India's Problem, Krishna or Christ Part 15

This missionary society should be in close touch with the denomination or body of Christians which has organized and maintains it. It should be plastic to the touch and will of its const.i.tuency and should seek in every way to be at the same time a faithful exponent of the thought and ambition of the churches, and a leader and a source of new inspiration and light to them on missionary problems. This society should scrupulously avoid, on the one hand, the danger of too much independence and of a purpose to shape the missionary policy of the churches; and, on the other, the equally serious evil of dragging, or of declining to move a step without the direct intimation, command or leadership of the churches. There has been a time in the history of the American Board when the one evil const.i.tuted its danger; at the present time it would seem as if the other danger seriously threatened it.

It is of much importance that the foreign missionary benevolences of a church should be wisely administered _as a whole_. When different missionary societies of a denomination appeal, as they do at present, to our churches for funds to support the missionary cause in foreign lands, it is of great importance that moneys received by these different bodies should be appropriated wisely. They should be brought together both for unity of results and for economy of expenditure on the mission field. My observation convinces me that, for want of a wise union or correlation of our missionary agencies at home the various departments of the work (of the Congregationalists, for instance) on the mission field are very unequally supported, and an unwise distribution of the benevolences of the churches follows as a result. A previous, full consideration, by a competent general committee of finance, in America, should be had of the needs of the various departments of each mission and of the distribution of all the funds collected for that mission by the various societies; and they should be carefully distributed in accordance with the urgency of those needs respectively.

These missionary societies should aim to cultivate in the churches the spirit of missions as a _Christian principle_. Advocates of the missionary cause strongly feel that the interest of the Church in missionary work today is too little based upon the real and fundamental principle of missionary work as a necessity of the life of the Church itself, and too much dependent upon exciting narrative, tearful appeal and poetic romance.

The cultivation of the missionary principle and the inculcation of the doctrine of the privilege and beauty of supporting missions, apart from any impa.s.sioned appeals or tragic events, is one of the _desiderata_ of the Church today. It is a morbid condition of the mind of the Church which demands exciting narrative and hysterical appeal in order to arouse it to its duty in this matter; and it also tends to create a standard of missionary advocacy which is neither manly nor sufficiently careful to balance well the facts and data of missionary work as it is found upon the field. There is considerable danger of accepting, today, only that form of missionary appeal which is directed to the emotion and which abounds in mental excitement rather than that which furnishes food for sober thought.

The consequence is that this advocacy is in danger of becoming a producer of more heat than light-of more emotion than intelligent conviction.

The recent movement towards leading certain churches to take up definite portions of the work in foreign lands and to support, each a missionary for itself, has in it much to commend it to our acceptance. It certainly has the merit of definiteness in purpose, work and prayer; and this brings added interest and a growing sense of responsibility to each church which takes up the work. If a man (or a church) finds his interest in missions waning as a principle of Christian activity the best thing for him, perhaps, is to come into touch with a missionary or a mission agent on the field. By supporting him or a department of work conducted by him, and by being kept frequently informed of the work which he is supporting, new fuel is constantly added to that missionary interest which thereby develops into zeal and enthusiasm. The method has apostolic sanction and partakes of the simplicity of primitive missionary endeavour.

But this method should not be too exclusively pursued. It should not interfere with a broader outlook upon missions and a general sympathy with, and support of, the _common_ work. And all of the work should be done through the missionary society which alone can rightly coordinate and unify the whole work of the particular mission.

Faith Missions, so called, represent a genuine and a worthy spirit among many of G.o.d's people today. To them the somewhat lumbering business methods of the large missionary organizations savour too much of worldly prudence and seem subversive of the deepest Christian faith. They maintain that the old method is one that looks too much to men and too little to G.o.d for support. And they also claim that the missionary of such a society has little opportunity for the exercise of highest faith in G.o.d both for himself and his work. These new missions, therefore, have come into existence practically, if not really, as a protest against modern methods of conducting missionary work. They may do much good if they exercise some restraint upon missionary societies in this matter. Probably it is needed.

