“In business and in work, if you let Christianity stop as you go out of the church door, there is little righteousness in you. You must behave to your fellowmen as you would have them behave to you. You must have pride in your work if you would succeed. A man should get justice for himself, but he should also do justice to others. Help a man to help himself, but do not expend all your efforts in helping a man who will not help himself.” Who said this? Keep reading.
Our nation is soon to turn 250 years-old. We have had 47 presidents in our history, and many have been wonderful with the wonderful hindsight we now possess. I love reading the quotes from some of the special ones and reminiscing about achievements they accomplished while serving as our commander-in-chief. George Washington was first out of the gate. He led us to victory in the American Revolution, gaining independence from England. He refused and rebuked those who wished him to become the King of America. His farewell address should be mandatory for every school in the nation. Abraham Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address. How powerful was that speech? John F. Kennedy with his “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” I can literally sit for an hour and watch clips of Ronald Reagan in those speeches as he roused and lifted our country when economic woes were choking the very life out of our people and the threat of the Soviet Union was still a real thing. My heart broke three times during those years. I sat in the floor of our little trailer the day he was almost assassinated, I was sorrowful the day he left office, and my heart hurt the day he died. In the times in which our presidents serve, sometimes they say things that are controversial. Sometimes Presidents crawdad with their words and actions, but sometimes, the man in the office has the courage to say things just because they are right.
Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th President. Mr. Roosevelt was called the “Most Interesting American.” He’s the man that said “speak softly and carry a big stick.” I smile even as I write those words. He is also the man who gave our opening quote. It was delivered at a church dedication. Why mention him this February? We usually associate February with Valentine’s Day and love. Never does a February arrive that my first thought is “I love the church.” I have preached about it, written about it, and talked with individuals about it. I love the church because my Jesus loves it and died for it. The best things that have ever happened to me have revolved around the church and its things. It doesn’t get mentioned in most secular history books, but Teddy Roosevelt was a Christian and loved the church. When attending Harvard, he taught Sunday School and often would speak impromptu about the Lord when asked to testify. A favorite story of mine about Teddy Roosevelt is an article he wrote for the Ladies Home Journal, along with several other publications, “10 Reasons Why a Man Should Go to Church.” The essay was published in 1917. I first came across this published article at least 30 years ago and have never forgotten it. Here are some of the highlights. I’ll underline a couple of things I really want you to hold on to.
“In the actual world, a churchless community, a community where men have abandoned and scoffed at or ignored their religious needs, is a community on the rapid downgrade.
Church work and church attendance mean the cultivation of the habit of feeling some responsibility for others and the sense of braced moral strength, which prevents a relaxation of one’s own moral fiber.
There are enough holidays for most of us that can quite properly be devoted to pure holiday making. Sundays differ from other holidays, among other ways, in the fact that there are 52 of them every year. On Sunday, go to church.
Yes, I know all the excuses. I know that one can worship the Creator and dedicate oneself to good living in a grove of trees, or by a running brook, or in one’s own house, just as well as in church. But I also know as a matter of cold fact the average man does not thus worship or thus dedicate himself. If he strays from church, he does not spend his time in good works or lofty meditation. He looks over the colored supplement of the newspaper.
He may not hear a good sermon at church. But unless he is very unfortunate, he will hear a sermon by a good man who, with his good wife, is engaged all the week long in a series of wearing, humdrum, and important tasks for making hard lives a little easier.
He will listen to and take part in reading some beautiful passages from the Bible. And if he is not familiar with the Bible, he has suffered a loss.
He will probably take part in singing some good hymns.
He will meet and nod to, or speak to, good quiet neighbors. He will come away feeling a little more charitably toward all the world, even toward those excessively foolish young men who regard churchgoing as rather a soft performance.
I advocate a man’s joining in church works for the sake of showing his faith by his works.
The man who does not in some way, active or not, connect himself with some active, working church misses many opportunities for helping his neighbors, and therefore, incidentally, for helping himself.”
Imagine the fire storm that would take place if we had a President that uttered those words today? In the past 50 years, if a President said something of that nature, there would be segments of the “aristocracy” and lunatic wings going into anaphylactic shock. I for one would love to see it. If you are a Christian, don’t check your Christianity at the door! Teddy Roosevelt’s favorite Bible verse was Micah 6:8, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good: and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” If you don’t have a life’s verse this would be a good one to adopt.