THE MASTER'S WAY

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 310, 25 August 1932, Page 7

THE MASTER'S WAY

service before self EFFECT OF SOCIAL CONDITIONS ON DEVELOPING CHRISTIAN LIFE. NEAR TO TRUTH. "Two things have I required of thee: deny them before I die: Remove far from me vanity and lies: give -me neither poverty nor riches: feed me with food convenient for me. Lest I be full and 'deny thee ancl say, who is th'e Lord? or ' lest I be poor and steal, and take the name of my God in vain." — Prov. xxx, 7-9. Taking these words for his text last Sunday, Archdeacon F. W. Chatterton referred in his sermon at St. Luke's C'hurch, Rotorua, to a recent lecture by Professor Hunter on our social conditions, in which he said that we had gone astray in aiming at securing wealth rather than welfare: that We were putting wealth first and man second. "There can be no question," said the Archdeacon, "that there is much truth in what he said. The old English word 'wealth' has lost much of its original meaning. In the days when our Prayer Book was drawn up at the time of the Reformation, the word meant well-being, so that when we pray for the King and say, 'Grant him in health and wealth long to live,' and in another prayer say that 'he may study to preserve his people in wealth, peace and godliness,' in each case it is well-being that we are asking for. In modern times we have so altered our conception of well-being that we have come to consider it almost solely connected with riches, with the result that the word 'wealth' nowadays is used in the narrow sense to signify riches. In this sense we have uridoubtedly gone astray in aiming at securing wealth rather than welfare. "Quite unconsciously, Professor Hunter, in giving this lecture on social science, gave another illustration of the movement Christwards in every branch of modern thought. Often in the past, movements have taken possession of nations and have carried individuals with' them without their realising where they were being led. Unconsciously they have been drawn by some strong current which they were powerless to check. This is true of movements either for good or ill. "What is true in national afFairs is equally true in all social and industrial relationships. If one section seeks wealth only, in its narrow sense, at the expense of other sections, if companies seek only dividends without any regard for the welfare of those wh'o help to secure that wealth, it not only violates the principles of our Christian faith, but sooner or later ends in disaster. There is undoubtedly a conscience in the Empire to which we belong that is the result of the leaven of Christian teaching, which' is constantly showing itself in the direction of securing peace and justice for all eoncerned in industry, but it has to be constantly on the alert in withstanding the onslaughts of selfishness and self-interest, which are ever striving for the mastery. "St. Paul's application of Christ's teaching on this subject is summarised in one short sentence, 'By love serve one another,' and there can be no question that the nearer this is lived up to, the sooner will all the major problems that the world is facing be solved, and the long-looked-for Kingdom of God be -established upon earth. "We are being taught afresh today the old lesson of the value of the simple life. We find it advocated by the old writer of the Proverbs, who in th'e words of our text describes it as consisting of two things included in his prayer; first, 'Remove far from me vanity and lies'; second, 'Give me neither poverty nor rich'es, feed me with food convenient for me.' By 'vanity' he has in mind the emptiness with which we are too apt to fill our minds, and which in the end we find leads to nosatisfaction, because it lacks anything to meet the needs of the spirit, and he furth'er prays for the removal of all deception in his life, so that he may stand before the world in all his dealings as an honest and trustworthy man. "What we need to seek for ourselves and others is well-being, the welfare of all, and if this is our aim we shall understand the meaning of contentment. It will never mean that all will be on a dead level of uniformity. The human factor differs so widely in every case that no seheme or system could ever so contradict nature as to suppress the gifts which God has distributed so variously and which are essential for the enrichment of the whole of society. It is only as tliese are used as the Master Himself used His gifts for the benefit of mankind, that they find th'eir highest use, and bring their fullest satisfaction."