Editorial Postscripts

Common—Funny stories are out of place in the pulpit. Ostensibly told by the speaker to carry his congregation with him, on the con­trary they produce the opposite effect—repelling the discerning, and cheapening the teller in the eyes of the audience. Although the thoughtful listener may overlook such episodes, and get help from the rest of the discourse, it is in spite of, and not because of, such buffoonery. Minis­ters lose immeasurably when they mingle the common with the sacred, and carry into the desk what belongs to the stage or street. They lose with their fellow worshipers, but most of all with God.

Metallic!—Guard against stressing the mon­etary advantages accruing to the conference in securing Seventh-day Adventist physicians for location within the conference territory—how it "pays" the local church and the conference in returned tithes, offerings, and prestige. That has such a cold, calculating, metallic sound and basis. Place yourself in the position of the doc­tors being invited, and see how it would sound to you. Let us invite them, rather, to come as missionary physicians, to minister to the church in health-education lines, to aid in presenting our health message to the public, to break down prejudice, and thus constitute both an "enter­ing wedge" and an active spiritual force in lay evangelism as well as in professional service. This constitutes an appeal that is sound and winsome.

Sidetracked! —It is not true, and it must not be said without challenge, that Seventh-day Ad­ventists dare not go to the bottom of things historically, lest they give up the message when the full facts are known. Citation is often made of men who, delving into the deeps or going to institutions of higher learning, have lost their bearing and repudiated their faith. But to say that is the cause of their downfall is not sound reasoning, for many have likewise become con­fused and given up their allegiance who have never been inside a university, or taxed their mental powers with study. On the contrary, many who have gone to the very bottom of things have become truer, stancher, more vital Adventists as a result of such research, all of which shows that the outcome really depends, in the ultimate, upon the individual man and his motives. The difficulty with some who go as student learners to the intellectuals of earth, is that they are swept off their feet with subtle sophisms proffered, and distorted presentations. It is the objective, the approach, the spirit, and the content that determine the outcome. There is room and crying necessity for scholarly study and research in this movement. Advent­ism is not afraid of facts, for facts are the foun­dation pillars in the temple of faith and truth.

Runs!—Everyone knows the diastrous ef­fects of runs upon banks. When panicky fear grips depositors, many an institution is closed, through withdrawals, which could have continued soundly and successfully if normal confidence had been accorded. And all this is apropos of "runs" on workers. By whispering campaigns and running down a certain evangel­ist's stock, he may be placed in a position where none will want his service. But what shall be said of those responsible for precipitating such a situation! Treat a worker kindly and can­didly, expressing and placing confidence in him, and he will rarely disappoint you. If there are faults, let them be remedied constructively, and not by ruining the man. We need to hold and to use every man of consecrated ability.

Carelessness!—When we cite the names of well-known secular or Biblical characters, bat­tles, books, or places, let us for the sake of the good name of our cause pronounce them with accuracy. Let us take the needed time to verify from dictionary, gazetteer, or encyclopedia. Carelessness in this matter will inevitably lead educated hearers to question the accuracy and trustworthiness of the message we bear; for if we are uninformed or inaccurate in these de­tails which are regarded as indispensable com­monplaces today, they will question all our conclusions. Ignorance here is felt in the intel­lectual ^-world to be inexcusable, and if it is tolerated by the speaker, that is counted good cause for questioning in its entirety his claim to a respectful hearing.

Beyond!—It is the cultivated spirit of de­tached aloofness and the cherished attitude of sophisticated superiority that makes the Mod­ernistic intellectual so unimpressed by the really weighty evidences of present truth. The avowed approach of dispassionate dissection and cold analysis, of listing one evidence to offset another factor, and believing nothing to be final, leaves them without certainty in any­thing. Everything is regarded as relative, with nothing final and really conclusive—no authori­tative arbiter for the puzzled intellect, no in­errant Bible, no guiding spirit of prophecy. No wonder such men grope, and continue half-pity­ing and half-amused at those of us of simple faith who believe in certain infallible truths and witnesses. God pity those who willfully as­sume this fatal attitude, for they thereby place themselves well-nigh beyond the pale of appeal and of approach through the consummating evidences God has chosen wherewith to convince the human mind.                                 

L. E. F.