Howard C. Wilkinson - "Christians Are a Minority" (September 27, 1970)

Download
- Rights
- Limited Re-Use
  Educational Use Permitted
  More Rights Info
- Files (1)
- MP3
- Please be patient with media downloads. They are often large files.
Share

Embed Code
<iframe src='//idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4gb22j13?embed=true' height='125px' width='100%' frameborder='0' marginwidth='0' marginheight='0' scrolling='no' allowfullscreen></iframe>
Permalink

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4gb22j13
Skip to Item Info

Loading the media player...

Files for this Item

Transcript

Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.

	(choir singing in unison)	0:06
	(organ playing light music)	1:02
	(choir singing in unison)	1:22
	(organ playing light music)
-	Grace be to you and peace from God, our father,	5:27
	and from the Lord, Jesus Christ.	5:30
	Christians are a people who believe	5:34
	that life is a gift from God,	5:36
	a gift to be accepted joyfully and shared freely.	5:40
	We affirm here, we have been given life,	5:45
	but most of us have not truly lived.	5:48
	We have used our lives with reckless unconcerned	5:51
	as though they belong to us and to us alone.	5:55
	By our own fault,	6:01
	we have abandoned the fountain of waters	6:03
	and built broken reservoirs which hold no water.	6:06
	We speak well of love, and we curse our enemies.	6:11
	We take pride in freedom and slide into new slaveries.	6:16
	We cry out against exploitation and we exploit ourselves,	6:22
	and our neighbor.	6:27
	So once again, at this time and at this place,	6:30
	disillusioned by the anguish of the world,	6:33
	embarrassed by our own perversity and blundering,	6:37
	and compelled by a terrible hunger	6:41
	for personal and social wholeness,	6:44
	we assemble again to worship,	6:48
	to halt our haste, to attempt together,	6:50
	to open ourselves to the possibilities of the call of God,	6:54
	to come back once again to the Father's healing love.	6:59
	And so therefore confident	7:05
	that if we truly and earnestly confess	7:07
	the state of our lives before that love,	7:10
	they will be forgiven, restored,	7:13
	and returned to us with new meaning and with hope.	7:15
	Let us offer unto God, our unison,	7:19
	prayer of confession and for pardon.	7:22
	Let us pray.	7:25
	Oh Lord, Thou has searched us and known us.	7:28
	Thou understand if our thoughts are far off	7:33
	and are acquainted with all our ways.	7:36
	There is not a word in our tongues,	7:40
	but low oh Lord, Thou knowest it all together.	7:42
	Take from us all hardness and impenitent	7:47
	that we admitting our sins	7:51
	and earnestly facing our faults before Thee.	7:53
	May obtain pardon for all our guilt.	7:57
	Absolve us, oh God, from every kind of sin.	8:01
	Forgive us for trying to be clever	8:05
	when we should have sought wisdom.	8:08
	Heal us from the disease	8:11
	of trying to make names for ourselves,	8:13
	when we should have been seeking to glorify Thy name.	8:16
	Enable us, oh Lord, to find pardon now,	8:20
	and to attain everlasting redemption in the world to come.	8:24
	Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.	8:29
	Amen.	8:32
	May we hear and receive with belief these words of assurance	8:35
	from the new Testament of our Lord.	8:41
	If anyone is in Jesus, the Christ, he is a new being.	8:45
	The old has passed away.	8:50
	Behold, the new has come.	8:53
	I say to you that the chain of complicity	8:58
	linking our twisted lives to our past guilt	9:00
	has been snapped by forgiving love.	9:04
	The door of our freedom is open.	9:09
	We may walk forward together in hope.	9:12
	Amen.	9:18
	(organ playing light music)	9:21
	(organ playing light music continues)	10:41
	(choir singing)	11:54
	(organ playing light music)
-	This morning scripture is from the seventh chapter	16:02
	of the gospel according to Matthew.	16:05
	"Enter by the narrow gate.	16:12
	The gate is wide that leads to perdition.	16:14
	There is plenty of room on the road and many go that way.	16:17
	But the gate that leads to life is small	16:22
	and the road is narrow,	16:24
	and those who find it are few.	16:26
	Beware of false prophets.	16:30
	Men who would come to you dressed up as sheep,	16:32
	while underneath they are savage wolves.	16:35
	You will recognize them by the fruits they bear.	16:38
	Can grapes be picked from briars?	16:42
	Or figs from thistles?	16:44
	In the same way, a good tree always yield good fruit,	16:47
	and the poor tree, bad fruit.	16:51
