THE GREAT EXPERIMENT

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 45, 18 November 1918, Page 8

THE GREAT EXPERIMENT

i ; I CHRISTIANITY'S APPEAL TO YOUTH ADVENTURE AND RISK I In an article in the "Westminster j Gazette," tho liev. Edward , tihillito ] writes:— ' "It is the adventure in .Christianity that will juake its appeal to youth. Tho adventure is ii.ltv.iys tnerc. Tiie Faith of Christ hiiM'beeii'mado into a somewhat safe and prosaic dealing with the unseen world; iu the heart of it, as youtn sees clearly, it is a Uenundous hazard, in which the soul is invited to etako all; upon God.. It is'-a. chaliouge to the* soul to' count the world well-lose for the sake of Christ. This appeal is on the face of the Gospel; but ]t is often forgotten. And in order to keep the interest of youth it is thought wise to tone down /the claims of the Gospel. The attempt is bound to break down so long as men can read the New Testament and the xecordsN of the Church for themselves. 1 But of all conceivable follies this is the ; maddest, to offer yoiith a safe thing!

"Tlio wise leaders of the Church will rather offer an adventure, never yet perfectly tried; they ivill invite men and women to explore for the first time tho ■meaning of die Gospel in its entire rnuse, 'J.%«y will say: 'You may be called fools; you may loso many things; you will find life a hard fight, but you will enter the kingdom of heaven, and you will see God.' Such an offer will be rejected by some who hear it. One young ruler went away sorrowful because he had grea.t possessions. Christ lost him; but He won Saul of Tarsus on the same terms. The supreme advantage the Church has in its appeal to youth lies in the adventure and risk of the Gospel. There is glory in it; it is not a 6afe thing.

"There is clearly a movement witliin the heart of youth to-day. It is seeking for something it does not iind. It discovers certain timidities and compromises entrenched within the Church. It ie impatient, with restless energies waiting to be claimed. Will tho Church, so far as ,it is guided by age and middle-age, be' merely critical and scornful?" Or will it remember that

as in so many ages, so now the Chur.cii may be saved by its youth? It may regard only the extravagances, the technical flaws, the unbalanced words, and may dismiss youth with the indulgent plea that it will be wiser with years. (But will it be wiser?) Or the Cluircii

may tliinlc rather of the lives, waiting to be claimed,-tho generous 7 hearts, only longing to be used in some great udventure. the passion of youth for perfection, Much depends upon the temper'ol mi . Church in tho immediate iiicuxe. "The • war has revealed too late howlittle wo understood many of our boys. They were mysteries to their seniors ae well as Jo themselves; but they had a life waiting'to lie claimed. From those who come back there will still be a life to bo claimed. It would he a tragedy, if tho Church made to such men' a reduced offer. It. is only the impossible in Christianity that will appeal to the deepest! manhood. The hour 'may be at hand when through these" pieh, tried.in the fire, the impossible is to be attempted and ihfi Great 'Experiment begun in earnest."