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Fundamentals of Prosperity

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<h2 class="chapter_title">X Where the Church Falls Down</h2> Become saturated with Christ’s principles, be clean and upright, coöperate with one another, have faith, serve, trust the Almighty for the results, and you will never have to worry about property. “If you will do these things, all of the others will be given to you.” There are two groups of people who criticize the Church. First, there are those who claim great love for their fellow-men, but do not go to church because it is allied with the property interests of the community. I believe that to be the fundamental reason why the wage workers, labour leaders, socialists and radicals are not interested in the Church. They believe that the Church is too closely allied with property. I have been severely criticized myself for presenting the Church as a defender of property and as a means of making your home, your business and your securities safer. Such critics are perfectly conscientious and the Church suffers much because those people, in their love for humanity, are antagonistic to the Church. The second group are those defenders of property who look upon the Church as impractical; who consider the Golden Rule as something all right for the minister to talk about on Sundays, but something useless to try to follow during the week. Those men criticize the Church for preaching love, for talking the Sermon on the Mount, and for being what they say is “impractical.” So the Church suffers to-day by having both of these groups stand off alone. Neither of them is interested in the Church, the most important organization in America. It is the Church which has created America, which has developed our schools, which has created our homes, which has built our cities, which has developed our industries, which has made our hospitals, charities, and which has done everything that is worth while in America. Yet to-day, the Church is the most discarded industry of all, because it has not the coöperation of either of the above groups,—the radical group which claims to be interested only in humanity and not in property, and the propertied group which frankly says that it is primarily interested in property and not humanity. It seems that we should stop side-stepping this question. Instead we should face it squarely and answer both of these criticisms. My answer is as follows: Jesus was not interested in property, per se. There is no question but that Jesus had no interest in property. These things which look so important to us,—houses, roads, taxation, buildings, fields, crops, foreign trade, ships,—it is very evident were insignificant to Jesus. When any of Jesus’ disciples came to Him to settle some property question, He pushed them aside and said He was too busy to consider it. I am sure that if Jesus were here to-day, He would tell us all that we are idiots for striving so to accumulate things—building ourselves bigger houses, getting bigger bank accounts and more automobiles. Hence, when the socialist or the radical or the labour leader complains to me, I frankly admit this fact. Without doubt the Church should emphasize that property of itself is of no value, and the only things worth while in life are happiness and the health and the freedom which come from living an upright, simple life. On the other hand, and this point I wish to emphasize just as strongly, Jesus took the position throughout His teachings, that if His disciples would simply get saturated with His fundamentals, if they would be clean and upright, if they would coöperate with one another, if they would have faith to serve and trust the Almighty for the results, they would never have to worry about property. Property would take care of itself. Jesus emphasized, first, that they should not think of property; but He always closed His discourses by some such statement as this: “If you will do these things, all of the others will be given to you.” It is absolutely impossible for any individual to develop the above fundamentals of prosperity,—faith, integrity, industry and brotherly kindness—without being successful. I care not whether he is a doctor, teacher, banker, lawyer, business man or manufacturer. That same thing is true of groups and of nations. It is fundamental law, “Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.” Those who serve will be served; those who knock will be knocked; those who boost will be boosted. We are paid in the coin that we give. We are forgiven as we forgive. If we are friendly, we will make friends. Statistics show that the Church is the greatest factor in the worldly success of men, groups and nations. Some readers may have seen a book written by Professor Carver of Harvard entitled, “The Religion Worth Having.” In that book the author discusses the various denominations of Christianity. Then he says most conclusively that the religion worth having, the religion that will survive, is the religion which produces the most. Yet this production will not come by seeking production per se, but rather by the development of these fundamental characteristics which have been described. Try as you will you cannot separate the factor of religion from economic development. In the work conducted by my Organization at Wellesley Hills we study the trend of religious interest as closely as we do the condition of the banks or the supply of and demand for commodities. Statistics of church membership form one of the best barometers of business conditions. We have these figures charted back for the past fifty years. Whenever this line of religious interest turns downward and reaches a low level, history shows that it is time to prepare for a reaction and depression in business conditions. Every great panic we have ever had has been foreshadowed by a general decline in observance of religious principles. On the other hand, when the line of religious interest begins to climb and the nation turns again to the simple mode of living laid by in the Bible, then it is time to make ready for a period of business prosperity. <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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