Do we still dwell in the shadows...
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Do we still dwell in the shadows of Billy Sunday? Sunday was a professional baseball player from 1883 to 1891 for teams in Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia. He was converted through the street preaching of Harry Monroe of the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago. He left a $5,000 a year salary as a baseball player for a $75 yearly salary as a YMCA evangelist. He was an evangelist from 1893 to 1935. It is estimated that several hundred-thousand people walked the "sawdust trail" to attend one of his services. His sermons, as with so many other evangelists of his day, focused on the degenerate state of man. In his sermon, "The Devil's Boomerangs," often referred to as "Hot Cakes off the Griddle," opened with this oration: "You can always get the truth out of the Bible. Of course you can always find truth elsewhere, but never from so clear a source. Nothing was ever printed more true than 'Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap.' God will not coerce and attempt to force any man to be a Christian. When he dies, however, he will be judged for his sins. He must face the day of judgment. Do as you please. Lie, steal, booze, fight, prostitute. God won't stop you. Do as you please until the undertaker comes and puts you in a coffin and then the Lord will have his say. Lives of pleasure shall have an end, the wicked shall not live half their days." Thus began a litany against every carnal sin known to humanity, probably none of which were exercised by anyone in his audience. This, of course, made them eager to hear more. The message would have fallen on deaf ears if he preached against the real destructive forces of sin practiced by most: gossip, indifference, anger, haughtiness, selfishness, callousness.
We need to take seriously Billy Sunday's condemnation of sin and perhaps be a bit more receptive to his descriptive language of judgment. But where we need to part ways is on the focus of what we call sin. Sunday did mention behaviors that are unacceptable, but most that he discussed is far distant from this congregation.
Paul had a better summation of what it means to be "worldly," that is, a sinner, when he spoke of jealousy and quarreling. Paul in his letter to the church in Corinth wrote, "You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?" Let us bring the meaning of sin back into the pews where we sit and be less concerned about prostitution and insider trading, and more concerned about gossip, self-centeredness, anger, bullishness, the demeaning of others, being exclusive in our activities, hording, selfishness, and all those common unsavory personality traits that we all harbor. It is time to surrender the childishness of being worldly and start acting like mature adults.
We need to take seriously Billy Sunday's condemnation of sin and perhaps be a bit more receptive to his descriptive language of judgment. But where we need to part ways is on the focus of what we call sin. Sunday did mention behaviors that are unacceptable, but most that he discussed is far distant from this congregation.
Paul had a better summation of what it means to be "worldly," that is, a sinner, when he spoke of jealousy and quarreling. Paul in his letter to the church in Corinth wrote, "You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?" Let us bring the meaning of sin back into the pews where we sit and be less concerned about prostitution and insider trading, and more concerned about gossip, self-centeredness, anger, bullishness, the demeaning of others, being exclusive in our activities, hording, selfishness, and all those common unsavory personality traits that we all harbor. It is time to surrender the childishness of being worldly and start acting like mature adults.
