Page:Psychology and preaching.djvu/354

 PSYCHOLOGY AND PREACHING

the practical, ethical, social aims of Christianity was great and growing.

These attitudes of mind have much to do in determining the responses which the preacher receives from the pews. If the business men do not fill our pews, they at least con stitute the most influential group in our local churches, in most cases ; and in the general denominational bodies, in all cases. And it is obvious that much preaching is not in terms that appeal to them. Many of the terms used in the ordinary pulpit, the average business man does not know the meaning of. Often the interests which seem to the minister most important seem to him unreal or trivial. Sometimes the theological distinctions to which the preacher devotes much time and thought he characterizes as &quot; chew ing straw.&quot; Especially does he take little interest in con troversy about such matters. As a consequence sectarian preaching, which from the days of the Reformation to a time within the memory of men still living was so much in vogue, is hardly tolerated in any community in which this type of mind has become dominant; while the preaching which emphasizes the essential unity of Christians and the widest tolerance of differences of opinion is applauded. The get-together movement in Christianity becomes increasingly popular. The proposition to dissolve and merge into one the denominational organizations receives little encourage ment. Too many substantial interests would be imperiled by such a program, and it is beset with an endless number of practical difficulties ; but the cry for co-ordination and co operation grows louder all the time. This tendency is strengthened by the fact that the business man has become accustomed in the ecenomic world to mammoth enterprises in which many businesses are co-ordinated. He tends to think in these terms. These huge co-ordinated enterprises appeal both to his sense of economy and to his imagination ; and when he turns his attention to the practical problems of Christianity he sees wonderful visions of possible achieve-

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