	A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, or poor tree, good fruit.	16:54
	And when a tree does not yield good fruit,	16:59
	it is cut down and burned.	17:01
	That is why I say to you,	17:03
	you will recognize them by their fruits.	17:05
	Not everyone who calls me, 'Lord Lord'	17:09
	will enter the kingdom of heaven,	17:11
	but only those who do the will of my heavenly father.	17:13
	When that day comes, many will say to me,	17:17
	'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesied in your name?	17:19
	Cast out devils in your name?	17:23
	And in your name, perform many miracles?'	17:26
	That I will tell them to their face,	17:29
	'I never knew you.	17:31
	Out of my sight, you and your wicked ways.'"	17:33
	Here ends the reading.	17:37
	(organ playing light music)	17:40
	(choir singing in unison)	17:49
	(organ playing light music)
-	The Lord be with you.	18:21
Congregation	And also with you.	18:23
-	Let us pray.	18:24
	Let us give thanks to God for the power of all creation	18:35
	and the blessings that has given to each of us.	18:42
	Oh mighty God, our heavenly Father,	18:46
	it is right for us at all times and places	18:47
	to affirm our union with the fountain of nature	18:52
	and of history.	18:56
	Lord, as our doors of perception open,	18:58
	they testify to a universe of glory outside of ourselves.	19:01
	The touch of fabric, rocks, skin,	19:07
	the smell of pines, fish, the flowers,	19:13
	the smoke of incense,	19:18
	the taste of green and the blood of the vine,	19:20
	the sound of bird song and animals,	19:24
	waves, and of wind, of voice, and of music,	19:27
	the light of our sun and the farthest galaxies.	19:31
	All these, oh Lord, remind us of Thee.	19:36
	In our consciousness that the cosmos is everywhere,	19:41
	ready to blossom into a love, not of our devising.	19:44
	We rise into a sphere of liberation and of adoration	19:49
	beyond mere space and time.	19:54
	We hear words passing human speech,	19:57
	as our brother Isaiah once did in his own temple.	20:00
	Standing beside angelic energies with head vowed,	20:04
	we as he confidently offer Thee our songs	20:09
	of thanksgiving and of praise.	20:14
	Holy, holy, holy, is a power beyond all hosts.	20:18
	The fullness of the whole world or Lord is Thy glory.	20:24
	Blessed as the one who comes to us in Thy name.	20:30
	God of reconciliation and of healing	20:38
	to whom all things are possible.	20:43
	We offer our prayers of concern and petition for our world,	20:46
	for our brothers, and for ourselves.	20:51
	We call on Thy spirit, oh Lord,	20:56
	and we asked Thy presence	20:59
	and Thy ministering power for all the poor and hungry,	21:01
	the outcast and unemployed of this world,	21:08
	for children unwanted in their homes,	21:13
	for the wounded, for prisoners and exiles,	21:16
	for all those persecuted for conscience sake.	21:22
	We call on Thy spirit, oh Lord,	21:28
	for the sick and suffering in mind and body,	21:30
	especially for those made slaves by drugs	21:34
	or by fear in our time.	21:38
	We pray for all oppressors, and exploiters, and tyrants,	21:42
	that they may be confused and disarmed by love.	21:48
	We pray for victims of discrimination,	21:53
	harassment, and of brutality.	21:56
	Oh Lord, we asked Thy presence and Thy power	22:01
	for all whom we fear or resent or cannot love.	22:06
	We remember before Thee, those who are dying and have died,	22:13
	whether in bitterness or in tranquility,	22:17
	We implore Thy presence and aid for doctors,	22:22
	nurses, and social workers, for ministers to the poor,	22:26
	for organizers, students, and writers,	22:32
	who raise the cry for justice in our land and in our world.	22:36
	Oh Lord, our Father,	22:42
	we call on Thy ministering spirit	22:43
	that all who are coupled together may realize their union	22:47
	within the universal flow of all human love.	22:51
	We pray for all who are close to us here,	22:56
	and in every place.	22:59
	We ask that every person in his work	23:02
	may be able to express the child's vision.	23:06
	We asked that our grandchildren	23:10
	may inherit a restored planet by our efforts.	23:13
	We ask, oh father,	23:18
	and we call on Thy spirit that each one who enters our house	23:21
	may receive the hospitality, do the Christ when he bears.	23:26
	Be with us, oh God, that with compassion and fidelity,	23:32
	we may work for renewal until our lives in.	23:37
	Loving Father, lead us we ask,	23:42
	after the example of your son,	23:45
	always to meet violence with love.	23:48
	Set our feet toward those places	23:53
