Royal Manhood - James Isaac Vance

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1899 Excerpt: ...so many members, married so many couples, held so many funerals, administered so many baptisms, and has been so far busy in the work of the Lord. The contributions of the year have been so many dollars, the communicants' roll aggregates so many believers, there are so many societies, so many committees, so much machinery, so much size, noise, splutter and splash. Prof. Drummond used to tell of an officer of an Italian coast-guard who reported to his government a shipwreck in these words: "We saw the wreck and we attempted to give every assistance possible through the speaking trumpet; notwithstanding which, next morning, twenty corpses were washed ashore." This church census business is of the speaking trumpet variety. Religion charges the world, the flesh and the devil, with statistics. The enemy is scared or amused, as the case may be, and the dead continue to be washed ashore. The God of Statistics says, "Worship me; I alone am great." We are half inclined to believe him. We imagine that size is a mark of divinity. A denomination has the Lord on its side in proportion as its numbers increase. The preacher that addresses the biggest crowd is the Lord's most faithful representative. The truth is, however, that numerical strength is no criterion of power. A sermon is not great in proportion to its length. A man has not necessarily preached well because he has preached for some time. A pastoral visit is not always a means of grace. A man may make a thousand pastoral calls a year and at last have done little toward establishing the kingdom of God in the earth. Statistics are deceptive but wonderfully fetching. Make a glittering show in the census column, and in the esteem of the vulgar you belong to the elect. Instead of making the census ...