Many believe that there is an excessive tendency among the directors of missionary societies, at the present day, to consider this great enterprise simply as a _business_ enterprise, and that, in the committee rooms, faith has yielded too much to prudence, and the wings of missionary enterprise have been too much clipped by worldly considerations. How far their reasoning is true, I will not decide. Their claim is not without a basis of truth. The financial embarra.s.sment brings to the Missionary Society today, much more than it used to, discouragement and a halt; with the result that the missions are more than ever before crippled by retrenchment and home churches are resting satisfied with smaller attainments and are forgetting the old watchwords of progress and advance.

"Faith Missions" are created by and meet the needs of a certain cla.s.s of people in the church whose spiritual life is intense and who crave romance in faith and in life. The missionaries of these societies tire of the great organizations of the church and are usually men who are restless under any stiff method or extensive system in Christian work.

But very few such missionaries meet with permanent success. The glamour of the "faith life," so called, does not abide with them. Few men have the staying, as well as the supporting, faith of a George Muller; and yet every missionary in this cla.s.s should be a hero of faith-a man with that special gift and power from G.o.d which will maintain itself and go on working under the most adverse circ.u.mstances. And this is what the ordinary "faith missionary" does not possess in an exceptional degree.

As a matter of fact, "Faith Missions" are decidedly wasteful of means in the conduct of their work. If, in some ways, they practice more economy, in other matters of greatest importance, there is deplorable wastefulness.

For, they are wanting both in continuity and in wise management and sane direction. As history has shown, they also easily degenerate into very prudential methods and sensational forms of advertis.e.m.e.nt which destroy the very faith which the missions were supposed to express and conserve.

There is no less faith-rather is there more-exercised by members of well-organized missions who depend upon G.o.d's supply through the regular channel of a society. For they can give themselves entirely to their work of faith and love, confident that G.o.d will provide for their wants and the wants of their work; while the "faith missionary" has to devote much time in anxious thought and in skillful and dubious methods of appeal to secure the means of support.

One only needs to look at India today and there study the results of these two cla.s.ses of missions in order to see which method is the more economical and the more owned of G.o.d.

The Missionary Boards should keep in close touch and living communication with the missions which they support. The mission to which I have the honour of belonging has not had the privilege, until the last year, of receiving an official visitation from any member of our Board for nearly forty-five years. That a society should aim, by its officials in one city, to conduct, for so many years, a mission among its antipodes without having one representative among its directors who has gazed upon that land, seen that people or studied on the ground any of its problems, seems remarkable, and wants in that sagacity which usually directs us as a people. By frequent visitations alone can such a society expect to be able to direct wisely and lead successfully its missions. For, it is highly desirable, both in the interests of the mission itself, of the society and of the home churches that at least some of the directors of the society should know personally and well each mission supported through them. At no greater intervals than five years such a visitation should be planned for every mission. I am confident that they would add largely to the efficiency of our missionary work and increase the interest of home churches in their foreign work. But such visiting committees should be willing to learn and should not come out with preconceived ideas of what ought to be done, nor with bottled and labelled remedies for all the ills of the mission. Some missions are sore today because of a visitation many years ago, since it was not conceived in the spirit of highest wisdom and teachableness.

2. The missions themselves also should be well organized for work. The success of a mission will depend, in no small degree, upon the character of its organization. In India, today, there is a great variety of missionary organizations. They range from the almost purely autocratic ones, established by Christians of the European Continent, to the thoroughly democratic and largely autonomous ones of the American Missions. German and Danish Missions are mostly controlled by the home committees of their missionary societies. American Missions have a large degree of autonomy in the conduct of their affairs. British Missions divide equally with their home Society the right and privilege of conducting their affairs. It is certainly not wise that a committee of gentlemen thousands of miles distant from the mission field should autocratically direct and control, even to matters of detail, the affairs of their mission. The missionaries on the ground should not only have the right to express their opinions, but should also have a voice in conducting the affairs of the mission for whose furtherance they have given their life, whose interests they dearly love and whose affairs they are the most competent to understand.

