3. THE ASCETIC SOLUTION
The second answer to our question is the answer of ascetics of many different kinds. According to this answer, the relationship of the Christian to God on the one hand, and his relationship to his fellow men on the other, are in competition. Consequently, in order to strengthen the former, the latter must be broken off. In its extreme form, this way of thinking leads to the hermit ideal, to the belief that the less a man has to do with his fellow men the more he has to do with God. Such conceptions are not always so uninfluential as we are inclined to think, even in our Protestant churches. Monasticism is not indeed consistently carried out, but it is often present in spirit and in principle. Some excellent Christians seem to feel that whole-hearted, natural interest in earthly friends is disloyalty to Christ, that all men must be treated alike, that admission of one man into the depths of the heart more fully than another is contrary to the universality of the gospel. By such men, individuals are not treated as persons, with a value of their own, but merely as opportunities for Christian service.
(1) This Solution Defeats Its Own End.—It is evident, in the first place, that such an attitude defeats its own aim. Evidently the power of a Christian worker depends partly at least upon his interest in individuals. It will not do, for example, for the teachers in this course to let their students say, "The teacher loves Christ supremely, but he has no interest in me." Evidently the power of influencing our fellow men is largely increased by an intimate personal relationship; if we are to serve Christ by bringing men to his feet, then we ought not to dissolve but rather to strengthen the bonds of simple affection which unite us to our human friends.
(2) This Solution Is Opposed to Apostolic Example.—The example of the apostolic Church points in the same direction; we have already noticed the intensity of natural affection which was displayed even by a man so thoroughly and heroically devoted to Christian service as was the apostle Paul. This example might well be supplemented, and supplemented most emphatically of all by the example which lies at the basis of all of the apostolic Church—the example of Jesus himself. If any man might have been aloof from his fellow men, it was Jesus, yet as a matter of fact, he plainly had his earthly friends.
4. THE TRUE SOLUTION
The true solution of the problem is found in consecration. Human relationships are not to be made the sole aim of life; neither are they to be destroyed; but they are to be consecrated to the service of God. Love for God under normal conditions comes into no competition with love for man, because God takes a place in the life which can never be filled by any human friend; by lopping off human friendships we are not devoting ourselves more fully to God, but merely becoming less efficient servants of him.
5. CHRISTIANITY AND SOCIAL SERVICE
Consecration of human relationships to God does not involve any depreciation of what is known to-day as "social service." On the contrary it gives to social service its necessary basis and motive power. Only when God is remembered is there an eternal outlook in the betterment of human lives; the improvement of social conditions, which gives the souls of men a fair chance instead of keeping them stunted and balked by poverty and disease, is seen by him who believes in a future life and a final judgment and heaven and hell to have value not only for time, but also for eternity, not only for man, but also for the infinite God.
(1) Society or the Individual?—It is sometimes regarded as a reproach that old-fashioned, evangelical Christianity makes its first appeal to the individual. The success of certain evangelists has occasioned considerable surprise in some quarters. Everyone knows, it is said, that the "social gospel" is the really effective modern agency; yet some evangelists with only the very crudest possible social program are accomplishing important and beneficent results! The lesson may well be learned, and it should never be forgotten. Despite the importance of social reforms, the first purpose of true Christian evangelism is to bring the individual man clearly and consciously into the presence of his God. Without that, all else is of but temporary value; the human race is composed of individual souls; the best of social edifices will crumble if all the materials are faulty.
(2) Every Man Should First Correct His Own Faults.—The true attitude of the Christian toward social institutions can be learned clearly from the example of the apostolic Church. The first lesson that the early Christians learned when they faced the ordinary duties of life was to make the best of the institutions that were already existing. There was nothing directly revolutionary about the apostolic teaching. Sharp rebuke, indeed, was directed against the covetousness of the rich. But the significant fact is that such denunciations of wealthy men were addressed to the wealthy men themselves and not to the poor. In the apostolic Church, every man was made to know his own faults, not the faults of other people. The rich were rebuked for their covetousness and selfishness; but the poor were commanded, with just as much vehemence, to labor for their own support. "If any will not work," said Paul, "neither let him eat." II Thess. 3:10. In short, apostolic Christianity sought to remove the evils of an unequal distribution of wealth, not by a violent uprising of the poor against the rich, but by changing the hearts of the rich men themselves. Modern reform movements are often very different; but it cannot be said that the apostolic method is altogether antiquated.