	where your kingdom of freedom is continually breaking	23:55
	into the world among the victims of force	23:59
	and neglect on every continent.	24:02
	Restore we asked to perfection	24:05
	every defect brought by our falling,	24:08
	into the fabric of your universe.	24:11
	Give the society of nations peace we ask,	24:16
	even while their mind is set on war,	24:20
	and in the end, oh power of nature and of history.	24:23
	Leave the remanent of your loyal people	24:30
	out to that marriage feast	24:35
	where alienation will find its quiet	24:38
	in the spirit of the one who through doubt	24:41
	and temptation remain consistent.	24:45
	Even Jesus, our Lord and liberator,	24:48
	who taught us that when we should gather	24:54
	to pray together as Christians we might say,	24:55
	our Father who art in heaven,	24:59
	hallowed be Thy name,	25:02
	Thy kingdom come,	25:04
	Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.	25:06
	Give us this day our daily bread	25:11
	and forgive us our trespasses,	25:14
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	25:16
	And lead us not into temptation,	25:20
	but deliver us from evil.	25:23
	For thine is the kingdom,	25:25
	and the power, and the glory forever.	25:27
	Amen.	25:31
-	Ever since I can remember,	25:58
	I have heard accounts of the influence	26:01
	and the spread of Christianity,	26:05
	which I have shared a common fallacy.	26:10
	Each time I heard or read one of these accounts,	26:15
	I had the uncomfortable feeling	26:19
	that something was incorrect.	26:22
	But the stories had a certain ring of validity to them	26:27
	and they sounded very complimentary of Jesus Christ.	26:32
	And so it was that I did not critically focus upon them	26:37
	until this summer.	26:43
	Upon doing so,	26:47
	I not only convinced myself	26:49
	that this fallacy is indeed present,	26:51
	but that the wide circulation which it enjoys	26:56
	has caused confusion among men of faith.	27:00
	And particularly upon among young people	27:05
	to the point that many sincere Christians	27:10
	have been led seriously astray by it.	27:13
	So the purpose of this sermon this morning	27:20
	is to identify that fallacy,	27:23
	to deny its accuracy,	27:26
	to show what damage it has been doing,	27:30
	and to suggest how we might go about undoing the damage.	27:34
	That is what I am going to attempt.	27:42
	Now, the story goes something like this.	27:46
	Jesus Christ was born	27:50
	in an obscure corner of the civilized world.	27:52
	He was reared by humble parents.	27:56
	He grew to manhood	28:00
	unknown in the great capitals of the world,	28:02
	pursuing the trade of a carpenter.	28:06
	For three years at most,	28:09
	he was a penniless teacher followed by simple believers.	28:12
	But at last,	28:17
	the powerful and ruthless men who were his enemies	28:18
	moved in on him and brought his life and teaching	28:22
	to an abrupt end before he had traveled as much as 100 miles	28:26
	from the place of his birth	28:31
	or had lived as many as 35 years.	28:33
	At this juncture,	28:38
	the story usually takes an abrupt turn.	28:42
	However, the storyteller ordinarily exclaims,	28:48
	this humble and despised Jesus	28:52
	certainly turned the tables on his enemies.	28:55
	The unfolding story then goes on to recount	29:01
	how nearly forgotten are the so-called great men	29:04
	who were his enemies.	29:09
	How fallen is the Roman empire.	29:11
	How dispersed are the descendants	29:15
	of those who had Jesus killed.	29:18
	And how by contrast,	29:22
	Jesus is loved and followed around the earth	29:24
	through the centuries has numbered millions of adherence,	29:29
	and today enjoys the prestige	29:33
	of being the most followed personality	29:35
	on the horizon of human history.	29:39
	His original handful of 12 disciples	29:44
	has swelled to a mighty army of followers,	29:47
	we are told.	29:50
	Accounts of the Emperor Constantine	29:53
	carrying a banner on which the cross of Christ was displayed	29:55
	are told along with stories of the crusades.	29:59
	The holy Roman empire of British empire,	30:03
	which officially and financially supports	30:06
	the church of Christ	30:08
	while the sun never sets on its holdings.	30:10
	And finally,	30:14
	we're told about a vast and powerful nation,	30:16
	called Christian America.	30:19
	In all of these stories,	30:26
	whether it is expressly stated or not,	30:27
	the underlying assumption is that this once obscure Jesus	30:32
	is now the most popular figure in the minds of living men.	30:37
	And whereas he wants,	30:43
