Magyar Egyház, 1958 (37. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1958-06-01 / 6-7. szám

MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 9 A CHRISTIAN HAS MANY FACES Some Answers To Several Often Asked Queries. The miserable conduct of some supposedly Christian people brings up the question, “What is a Christian?” A simple answer is not possible, since any definition has many answers, depend­ing upon how you are looking at it. Perhaps the first thing a Christian does is to acknowledge that He is God’s child, along with every man who walks the face of the earth. He realizes how much he has ad admits that if it were not for God’s goodness that he would have nothing. All he is and has is God’s! Secondly, he acknowleges that he, who has received so much freely, is an ungrateful, selfish sinner. There is no place in the church or the scheme of salvation for a man who refuses to admit that he is not the person he is capable to being. Thirdly, he acknowledges that God loves him so much He has done all He could for his sal­vation, even to causing His own beloved Son to die as payment for man’s sins — to serve man’s sentence of death for him. Fourthly, for God’s great love, even though he doesn’t deserve anyhing but Hell, he offers himself in grateful service and gives his entire life to God. He does this, in several ways, for example, by being a Christian homemaker, a Christian at his job, a Christian sport at play, etc. He also does service to God by serving Him in His holy Church, which Christ Himself gave to man as a channel for his labor on God’s be­half. Any sincere Christian wants to praise his Father for His merciful lovingkindness, and he worships him every day and every Sunday. He is proud to tell and sing that He is good. Yes, a Christian must go to church, or he is neglect­ing this responsibility to thank his God. No Christian says, “I’m as good as the next guy.” The Lord is not concerned how he com­pares with other people, but only how he com­pares to the perfection of Christ. It is expected that His people will be better than pagans. To be as good as the next guy is not good enough — he is expected to be a good as God made him capable of being. It is not true, either, that “once a Christian always a Christian”. A person who does not serve and worship his Father is nothing. He is a heathen. Christianity is not a name, but is a condition of life. A Christian is one who walks in the footsteps of Christ who said to all men, “Follow me”. A person who stops following, like the sneaky Judas, is a traitor to his heritage and God. Also, a Christian is a person who knows that earth is not his real home, but only a place where he proves his fitness for heaaven. It is only the path on which the pilgrim walks to his eternal home. All his life and his conduct is guided accordingly. Yes, there are many faces to a Christian. It all depends on how you look at him. Of course, there is no place for two-faced Chris-OUR ECUMENICAL RELATIONS The General Board of the National Council of Churches held its regular spring meeting at Minneapolis, Minn., on June 4-5, 1958. The Hun­garian Reformed Church in America was repre­sented by Dean Gabor Csordás and Andrew I. Kovats who was seated as proxy for the Rev­erend Stephen Szőke. The General Board called on the U.S. govern­ment to take necessary steps — both short and long-term — in stemming the current wave of unemployment, noting the “responsibility of... the government... to use the vast resources available in its fiscal, monetary, public works and other powers when needed as stabilizers”. — The Board in a dramatic message, advocated the control and limitation of all nuclear tests and the development of missiles, satellites and space vehicles by international agreement under a sys­tem of inspection and safeguards under the United Nations as one step toward more funda­mental disarmament negotiations and with a full-scale public information program. — One of the highlights of the meeting was an address delivered by Dr. R. Norris .Wilson, Executive Director of Church World Serivce, who proposed for American churches a broad Christian tech­nical assistance program to attack overriding human problems with “Christian infiltration — slow, but forceful, and healing”. The Board greeted the newly-formed United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. in a message expressing the hope that it “may continue to bear triumphant witness to our common faith”. The following persons have been named re­cently as official representatives of the Hun­garian Reformed Church in America in the var­ious departments of the National Council of the Churches of Christ: Dean Gabor Csordás and the Reverend Stephen Szőke on the General Board; — Bishop Zoltán Beky and Mr. Julius Gombos in the Divi­sion of Christian Life and work; — Dr. Andrew Harsanyi in the Division of Foreign Missions; — Dean Csordás and Dean Louis Nagy in the Divi­sion of Christian Education; — Mr. Albert St. Miklossy and the Rev. Stephen Szőke in the Division of Home Missions; — Mr. Andrew I. Kovats on the board of the United Church Men; — Mrs. Peter Dudich on the Board of the United Church Women; — Mr. Emery Karmazsin in the United Christian Youth Movement; Dean Csordás on the Board of Church World Service. Further nominations will be made from time to time. G. Cs. tians, who profess Christ with their mouths and serve Satan with their lives. To all men who love their Maker, who are thankful for Christ’s love, and who admit they are sinners, the door of the church and its membership is open. ALBERT W. KOVÁCS

Next

/
  • Layout
  • Zoom
  • Rotation
Thumbnails
Contents