as the only authoritative text-book.

Among the many definitions of the Church found in the New Testament none is more suggestive to my mind than that used by the Apostle Paul so frequently in his letters, namely, "The body of Christ" (See I Cor. xii:27; Eph. i: 22, 23; Col. i:18). From this significant figure it is very evident that Paul's conception of the church was not that of a mere formal organization, nor a mere aggregation of individuals, but of a living organism of which Christ is the head, the heart and the soul.

As the body of Christ, the Church is His organic agent in the world, His representative among men. The divinely ordained instrument through which Christ means to accomplish His purpose here on the earth.

The Christian Church as the body of Christ has a threefold function.

FIRST. To manifest His spirit toward God and toward man. The spirit of Christ toward man was marked by sacrifice, service and unfailing love.

SECOND. To proclaim the message of Christ from God to

men.

This message covers all the needs of man's life and offers principles to guide man in his relations to God, to himself and to his fellowmen. The Church needs to grasp the spirit and scope of the message today. It needs to give the world to understand that Christ is the Light of the World" and therefore the light of every sphere of human activity; the Light of the political world, the industrial world, the commercial world, yes, of the insurance world.

I believe the time has come when the Church should give her members to understand that it is impossible for a Christian man to have Christ in ethics and Adam Smith in economics; impossible for a Christian to have the Golden Rule for private life and the Law of Supply and Demand for his bus

iness life. both.

The true Christian man has the Golden Rule for

THIRD.

The function of the Church is to do the work of Christ, to carry on the divine redemptive and reparative work within and upon the hearts, minds, bodies and estates of men."

From my point of view the Christian Church is an instrument rather than an institution. With this conception of the Church in mind, let us now ask who is the workingman about whom we are hearing so much today?

By what standard shall we determine who shall and who shall not be included in this term?

Shall the Church use the word in the exclusive sense, meaning by it a certain class of men in society, namely, the tool users as over against the tool owners; the man who works for wages as over against the man who pays the wages; the employee as over against the employer; the workingman as over against the capitalist?

Or, shall the Church use the word workingman in the inclusive sense, meaning by it the man who works, regardless of the character or reward of his work?

On the surface, this question as to the sense in which the Church shall use the word workingman, may not seem of great importance, but it will not do for us to judge by a surface view. History is likely to repeat itself and there are some things in history which we do not wish to have repeated. Among them I mention the caste or class spirit, based upon purely arbitrary and artificial distinctions. The worst enemy of human progress has been the spirit of caste against which Christianity has an inborn hatred and from which Christianity will ultimately deliver the world.

It will not do for the Church, which represents Christianity, to adopt any policy which gives the slightest encouragement to class distinctions based on economic or social functions. I have no hesitation therefore, in saying that I sincerely believe that if the Church uses the word workingmen at all,

she ought to use it in the inclusive sense and never in the exclusive sense, save for the purpose of social and economic discussion.

In support of this position I appeal: First, to the example of Jesus Christ. Second, to the writings of the apostles. Third, to the charter of the Christian Church. Fourth, to the men, whom we commonly call "the workingman."

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FIRST. The example of Jesus Christ. Society had its divisions in His day. Classes were distinguished by economic and social functions just as they are today. Labor organizations existed, for we read of " Ass Drivers' Associations, Fullers' Unions" and "Fishermen's Clubs." But so far as I know, Jesus Christ never once recognized any of these divisions and distinctions. His message was to men as men, regardless of their position and possession. He invited all men to come to Him. Matt. xi:26. He promised to make his disciples fishers of men. He commanded His apostles to "go into all the world."

Jesus was the friend and helper of all. He had His followers among all ranks of life. His great heart beat in sympathy for everybody. His affection was too great to be focused on a single class. He dealt little with men in the mass. He dealt with men individually. Jesus Christ was no partisan. He never played the roll of a demagogue. He tried to remove class feeling, not to intensify it. Jesus was the friend, neither of the workingman nor of the rich man, as such. The question he put to a man was not-Are you rich? Are you poor? Do you belong to the capitalistic class? or the labor class? but-Are you doing the will of my Father?

He called the poor man as well as the rich man to sacrifice and to service for the sake of others. Jesus Christ was the Son of Man, not the son of a special class of men. Jesus Christ was interested in all men and deeply concerned with all the interests of men.

SECOND. The writings of the Apostles.