	had to do his work with a scant dozen men,	30:44
	he now commands hundreds of millions of devoted followers,	30:49
	and the great majority of all civilized people today	30:53
	are Christians.	30:57
	This account in varying forms	31:02
	has been repeated over and over again by many people	31:05
	who perhaps were very well-meaning,	31:08
	but who had not carefully scrutinized the story	31:13
	they were telling.	31:16
	I am now prepared flatly to deny the truth of this.	31:19
	After a summer of reflection and research,	31:26
	I'm ready to say that this story must be radically altered	31:28
	in the interest of truth.	31:33
	In essence,	31:37
	the fact is that Jesus led a minority movement in Palestine	31:38
	and he has been leading a minority movement ever since.	31:44
	He is now the Lord of only a tiny percentage	31:50
	of the people of this earth.	31:55
	It is rather strange that we have held	32:02
	any other view than this,	32:04
	considering what Jesus himself is recorded,	32:06
	as having said on that subject.	32:09
	A few minutes ago,	32:13
	Kathy Belton read from Matthew 7.	32:14
	A passage which included these words from Jesus.	32:17
	Hear them again, please.	32:21
	"Enter through the narrow gate	32:23
	for broad and spacious is the road which leads to perdition.	32:30
	And there are many people going that way.	32:36
	But how small is the gate,	32:42
	how narrow the road that leads on to life,	32:45
	and how few there are that find it."	32:50
	This does not sound like the word of a person	32:58
	who expected vast nations of men to hang on his every word	33:01
	and to leap at his beck and call.	33:05
	Rather, it sounds like the word of one who realized	33:08
	he was teaching and practicing a way of life,	33:10
	which was at the same time a way to life,	33:13
	that would require a price	33:16
	which only a minority would be willing to pay.	33:18
	The root of our intellectual confusion	33:25
	has been our uncritical willingness to accept too readily	33:27
	the profession of faith,	33:33
	which all and sundry have made	33:35
	that they and their actions are Christian.	33:38
	While the scriptures forbid us to judge	33:44
	the sincerity of our fellow man,	33:47
	we certainly are called upon	33:50
	to judge the actions of our fellow man,	33:52
	and of ourselves by the standards of Christ.	33:55
	Make no mistake about that.	34:01
	When we do it,	34:04
	we are driven to the conclusion	34:06
	that the lifestyle of millions of individuals and groups,	34:07
	which have called themselves, Christian,	34:12
	was certainly far from being Christian,	34:15
	whatever may have been in their hearts.	34:18
	The Emperor Constantine called himself a Christian	34:23
	where his actions and the spirit	34:27
	which he exhibited compatible with the Christ	34:30
	and the gospel.	34:33
	Well, I think not.	34:35
	The crusades were enterprised in the name of Jesus Christ	34:39
	and supposedly for his glory.	34:44
	But surely not a single serious student	34:47
	of the new Testament today	34:50
	would claim that the crusades	34:52
	made the heart of Jesus Christ glad.	34:53
	During the inquisition,	34:59
	the eyes of supposed heretics	35:01
	were burned out with red hot iron pokers.	35:04
	And it was explained that this was to advance Christianity.	35:11
	Well, what about the story of days of Britain's preeminence,	35:17
	When an established church was a part of a government	35:21
	which effectively dominated much of the earth?	35:23
	One has only to ask the colonial people	35:28
	who were ruled by that supposedly Christian government,	35:31
	whether they think it behaved like the Nazarene.	35:34
	But there are those who would make one last desperate effort	35:40
	to identify a nation of Christians	35:43
	by pointing to our American forebears,	35:45
	the founding fathers,	35:48
	the architects of our democracy.	35:50
	They were Christians, they say.	35:54
	The historical truth is that they did indeed stake a claim	36:00
	to having brought into being a nation under God,	36:05
	and legally in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.	36:10
	But they stand judged by the very faith,	36:15
	which they officially professed.	36:20
	To mention only one glaring gap	36:23
	between their profession and performance.	36:26
	I will remind you this morning that a number of the men	36:29
	who signed the declaration of independence,	36:33
	and a number of those who labored over the bill of rights	36:36
	were slave owners.	36:39
	They were for liberty and freedom, if you were white.	36:43
