Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Jan/73

Contributor - Jelle Van Kuiken

Title - Losing its Own Soul

Topic - Meditation

"He restoreth my soul." Psalm 23:3

"What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Mark 8:36

We have made greater progress in conquering distance in the last century than we have been able to accomplish in past thousands years. Technical knowledge! But has our incredible technical, advance brought with it moral progress as well?

There is a story of a group of white men on a hunting expedition in the African jungle. They pushed forward as rapidly as they could for several days. Finally the natives, their porters, staged a sit-down strike; they refused to budge. The hunters pleaded and threatened without success. One of the natives explained to the white men that they had been traveling too fast; 'they had to wait for their souls to catch up with their bodies.'

Perhaps this is the trouble with our world; it has outrun its soul, and somehow that soul must catch up!

It is clear that almost the whole of modern culture has been running away from its moral and spiritual foundations. The spirit of our age is the spirit of science. Has the increase of knowledge and technological power automatically improved our lot?

What is lacking is indeed a soul. The trouble is that our society has no purpose, no meaning, no ends for which it strives. 'The common man is busily engaged in making a living. Beyond a new car, or a better suit of clothes, or a more expensive rug for the dining room, what does he want out of life? The tragedy is that he doesn't know. How many young people know what they want to do with their education?

Perhaps the only soul our society has, the only purpose in life, is personal advancement, the winning of wealth, power and prestige. Perhaps in that fact lies the very core of the sickness of our age. Unless something occurs to change the hearts and lives of individual men and women all over the world, we are doomed. It is not a matter of better power politics, of better blueprints for world order. What is needed is a radical transformation of mind and will. A soul, a sense of meaning and purpose. Fellowship, brotherhood. Only Christianity is adequate to deal with the situation.

'But the most obvious way that the world has outrun its soul is the awful sense of futility that holds us in its grasp. We cover the matter up with complacency, or indifference. We refuse to get concerned, because we are already convinced there is nothing we can do about it.

Well, what good was the faith of eleven men in a small upper room in Palestine nineteen hundred years ago? Where better to begin than here and now with you and me? Nothing else will do. Only Christian faith and enthusiasm can provide the world with the purpose and meaning it needs so desperately. Our efforts cannot fail if linked to the eternal purposes of the Maker of heaven and earth. Only he can give the world a soul. He can do it through men and women, like you and I, who will give their lives. He needs us! Will you let him have your life? Then the world may find its soul and be saved.

Please click the "Back" button of your browser to return to previous page.