If it cannot so be interpreted, then plainly it is no work
which a Christian should be doing. There are ways of making a living
which, are definitely unchristian. The work of a shoe-black or of a
tradesman or of an actor may be as true a piece of Christian service
as that of a doctor or a bishop. The work of a burglar or of a
bookmaker could not be so regarded.
Christianity--it cannot be too strongly insisted--means the
Christianization of life as a whole. It is in the daily round and the
common task that Christ is most chiefly to be served. "Whatsoever ye
do in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to GOD and the Father by Him." Religion is a wider thing than
piety, and it is a false pietism which would regard it as consisting
mainly of pious practices. The cultivation of the inner spiritual life
by means of the practices of Christian devotion is indeed essential in
its place and its degree. The life of the spirit languishes if it is
not fed. But except these things issue in the practical service of
Christ in daily life they are worse than futile.
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