	And they were for Christianity too,	36:49
	as long as they could prescribe what it meant.	36:51
	For several years prior to the death of Samuel Miller,	36:57
	he maintained the thesis	37:01
	that we are now living in a post-Christian era.	37:03
	My own chief quarrel with that thesis	37:08
	is that it assumes there once used to be a Christian era,	37:10
	somewhere, sometime, somehow.	37:14
	Personally, I have scanned the pages of history in vain,	37:18
	in an effort to find one.	37:23
	Now, I do not intend this criticism to sound too harsh.	37:27
	Well, we must remind ourselves	37:34
	that our own conduct will be judged	37:35
	by the same standard we employ	37:37
	in judging the behavior of others.	37:39
	The explanation, for some of this lag in performance	37:42
	lies on the one hand and the fact that nearly everyone	37:46
	is attracted to Jesus or drawn toward him,	37:49
	and experiences at least a wistful longing	37:55
	to identify with him.	38:01
	But on the other hand,	38:04
	most people find themselves like the rich young ruler,	38:06
	unwilling to make the kind of total commitment	38:10
	that is required to be a true disciple.	38:14
	The result often	38:21
	is that an individual hears the call of Christ,	38:22
	make some kind of positive response,	38:25
	but fails to follow through	38:29
	in terms of the total renovation of his life.	38:31
	This majority mood was very well represented	38:37
	by a quotation from the movie star Sharon Ferrell,	38:40
	which was printed in Earl Wilson's column recently.	38:43
	When the columnist asked Sharon Ferrell,	38:47
	why it was that she had started going to church,	38:50
	considering the fact that she came from a background	38:53
	of non-identification with the church.	38:57
	She replied, "I felt the need for a little religion."	39:00
	"I felt the need for a little religion."	39:07
	So it is that Jesus has been widely admired,	39:13
	selectively imitated by great masses of people	39:18
	In eclectic fashion,	39:24
	we choose particular Christian virtues	39:25
	while ignoring the main thrust of the gospel.	39:28
	One person will choose temperance,	39:34
	but ignore racial brotherhood.	39:36
	Another will choose racial brotherhood,	39:39
	but reject temperance.	39:41
	One would die for honesty,	39:44
	but would kill for his own rights.	39:46
	Another would die for peace,	39:49
	who would tell a lie for a dollar.	39:51
	Now in all this confused tangle of conflicting profession	39:54
	and half-hearted performance,	39:59
	the name of Jesus has been painted	40:03
	on a vast assortment of garbage cans,	40:06
	with the consequence	40:09
	that Christ is compromised in the minds of many	40:10
	who are groping for the meaning of Christian faith,	40:15
	as far as it applies to their own lives.	40:18
	You see, Jesus himself,	40:23
	pointed to the uselessness of this	40:24
	when he asked the rhetorical question,	40:26
	"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,'	40:29
	and do not the things which I say?"	40:32
	He was well aware.	40:37
	As Kathy read this morning that there would be many	40:40
	who would think this token allegiance	40:42
	to be sufficient discipleship	40:45
	and would expect to be included in the kingdom of heaven.	40:48
	And he warned that not everyone,	40:52
	"Who says unto me, 'Lord, Lord,'	40:54
	shall enter into the kingdom of heaven,	40:55
	but he who do it the will of my Father which is in heaven."	40:59
	The apostle Paul wrote to some people in Rome	41:04
	whose performance did not match their profession.	41:06
	And he said that because of this,	41:09
	the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles	41:11
	because of you.	41:16
	The reason why this is the case, I guess,	41:21
	is that unwittingly,	41:25
	many who are younger in Christian faith,	41:27
	copy the actions of those	41:30
	whom they regard as established Christians.	41:32
	Now they should seek to determine the will of Christ	41:37
	and follow that,	41:39
	rather than to imitate the behavior of others	41:41
	who label themselves Christians.	41:44
	The difficulty lies in the fact	41:47
	that it seems it is very hard to keep from getting uptight	41:50
	when our acts differ from the pattern	41:54
	set by the great majority of those	41:56
	who claim to be Christian.	41:58
	Let me share with you an example of how it operates.	42:03
	And I use this illustration by permission.	42:08
	Last year, a Duke student came into my office,	42:12
	following the Christian Christmas holidays.	42:15
	He related how that he had been studying	42:19
