(Unt iHtllto|n GHiriatian The New Emphasis By Harris Franklin Rail It outlines Qod’t revival provi- sion for this hour. Its prac- tical outworking is the Inter- church World Movement’s edu- cational stewardship campaign for Ten Million Stewards. INTERCHURCH WORLD MOVEMENT OF NORTH AMERICA 45 West 18th Street, New York City Price, 3 cents each; 30 cents per dozen; $2.00 per hundred Christianity Redefined The church has come back at LAST TO THE EMPHASIS OF JESUS— THE KINGDOM OF GOD. Christianity does not mean a few good folks meeting for fellowship and worship. It does not mean “saving” a few folks for another world. It means a new world here, where the will of God shall be done for the good of men in home and state and business. That is the new idea which is back of missions and the Men and Religion Movement and social serv- ice, and all the great Christian facts of this age. The church is here for that end. Christ came to that end. That is the meaning of the ages. And to that end every Christian, so far as he is reajily Christian, is pledged with life and substance. Life as a Stewardship Jt PERSONIFIES a NEW CONCEPTION TEN MILLION CHRISTIAN STEWARDS of the Christian life. It is not going to church and keeping certain commandments and so getting to heaven because we have “been faithful.” It means life as a trust, a stewardship. That is Jesus’ idea of being faithful, which we have so pitifully narrowed. He does not -talk of being faithful in what has been committed to us. Life is not just a probation which ends in reward or punishment in another world. It is a power and a possession which we are to use. God has made us working partners in His plans for the world. TEN MILLION CHRISTIAN STEWARDS 4 The New Emphasis The New Testament word is stewardship. A mod- ern word would be partnership or trusteeship. The Stewardship of Time T HIS STEWARDSHIP HAS MANY SIDES. There is the stewardship of time. Not one day in seven belongs to God, but all days. A leading young business man of an Eastern city told the writer that he was making his plans so that he might some day give half his time to distinctive Christian work. Another in that same city is giv- ing two-thirds of his time to such service. A third, the head of a large corporation, is not too busy to travel across the continent for a missionary convention, or to care year in and year out for a great Sunday school in a downtown district. And these men all give as a minimum a tenth to a fifth of their income. How can I use my time so that it will count most for God’s great end, is a question which these men found time to ask and answer. The Stewardship of Business T HERE IS THE STEWARDSHIP OF business — not how we spend our money, but how we make it. This does not mean simply being honest or keeping within the law. The new world, or God’s kingdom, is to be a world in which jus- tice and love for men are to be found in the shop and on the street as they are in heaven. Is our business being done that way? That is a big part of Christian stewardship. It is the very first part. God wants to know how we make our money be- fore he asks how we spend it. How we use our TEN MILLION CHRISTIAN STEWARDS The New Emphasis 5 time in business comes first with Him before He asks how we use the remaining hours. Better fewer libraries from steel magnates and not so may men in the mills working twelve hours a day and seven days in the week. We need social justice before we need gifts for charities or mis- sions. Jesus is the silent partner in every Chris- tian’s business. The Stewardship of Money T HEN THERE IS OUR STEWARDSHIP in the spending of money. One brief leaflet can- not discuss the whole question of the Christian and his money; or a Christian’s Financial Creed, with the Christian’s use of his money when giving. The fundamental fact here is not tithing, but steward- ship. We do not give to God a fraction of that which we possess, but we loyally acknowledge God’s sovereignty over the whole. Just now the church has no bigger need than to have Christian men face this question. Some Facts T HERE ARE SOME FACTS WHICH make this question a pressing one today: — I Wealth is increasing rapidly in this country. Thirty thousand millions is the amount produced each year. Christian men possess a large share of this. II The power of money for good was never greater. Fifteen millions will stamp out tubercu- TEN MILLION CHRISTIAN STEWARDS c The New Emphasis losis in New York, says one expert. Think what a million would do in China or Korea today ! God uses human power and waits upon it. Money is simply stored-up human power, ready to be used in any field. III The world has never seen such opportuni- ties for Christian investment. Here at home a nation still in the forming, the peoples of the earth at our gates, the church face to face with great tasks and a great program. Looking abroad, we see open highways with multitudes, open hearts, great nations in transition, and messengers at home ready to be sent, and native workers yonder waiting to help. IV The church is standing still