YOUTH AND A COMPROMISE RELIGION
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—It is the Englishman's privilege, and long may it continue, to run down all those things which he most deeply cares about. The Church inevitably comes in for a good share of his onslaughts. But would it not be as well, for the sake of clear thinking, no less than for the sake of justice, to make quite sure what we mean when we glibly speak of the " Church " ?
Youth really and truly wants a working religion and is not going to be put off with anything less than the genuine article. But youth also knows how to be fair, and is not going to be misled by wild theories of what the " Church " should do, or should not do, when it realises that the leaders of criticism, levelled against the Church, speak and think of the Church as a sort of limited liability company. The Church, surely, is the fellowship of all these men and women and children on earth, together with the Saints who trod this earth before us, who are trying to follow Christ, and not a company of paid prophet-priests whose business it is to make an economic Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
By far the greatest number of so-called Christians are at present standing outside this fellowship and are engaged in throwing mud at it, and attempt to justify their attitude by saying that they would rally round if the " Church " did this or that. They will be so good as to condescend to step into the Kingdom of Heaven when the " Church " has brought a new world order into being ! It would be funny if it were not so terribly serious.
Let those who want to see economic and political changes for the better take their place in the ranks of the Church and try to apply Christian principles to their work-day lives. The Gospel enshrines the marching orders for all Christians, and not until that Gospel is made the rule of your life and of mine will there be any chance of a "New Heaven and a New Earth." The next step does not lie with the Rev. So-and-so ; it rests rather with you and me.
The world has seen many many economic theories and political systems put to the test, and nowhere has it yet seen the Kingdom of Heaven coming to earth as a result of any of them. We are now beginning to realise that no system stands any chance of success unless the Kingdom of Heaven is "among us." In so far, surely, as there is this leaven of the Gospel among us, the Kingdom of Heaven is among us here and now. It is our job, if we be Christians, to draw more men into it. This will not be done by a "blazing incursion in the name of Christ into the politico-economic realm," but rather by adopting Christ's own methods. Nor do I have to wait till there are "no more riches nor poverty" till I can enjoy the fellowship of the Church. I know, from my own experience, that there can be love between rich and poor. In the course of twenty-seven years I have had the privilege of tasting hardship and affluence ; I have lived among University men and I have laboured side by side with sweating navvies ; I have been well off and I have wondered where my next meal was coming from. I have been through a revolution and I have lived in the quiet and peacefulness of an English country parish. I have tried everything from Communism to the "Public-school spirit," but now I am staking my life on Christianity : it is the only unfaked and honest-to-goodness life there is. And as one who is trying to work with the Church rather than outside it, I would say to my fellow-seekers "Don't trust men who urge simple remedies : the world is very sick, but you won't make it well by trying to commit the Church to this or that policy. Christian men in politics is a very different thing from Political Christianity."
There seem to be such masses of people who have got used to being spoon-fed that we are faced today with the great inertia of a people who want someone else to do this or that so that they themselves may enjoy the benefits which they feel sure will accrue. Christianity is a way of life, not a theory. Live that life and men will take notice and join you in turning the world upside-down, and then, but not till then, "all these other things will be added unto you."—
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