Nor yet should a mission be entirely free from foreign guidance and suggestion. Too much power given to a mission is as really a danger as too little power. It is well for a mission that it should have the aid of men who have large missionary interests under their guidance and who are in full sympathy with home churches. The ideal mission is that which, on the one hand, enjoys a large degree of autonomy in the conduct of its affairs, and yet which, on the other hand, is wisely supported and strengthened by the restraining influence, suggestion and even the occasional initiative of a well-formed home committee.

The relation of the mission to its own members should always be firm and its authority kindly and wisely exercised. There may arise a serious danger of too much individualism in a mission. A mission which does not have a policy of its own and conduct its whole work in harmony with that policy, and so control the work of each of its members as to make it fully contribute to the realization of its aims, will not attain unto the largest success in its efforts. When each missionary is given absolute independence to develop his own work on his own lines it will soon be found that whatever mission policy there may have been will be crushed out by rampant individualism. And when each man is at liberty to follow his own inclination and to direct his work according to his own sweet will, mission work will have lost its h.o.m.ogeneity. Each section and department of the mission will be changed in direction and method of work upon the arrival of every new missionary; and thus every blessing of continuity in work and of a wholesome mission policy will be lost. I know of missions (American, of course) which suffer seriously on this account. I also know of other missions which are seriously affected by the opposite difficulty.

The mission controls its work so completely, even to its last detail, that it leaves to the individual missionary no freedom of action and no power of initiative. The mission, in solemn conclave, decides even the character and quant.i.ty of food which must be given each child in a boarding school conducted by one of its missionaries! A control which reaches into such petty details as this, is not only a waste of time to the mission itself; it seriously compromises the dignity, and destroys the sense of responsibility, of the individual missionary. It takes away from him the power of initiative and thus largely diminishes his efficiency.

The ideal mission is that which gives to each of its members some lat.i.tude for judgment and direction, but which has a definite policy of its own and sees to it that this policy is, in the main, respected and supported by every one of its missionaries.

It is an interesting fact, in the study of the missions of India, that the American Missions, on the whole, represent the largest degree, both of mission autonomy and of missionary individualism. The farther we pa.s.s east from America the more do we see mission autonomy yield to the control of the home society; and the independence of the missionary lost in the absoluteness of mission supervision.

How far shall missions give the power of franchise to their lady members in the conduct of mission affairs? The last few years has seen this question agitated by many missions. They differ largely in this matter.

The Madura Mission has settled the problem by giving to the women absolute equality with the men. This, probably, is an ideal solution. But it should be accompanied by a similar movement in the missionary societies at Boston. The position at present is anomalous in that mission; for while it has given to both s.e.xes equal rights of franchise and is therefore a unit in administrative power, the societies at home which support the general, and the woman's parts of the mission activity are entirely separate from and independent of each other. It is not too much to hope that, at an early date, the relations of the home societies may be changed towards unity of action, to correspond with the present situation in the mission field.

