Why Maturity Is Lacking

SHORTLY after General D. D. Eisenhower had become the president-elect of the United States he took a vacation in a southern United States city. News of the fact that Eisenhower was in town caused overflow crowds at a number of the Protestant churches the following Sunday, obviously due, as some of the local pastors wryly observed, to the hope of seeing “Ike”. The general had given no clue as to which place of worship he would attend.

Yes, the pastors, although themselves always very glad to welcome large crowds and willing to go to great lengths to attract such, felt no little annoyance because the reasons for these crowds were not they or religion but curiosity and the general. Said one pastor to his “flock”: “If any of you have come here to see the Eisenhowers you should be ashamed.” And to a woman who phoned to find out whether or not the Eisenhowers would be at a certain church, the pastor replied: “No, but Jesus Christ will.”—New York Times, November 17, 1952.

But why should such pastors expostulate with their congregations? What else can they expect? Is it not true that millions of people go to church each Sunday, only to see their pastors perform certain religious ceremonies, often in a dead language, to answer his appeal for a generous collection and to listen for ten or fifteen minutes to a discussion of some best seller or some current political problem? If their pastor does start out with a Scripture text it is not long until he gets off onto some easy-listening philosophy. And in view of such spiritual fare, can it be said that Jesus Christ is present?

If in his sermons the pastor calls attention to the works and achievements of man, likes to quote the “great” men of the world, whether in business, politics, art or science; if he thus builds up creature worship, can he blame his “flock” for wanting to see such heroes in person? If he lauds the United Nations as mankind’s only hope and ignores the kingdom of God, for which he ostensibly is praying every time he repeats the Lord’s Prayer, can he then complain when his congregation would rather see the man whose military genius largely made the United Nations possible than to hear something about the Prince of Peace? And when the pastor preaches the philosophy of success, “honesty is the best policy,” and “how to win friends and influence people”, is it not natural for his listeners to want to see the outstanding American example of success?

And is it not true that the very manner of preaching is such as to call attention to the creature rather than to the Creator? Honeyed words, well-chosen phrases, studied gestures, immaculate ministerial garb, and so forth, are made prominent, as though the ideal Christian minister were the one who could give a flawless exhibition of elocution and acting. How true of such that at the end of their sermons ‘they give evidence to all, that whoe’er was edified, they were not’! To help fill in the spiritual vacuum imposing cathedrals are built, lavishly furnished with pipe organs, stained-glass windows and other works of art, and choirs are trained. Is it any wonder, then, that churchgoers are not mature when the goal of the worship they attend is entertainment and appeal to the senses instead of edification and appeal to the reason and conscience of man?

That those high in religious circles appreciate that there is something lacking in these respects is apparent from the willingness of the Episcopal Churchnews to publish an article, in its February 3, 1952, issue, by May Sarton, an American author, that is in effect an indictment of modern religious worship. In this two-page article, entitled “Those Who Stay Away”, among other things she said: “People do not go to church to be invited either to a social coffee hour or to be told bedtime stories. There is surely a danger to true religion if those who are regular churchgoers become so dulled that they accept these stones for bread. There is surely a danger if church is just a comfortable habit, something people do before a good Sunday dinner, that God will be absent. May I now speak out boldly and say that I do not believe ministers ask enough of their congregations? That they are afraid of the truth they have in their hearts, afraid it will be unpalatable or too difficult? By so doing, they may achieve large congregations, but they drive away the truly religious element.”

Clearly the fear of man and the love of a good name have brought the clergy into a snare. (Prov. 29:25; John 5:44) In their efforts to gain and keep large congregations they have feared to tell the truth, and thus they are without any real purpose in life. And so they encroach on the fields of the philosopher, psychologist, politician, scientist, entertainer, becoming, as it were, ‘jacks of all trades and masters of none.’ No wonder the Bible likens Christendom to a vine that, being fruitless, is fit for nothing except the fire, its wood serving no other purpose.—Ezek. 15:1-8.

These same clergymen complain that Jehovah’s witnesses take away their best members, but from the above it is apparent that by their fear to tell the truth “they drive away the truly religious element”. This element, not content with the famine rations that keep them in a state of spiritual immaturity, have wandered far and wide, like sheep without a shepherd, seeking God and his true worship. (Mark 6:34; Acts 17:27, NW) Conscious of their spiritual need and hungering and thirsting for righteousness, they have found all their needs supplied by the comforting message of God’s kingdom. Receiving reasonable and soul-satisfying answers to their questions, they have exercised faith, called on the name of Jehovah, and are now making that confession with their lips, which assures their salvation. Thus they grow to maturity.—Matt. 5:3, 6; 24:14; Rom. 10:8-15, NW.

While the greater responsibility for immaturity among professed Christians thus falls upon the religious leaders, the immature ones cannot excuse themselves on that ground. They are accountable to Jehovah God for their own course of action and if they choose to remain blind and follow blind leaders they will end up in the ditch of destruction as surely as will their blind leaders. (Matt. 15:14) Jehovah warns the faithless and self-serving clergy of impending destruction. And those of their flocks who “love to have it so” will share their fate.—Jer. 5:30, 31; 23:16-32.