Things That Happen
A certain loving wife approached her ever-loving husband with the familiar, "I'm going to the store; do you happen to have a ten?" She was stopped short by the reply. "No, I do not happen to have a ten: I have ten dollars because I work hard for them, am careful with my expenses, and save some for a rainy day -- but I don't just happen to have it!"
She got the money anyhow, so that little bit of philosophy was all but wasted -except that it says something very important in many other fields. Do the events of today just happen, or are they the fruits of our yesterdays? Some observant fellow remarked, "Have you noticed how lucky the honest, hard-working people seem to be?" Now I wonder why that is???
I have heard a jillion (more or less) complaints from people in some sort of trouble -- "I wasn't doing a thing--iust sitting there at the bar:" Poor innocent characters -- at the wrong place with the wrong people and the wrong outlook on life. And then this terrible thing "just happened;:" The Psalmist said, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the wicked, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of scoffers--" (Psm.1:1)
Christians don't "just happen" to turn back; churches don't "just happen" to become liberal and digressive. They move in that direction, by attitude, by association, even by silence, for long periods before they embrace the error openly.
When brethren say a church's "only fault" is support of some benevolent society -and "surely such a good work could not lead them far astray"-they are overlooking the attitude that is the far greater fault. Does my conception of "good" allow me to ignore Cod's plan for the organizational structure of His church?? Such careless disrespect for His word in one point is hound to open the door for further departures.
Later, when that church embraces other aspects of the social gospel-like church support of colleges -- the old timers will shake their heads and say, "Just don't see how it happened:"