The relation of missions contiguous to each other in foreign lands is a subject which is increasingly engaging the thought of all missionaries. In the past, missions of different denominations lived largely isolated from, and absolutely indifferent to, each other's welfare. There was much friction and jealousy, coupled with a readiness to disregard each other's feelings and a willingness to take advantage of each other's weaknesses. I am glad to say that that era is gradually giving way to a time of better feeling, when sympathy and appreciation, fellowship and cooperation are becoming the watchwords. During the last few years marked progress has been seen in India in the line of amity and comity between the Protestant Missions of the land. Recently, a large Conference of Christian Missionaries was convened in Madras representing the thirty-five Protestant Missions of South India. Missions which formerly held aloof from their sister missions and declined to fraternize in any way with them, came on this occasion and heartily joined in the universal good feeling and desire for fellowship among all. Cooperation was the watchword heard in all discussions at that great Conference; and since that day increasing effort has been put forth to bring several of the more nearly related of these missions, not only into cooperation in work, but also into organic unity. For instance the missions of the Free Church of Scotland and of the Dutch Reformed Church of America have met, through their representatives, and have perfected a scheme of ecclesiastical union and of cooperation in work. And already expressions of hearty desire have been made that the missions of the Congregational denominations unite with these Presbyterian Missions in this Scheme of Union. I believe that it will require but a short time for the perfecting of such a union among all these kindred missions. Thus and thus only can we hope to teach to our native Christians the growing oneness of G.o.d's people; and thus also do we hope to reduce considerably the expenses of the work in that land. For, by thus uniting our forces, we shall be able to reduce the number of our special inst.i.tutions for the training of our agency and the development of our work. Nothing can further the cause of economy in mission lands today more than the union of mission inst.i.tutions now built on denominational lines and expensively conducted in all the missions. I believe in denominationalism. It has its mission in the world and has done much good.

But a narrow, selfish, denominationalism on the mission field, and in the presence both of the infant native church and of the inquiring Hindu community, is one of the most serious evils that can befall the cause of Christ in India.

We should all pray for the day when all narrowness in this matter shall yield to the broadest sympathy, love and cooperation. And, perhaps, the best way to answer our prayers in this matter is by furthering the n.o.ble cause of Christian union among the denominations and churches here at home.

The old ill.u.s.tration, taken from the rice fields of South India, is apt and instructive. These fields are small and divided by low banks. The banks serve the purpose of separating the fields of different persons, of furnishing water channels and of facilitating the irrigation. When the crops are young and low every field is seen marked out by its banks. But as the crops grow the banks are hidden and we see nothing but one great expense of waving grain ready for the harvest. So, while the useful, denominational banks which have divided us in mission lands are still there we thank G.o.d that they are being hidden more, year by year, as the harvest of Christian love and fellowship is approaching.

3. The organic structure of a mission in the early stages of its growth is a very simple thing; as it achieves increasing success the necessities of the situation compel it to add to its efficiency by widening its scope and increasing its functions and multiplying its departments of work. A hundred years ago, or less, as the missionary entered virgin soil and began to cultivate a new mission field, he devoted himself, almost exclusively, to the work of preaching the gospel to the heathen. Presently the gospel message found entrance into the hearts of a few and they were formed into a congregation. At once he began to train this infant congregation and selected one or more of the most promising of its number for special instruction and initiation into the duties of Christian service. He then took this nucleus of a native agency with himself on preaching tours until new accessions to the faith were gained and new congregations established. As the congregations multiplied his work as an evangelist had to give way, in part, to his efforts to train an adequate native agency to guide and nourish the growing Christian community. There was also added to this the pastoral care and superintendence of congregations new and old. Later on he felt the need of schools to train the young of his congregations; he also began to realize the value of educational work for non-Christians as a means of presenting to them the gospel of Christ. Thus a system of schools was gradually established, both for Christians and for non-Christians which not only required his care, but also demanded a force of Christian teachers adequate to this increasing work. So, inst.i.tutions for the systematic training of teachers and preachers had to be established. Under the influence of these schools intelligence grew apace and was suitably met and satisfied by a developing Christian literature-a literature which met the needs of the Christian and heathen alike.

Moreover as he studied the physical condition of the surrounding people he was appalled by the prevalence of disease and the inadequacy, yea, even the evil, of the system of medical treatment which obtained there; and so his heart was drawn out to the need of making some provision for modern medical aid. As the community continued to grow and the number of young people multiplied, in church and congregation alike, he became impressed with the need of organizations whereby this latent youthful power might be conserved, increased and utilized for the Glory of G.o.d.