instead of leap- ing forward. At home our strength is consumed in discussing “finances” instead of being rallied for a great aggressive movement. Abroad, where nations are waiting to surrender to their Lord, we are calling off the troops. And the church of God of all the earth stands apologetic and sup- pliant while it asks for a little of that wealth of which the whole belongs to its Lord! A Creed for Christian Stewards w HAT DO WE NEED? NOT MORE collections. Not fewer collections. We need a gen- eration of Christian men who will understand the plain truth about the stewardship of money. What is this truth? We might put it into a creed for Christian stewards. TEN MILLION CHRISTIAN STEWARDS The New Emphasis I BELIEVE I My money is mine only in trust. It be- longs to God, just as I do. II This money is not filthy lucre. It is not the devil’s coin. It is stored-up human power. It is so much of myself which I can set at work in China or India or New York or Colorado. III God is counting upon this money for His work. It is to build His churches and preach His gospel, train His workers and send them out, teach and heal and save His children, and help bring in a new kingdom of righteousness and brotherhood and peace. IV To spend my income rightly is one of my first tasks as a Christian. Until I set- tle this, my prayers and confessions will be like saying “Lord, i^ord” and not doing the will of my Father. V I should set aside a definite proportion of my income for the church and the service of others. I do this in acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty over all of my material posses- sions. I do this to guard against my own selfishness. I do this because it is business- like. Giving by impulse and without system does not accord with the importance of this work. VI The proportion to be set aside for these purposes should not be less than one-tenth of my income. The Old Testament enjoined the tithe in ancient Israel, and surely I am re- ceiving far more from Uod than did the men TEN MILLION CHRISTIAN STEWARDS 8 The New Emphasis of any former generation. Nevertheless one- tenth is not to be the limit of my giving. I should not begin with less than one-tenth. I ought to give more if I am able. VII I should invest this money for God as carefully as in my temporal business, and keep strict account of this fund. I should study the church and its work that I may give wisely. I should give systematically. I should Results for the Church w HAT WOULD IT MEAN FOE THE church to have a generation of Christian men adopt this creed? The church would be set free for the real task of saving and serving men. We could face a bigger program and have re- sources to back it up. We could at once double our forces in city and frontier and foreign field, and the church would mark the greatest advance of its history since Paul took an empire for his parish. Christian Inspiration W HAT WOULD SUCH SYSTEMATIC giving mean for Christian men? Moral Victory It would mean moral victory. We have slurred over the passages in which Jesus has pointed out the peril of money. He made it one of the two great dangers of the Christian life — the love of the world and the fear of the world. There are TEN MILLION CHRISTIAN STEWARDS The New Emphasis multitudes of Christian men whom God has pros- pered who are actually giving a less percentage of their income today than ten or twenty years ago. It hurts them to give what they do. Their danger is as real as that of the drunkard or gam- bler, and more subtle. A fixed proportion set definitely aside means moral victory. Freedom and Joy It would mean freedom and joy in giving. The Lord loveth a cheerful giver, but mere are many people to whom giving is more like pulling a tooth. Benjamin Adams of sainted name wrote on “The Fun of Giving.” Set a proportion apart once for all. You will find so much freedom and joy in the spending of it that you will want to increase the amount. Richer Spiritual Life. It would mean a richer spiritual life. There is only one method of spiritual growth. That is fellowship with God. And here is a fellowship in the things that are most like God and that He cares most about — giving and loving and serving, indeed, there is no salvation at all without this. Salvation is just another word for life. And Jesus knows no other kind of life or salvation than this: “Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die by itself it abideth alone. He that lov- eth his life loseth it.” I know one man in an Eastern city whose friends have seen his life grow each year richer and strong- er, broader in sympathy and larger in vision, be- cause his giving has put him in touch with the noblest spirits and the greatest movements in his TEN MILLION CHRISTIAN STEWARDS 10 The New Emphasis city, his country, and throughout the world. It has been an unsurpassed education. Shall not the revival for which we pray come this way, not in big tabernacles and crowds and statistics, but in the larger life of this Spirit of Christ, filling His church and His people. The Lord’* Account F OR THESE PRINCIPLES AND STATE- ments there are many witnesses. Here is the letter of a noble layman who serves equally with time and money: “I am gxad to bear testimony to the enrichment of my own spiritual life through systematic giving. For several years I have kept an entirely separate bank account wmch I call the ‘Lord’s Account.’ In that account I deposit every month one-fifth of my income. In that way I divest my mind entirely of any need to consider whether I can give or not, leaving only the ques- tion of the objects to be chosen. The giving has already been done. The above method I adopted after talking it over with my wife. It has proven to be a great blessing to us both.” ProHi-thtMrimg with Humanity W ILLIAM P. HARTLEY, MANUFAC- turer and Primitive Methodist layman of Eng- and, says: “Probably the greatest event of my ife occurred on January 1, 1677. On that day my wife and I made a written vow that we would devote a definite share of our income for religious and humanitarian work, and that this should be a first charge. Since that date we have often in- TEN MILLION CHRISTIAN STEWARDS 10 The New Emphasis creased the proportion, so that the original per- centage is left far behind. As our income has in- creased, we have felt that religious and humani- tarian work had a greater claim upon us. The distribution of the Lord’s portion has been the greatest joy of my life and a real means of grace. It has kept me in constant touch with the promo- tion of Christ-like work of all kinds, and anything I have been able to do for Christ and humanity (including profit-sharing with my work-people for over twenty years) has grown out of the vow made thirty-three years ago.” Yv hen a great church conference rose to do this man reverence he simply said: “Of thine own have I given thee. Lord.” His proportion has increased in these years from one-tenth to one-third. Will You? Someone is saying, “all that is TRUE AND I SHOULD FOLLOW IT IF I WERE RICH LIKE MY NEIGHBOR.” MY brother, this is not the special duty of a few that we have been talking about. And the test of our Christian life is not what we should do with our neighbor’s wealth, but what manner of stewards we are in the little or the much that we possess. Between two native converts on the mission field this talk took place: — “If you had a hundred sheep, would you give fifty of them for the Lord’s work?” “Yes, I would.” “Would you do the same if you had a hundred cows ?” “Yes, I would.” TEN MILLION CHRISTIAN 12 The New Emphasis “Would you do the same if you had a hundred horses?” “Yes, I would.” “If you had two piers, would you give one of them to Him?” “No, I wouldn’t; and you have no right to ask me when you know I have two pigs.” The Lord’s chief need is not great gifts. It is men who own His Lordship in business and in time and in money. Humble folks and rich folks, for their sake and the world’s sake: He wants them all. We are not our own, we are bought with a 'price. Every throb of our pulse, every faculty of our nature, every posses- sion that we hold, is not ours, but His. Let each of us nail up over the door of our being the words which St. Paul uttered amid the dash of the storm, “Whose I am and whom I serve." Principles of Christian Stewardship 1. God is the owner of all things. 2. Every man is a steward and must give an account for all that is entrusted to him. 3. God’s ownership and man’s stewardship ought to be acknowledged. TEN MILLION CHRISTIAN STEWARDS The New Emphasis 13 4. This acknowledgment requires, as part of its expression, the setting apart for the ex- tension of the Kingdom of Christ, such a • portion of income as is recognized by the individual to be the will of God.* 5. This separated portion ought to be adminis- tered for the Kingdom of Christ, and the remainder recognized as no less a trust. * Note: Most Christian Stewards begin with the tenth. The proportion should increase as income increases. The Federal Income Tax Law exempts to 15 per cent, of income given for purposes of religion, charity, etc, “The way beyond the alphabet is through the alphabet , and the way beyond the tenth is through the tenth.” OTHER STEWARDSHIP LITERATURE Catechism of Christian Stewardship. (Cushman), 12 pages. The Stewardship of Money. (F. B. Meyer), 16 pages. Proportionate Giving. (R. E. bpeer), 14 pages. Sunday school Stewardship Programs. (Series of 4), The Church Treasurer Who Got Mad. (Peter- son), 8 pages. TEN MILLION CHRISTIAN STEWARDS 14 The New Emphasis February Stewardship Period. 8 pages. A True Story of a Live- Wire Reading Contest. 12 pages. Enrolment Cards. Scriptural Stewardship. (Wood), Giving God a Square Deal. (Drake), 14 pages. Thanksgiving Ann. (Hamilton), 12 pages. Text Books The New Christian. (Cushman), Cloth. 50c; paper, 25c each. (Chapter 7 suggests outlines for Stewardship talks, for mid-week services, Sunday Schools and other organiations of- the Church). Money the Acid 'lest. (McConaughy), Cloth, 75c; paper, 50c. (By courtesy of the New Era Movement). TEN MILLION CHRISTIAN STEWARDS No.54.II.25.Jan.1920.