and often the leaders themselves complacently watch the dying embers of their spiritual fire, occasionally warming their hands in a brief revival.

True Christianity will always be in the minority in this present world, but it must be vigorous, emulating the early Christians. Comparing Jehovah’s witnesses with Dr. Buchman’s Oxford Group, one writer comments: “Religious conviction takes on many forms, but that of the Jehovah’s Witnesses was so much more strenuous than that of the Groups, that the witness of the latter often seemed to be little more than the pleasures of the long week-end.”⁷ This past year a peak of 47,126 ministers was reached in the British Isles, compared with 6,861 in 1939. In numbers, therefore, Jehovah’s witnesses have in twenty-one years surpassed some twenty-one other minority denominations including the Quakers, Unitarians, Mormons and Seventh-day Adventists.

Jesus said concerning the need for more teachers and preachers: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. Therefore, beg the Master of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.” (Matt. 9:37, 38) How many of the minorities in Britain today show any sign of begging for more workers? Often the existing church members are not found really working in the harvest themselves, not even recognizing the time of harvest. Jehovah’s witnesses call regularly on most homes in Britain and, though still a minority group, they see the fruits of their harvest labors.

No matter what your religion may be, whether a member of a minority group or not, can you see the fruits of progressive Christianity manifesting themselves? Is vigorous growth to maturity evident in your denomination? Are all its members fulfilling Jesus’ command to “go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations”? If not, your search for the true way of worship is still on.—Matt. 28:19.

REFERENCES

¹ The Customs of the Churches of Christ, 1908, page 8.

² A Treatise on the Lord’s Supper, with Biography, by John Glas, Edition of 1883, page 11.

³ Historical Sketches of the Rise of the Scots Old Independent and the Inghamite Churches, 1814 (Copy in the British Museum).

⁴ A Discourse on the Faith and Hope of the Gospel, by B. Ingham, page 5.

⁵ The Flame, Vol. 21, No. 4, 1955.

⁶ The Scripture Standard, Vol. 20, No. 10, October, 1954.

⁷ Religion in Britain Since 1900, by G. S. Spinks, page 213.

Not at Home in Christendom

In answer to the question, “What would happen if Christ appeared among us today?” cleric Ralph W. Sockman, Christ Church, New York city, said: “The public wants a more comfortable religion than Christ came to give. Jesus was no salesman offering a way to pleasant social adjustment and financial success. Sensation-seeking crowds and superficial-minded churchgoers would find Jesus disappointing and cease to listen.

“What judgment would Christ pass on our civilization? He would say what he said to his own capital city of Jerusalem: that we do not know and practice the things that make for our true peace. He would condemn our excessive materialism which blinds us to the things that are invisible and eternal. He would scathingly denounce our narrow nationalism, our social castes, and our racial barriers. Christ would not feel at home in many of the churches erected in his name, because they have allowed ecclesiasticism and worldliness to destroy the simplicity and sincerity of his original gospel.”—Cosmopolitan, December, 1958.