In this way the primitive missions of the past have actually developed into the powerful organizations of the present. One must study, on the spot, one of the larger missions of India today in order to appreciate what a complicated organism it is. He then will see how it has sent out its ramifications into all departments of life and of Christian activity.

It has laid its hands, in organized power, upon every department of Christian work which can be made to contribute to the furtherance of the cause of Christ in that field. In this way have come into existence the following departments, which are represented in more or less fullness in all the missions of India today.

(_a_) The Evangelistic Department.

This, as we have seen, is the oldest as it is the most fundamental, of all organized missionary activities. And it should retain its prominence in missionary effort. It was preeminently the method of Christ. He was the Heavenly Messenger proclaiming that the Kingdom of G.o.d was at hand. He was first of all the great Preacher; "and the people everywhere heard Him gladly." The missionary of the Cross never feels that he is more directly in the footsteps of his Master than when he is preaching to the unchurched and Christless ma.s.ses. There is to this work a joy and an exhilaration which are peculiarly its own, even though it is a work fraught with physical weariness. I have felt, in the prosecution of this work, more satisfaction than almost in any other. Not that I regard it as the most successful form of labour. It is not. Even as a direct evangelizing agency, I believe that it must yield precedence in India to school-work.

The faithful Christian teacher is now a more successful evangelist in that land than the preacher himself. And yet the preacher reaches and offers light and gracious opportunity to the more benighted and the more neglected members of the community. Without making special choice of any favoured cla.s.s he sows broadcast the seed, preaches the divine Word, praying that the Lord himself, who also preached to the common people, bestow his richest blessing upon the labour which he has done in his name.

This work of preaching Christ to those who know him not, must be carried on by missionaries and agents. It is usually the custom to expect that every mission agent shall devote some of his time in visiting neighbouring villages and in gathering the people together and in presenting to them, in all simplicity, the message of salvation. Frequently these teachers, catechists and pastors take with them some of the members of their congregations to help them, by song and by the influence of their presence, to present their message effectively to the people; and thus the Christians also receive a most useful training in this elementary part of Christian service.

From time to time special itineracies are conducted by a band of mission agents who will spend a week or more in traversing a whole region, preaching in every village and street as they pa.s.s along their journey.

These itineracies are conducted in various ways, but are always most helpful in the evangelization of the district.

Some of the best organized missions are adding emphasis to this work by devoting missionaries specially to the conduct of it. These men gather bands of native preachers around them who spend their time and strength in preaching and in disseminating gospel truth in the neglected regions of their fields.

Theological seminaries also give a part of their time to this excellent work. The seminary, with which I am connected, gave, during the year 1900, five weeks to village work. Teachers and students travelled hundreds of miles among the villages of the neglected part of the field and carried the message to more than 50,000 people. This was not only a joyful service, it was also a most helpful experience to the young students while undergoing their theological training.

But, as the native Church, in a mission, grows in numbers and in intelligence, the work of evangelism becomes its special duty. If the Church does not enter, with added joy and power, into this department of its work; and if it does not voluntarily a.s.sume, with ever increasing fullness, this form of Christian activity, there is something radically wrong about it. It should be the prayer and purpose of the missionary that every church and congregation established by him become a centre of evangelistic power, whence will radiate divine light and heat into adjacent hamlets and villages. I am glad to say that, so far as my observation goes, the native Church is undertaking this work with increasing zeal and with a growing impulse from within, rather than by pressure from without. In the Madura Mission, through the Home Missionary Society and its auxiliaries, and through the organizations of the native women, at least eighteen men and women are being supported for this especial work of evangelism. And the number of members of churches, who engage voluntarily in this work, is every year growing.

