Religion: Dying World

If an “unsaved, unwashed world is dying,” it is not for lack of preachers to minister to it. What shall they say ? Most, today, talk of Depression. Some endeavor to be cheery, smart, topical. Others are modern, “humanistic.” Of the group who preach the real oldtime religion, none is more zealous than a towering, white-haired patriarch of the Northwest, Dr. Mark Allison Matthews. Pastor of the world’s largest Presbyterian church (Seattle’s First, with a congregation of 7,886), he spoke forthrightly to his brothers last week. In The Presbyterian he wrote:

“The pulpit is to blame for the apathy and conditions of today. . . . The Church was commissioned to evangelize the peoples of the world. Evangelism is her supreme business. . . . Does she know her business? Does she recognize her duty? . . . Ninety percent of the sermons are not evangelistic. . . .

“The pulpit is not an academic forum, nor is it a book review clinic. . . . Such an effort is a waste of time. . . . The pulpit is not a reform bureau. The gospel message is not primarily a reform message. . . . [Christ] came to save sinners, not to reform them. . . . Salvation is not by law, neither is it by works. . . .

“… Ninety percent of the efforts of the members of the church are unevangelistic. The men are concerned with machinery and budgets—souls are secondary. . . . The supreme business of Christian laymen—including women—is finding the unsaved and telling them the good news of salvation.”

Flaying the “modernistic, rationalistic preacher” as a “curse to the Church,” Dr. Matthews pointed out that no one can become evangelistic who does not believe in “the Virgin Birth, the Deity of Christ, His vicarious death, physical resurrection and ascension. …” Nor can a worldly person make a conversion. “No deaconess ever led a girl to Christ at the whist table.” Estimating modernism and rationalism as failures, he recommends positive, evangelical action:

1) “Never sound an uncertain note from the pulpit. . . .”

2) “Preach only Christ and Him crucified. . . . Preach the Blood. … The Blood covers, the Blood redeems, the Blood regenerates, the Blood saves. . . .”

3) “Open the prayer closet in every home. . . .”

4) “Begin personal work. . . .”

5) “Let every Christian return to his church pew and fill it every service. No absentee can be an evangelist. The absentee pew lord is a curse. . . .”

“The world . . . is tired of harangues on subjects that it knows all about, therefore your pews are empty. . . . When you tell about Jesus and His love, a dying world will listen.”