Christianity and Comfortable Religion

✔ Writing in the Victoria Colonist, January 28, 1961, clergyman Frank S. Morley lamented the softness of modern-day ministers compared to heroic first-century Christians. “Reading a religious journal the other day,” he wrote, “I came on some advertisements worded to lure ministers to church vacancies. One boasted ‘Furnished manse, oil-heated . . . paved roads, modern schools.’ Another: ‘Beautiful church, excellent manse—10 minutes drive to university.’ So they went, ‘fully furnished manse,’ ‘comfortable, brick, oil-heated manse,’ ‘a comfortable parsonage, oil-heated, new garage, close to high and public schools.’”

Morley called to mind that when Paul received a call to go to Macedonia, “lacking the cautious approach of his successors today, Paul got hold of Barnabas and ‘immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia.’” (Acts 16:10) They suffered mobbings, beatings, imprisonments, deprivations, hardship and yet rejoiced in their ministerial assignments. How different are modern clergymen from first-century Christians!