The character of this preaching is a matter of importance. In India it should be, largely, if not exclusively, constructive rather than destructive. Forces destructive to a belief in Hinduism and its numberless superst.i.tions have multiplied wonderfully in that land during the last fifty years. So that there is no necessity, today, that the Christian preacher spend any of his time in attacking the errors and evils of the ancestral faith of the people. He should give himself to the more agreeable and blessed work of imparting the living truth of the Gospel in all directness and simplicity. The destructive agencies of the civilization, knowledge and religious inst.i.tutions of the West have accomplished their work and have made straight the pathway of the Gospel Messenger into the mind and heart of the people. Thus, it is not the abuse of the old, but the exposition of the new, faith which should occupy the time of the preacher to Hindus today. It has been my own custom, and I always urge it upon my students, to avoid the temptation of attacking Hinduism, and to preach a simple Gospel of salvation.

(_b_) Pastoral Work.

The rapidly increasing number of churches and congregations has added much to the pastoral duties of a mission. Formerly missionaries themselves acted as pastors and shepherded the flocks in the villages. Even today some of the German missions have missionary pastors. But this is now exceptional. Missions generally have learned that, for native congregations, native pastors are essential. They not only are better adapted, by nature and by training, to meet the needs of the native Church; they are also the only ones that are within the range of the financial possibilities of self-support. And self-support must be ever held before the church as a high future blessing and duty of the Christian community.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Theological Students With Their Families.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Group Of Madura Pastors.]

And yet the day when the pastoral work can be effectively and satisfactorily done by the natives themselves has hardly arrived. Few native pastors today, and much fewer catechists, are competent, both on the score of character and of independence, to wisely direct the affairs of their people and to efficiently preserve church discipline. This is a sad confession to make; but truth compels me to make it-a truth emphasized more than once by long experience among them. A few years ago a church within my jurisdiction wished to expel a leading member whom it knew to be a G.o.dless man. He had become a curse to the community, and nothing but excommunication seemed wise or possible. I visited the church for the purpose of a.s.sisting the pastor in the administration of the Lord's Supper and of studying the general condition of the church. And we attempted, congregationally, to discipline this member. The church was asked to vote, in case it thought wise, to excommunicate the man; but not a hand was raised. The matter was further explained to them, and all those who were in favour of his expulsion were requested to raise the hand. Again not a hand was raised! The pastor, thereupon, explained the situation by stating that the people were afraid of the man and dared not vote against him even though he was not present. The pastor was himself equally timid in the situation. Thereupon I asked those of them who desired that _I_ should act in this matter _for the church_ to raise the hand; whereupon every hand of pastor and people was immediately raised; and I fulfilled their wish by excommunicating, in their name, the evil member!

This may or may not be Congregationalism; but it ill.u.s.trates the fact which I am now dwelling upon, viz.: that for the present, both pastor and people are unequal to the severe duties of church discipline. Every month the missionary is confronted with similar situations which reveal to him the necessity of his presence as a superintending pastor and the urgent need of his wisdom to direct the affairs of the church, his firmness to put an end to many impossible situations, and his inspiration to tone up and give backbone to pastors and other agents connected with him. It should not be forgotten that, while the infant community connected with each mission has many admirable traits of piety and of character, it is still the victim of great weakness in matters of purity, of fellowship and of Christian peace. So that if the Church is to be preserved from many intolerable evils and brought into the n.o.ble traits of a Christian character which will impress itself upon the non-Christian community there must be firm guidance, stern repression of evil and wise inspiration to good on the part of the native pastoral force under the bracing influence of missionary guidance. To those who are conversant with the condition of the native Church in India there is a supreme conviction that its greatest danger lies in the irregularity of the life of its members and in its want of firm discipline and the preservation of purity rather than in the fewness of accessions from heathenism. Hence the importance of the work of shepherding Christ's feeble flock in that land. The training of suitable native agents for this work is a duty of paramount importance; and the training must be continued through their life by the presence of the missionary to guide, restrain and inspire.

(_c_) The Educational Department.