	the teachings of Christ pertaining to war and peace.	42:22
	He had come to the conclusion	42:27
	that it would be impossible for him to be a Christian	42:29
	and to participate in war.	42:34
	He reached that conclusion he said,	42:37
	just a few days before he left the campus	42:39
	to return to his home for the Christmas holidays.	42:42
	During the recess period, he attended his home church.	42:47
	He told me that, as he sat in the service,	42:51
	like you're sitting in the service today,	42:54
	and looked at the people around him,	42:57
	he was unable to identify one solitary individual	43:00
	in that congregation	43:05
	who was taking a conscientious objector position	43:07
	with regard to war.	43:10
	He told me that this realization	43:13
	caused him to doubt very profoundly,	43:16
	the conclusion to which his previous diligent	43:19
	and prayerful study had brought him.	43:22
	Now, it is not my purpose in this sermon	43:26
	to declared that the gospel demands	43:28
	conscientious objection to war	43:30
	or that it calls for conscientious participation in war.	43:32
	Although both positions have been held	43:36
	by sincere Christians.	43:38
	Rather, I mentioned this example	43:42
	to declare that the proper course for a Christian to take	43:46
	is to give prayerful and diligence study,	43:50
	to determine what is the will of Christ,	43:54
	and having discovered what he intelligently believes	43:58
	is that will to follow it,	44:02
	knowing that true Christians are a minority.	44:07
	And that their behavior often will be at variance,	44:12
	not only with the majority of men in general,	44:15
	but even with many others who are church members	44:18
	and professing Christians.	44:21
	Now let me become very specific,	44:24
	quit preaching and go to meddling you know.	44:27
	Do not decide that something is Christian	44:32
	merely because you see the university chaplain do it.	44:39
	Do not erase your scruples against something	44:45
	simply because the dean of the chapel tells you	44:50
	that he does it.	44:54
	Do not let the attitudes of your religion professor	44:57
	determine your own attitudes,	45:00
	unless you have some better grounds than that	45:03
	for adopting them.	45:06
	If you believe racial prejudice is on Christian,	45:10
	do not let the mirror practice of it by some campus group,	45:14
	change your beliefs and attitude.	45:19
	If you are convinced that fornication and adultery	45:23
	are contrary to the will of Christ,	45:27
	do not let the mirror free-wheeling permissiveness	45:30
	of some self-styled Christian who sleeps around	45:33
	trapped you into thinking that your new Testament study	45:37
	is therefore an error.	45:40
	Christians are a minority.	45:44
	Christians are a minority,	45:49
	and always have been from the time of Jesus, a minority.	45:54
	If you believe that a life of dedicated	46:02
	and unselfish service to the downtrodden of mankind	46:04
	is better than a self-centered and money-grabbing existence,	46:09
	do not let some preacher's	46:13
	complimenting of his wealthy budget supporters	46:15
	change your mind.	46:19
	In a political democracy,	46:23
	decisions have to be made on the basis of majority vote.	46:27
	There's no question about that.	46:31
	But when it comes to deciding what is the will of Christ,	46:34
	the actions of the majority can be, not always are,	46:38
	but can be the most misleading factor of all	46:43
	in your deliberation.	46:47
	When it comes to deciding what is the will of Christ,	46:52
	the actions of the majority	46:56
	can be the most misleading factor of all	46:58
	in your deliberation.	47:03
	The duel fallacy that Christians are somehow a majority,	47:06
	and that the majority of somehow Christian,	47:12
	is a fallacy which has done much damage.	47:15
	It can be corrected only by a resolute determination,	47:19
	the discipline oneself in following the narrow road	47:25
	through the small gate which leads on to life.	47:31
	Almighty God, our heavenly Father,	47:40
	we pray that we may be among those	47:43
	who follow the narrow road	47:46
	through the small gate of discipline.	47:50
	Not merely in order that we may be saved ourselves,	47:54
	but that we may be a saving element	48:00
	to bring many others into Thy kingdom,	48:05
	and into fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.	48:10
	We ask in his name.	48:15
	Amen.	48:17
	(organ playing light music)	48:20
	(choir singing in unison)	48:59
	(organ playing light music)
	(organ playing light music continues)	50:41
	(choir singing in unison)	53:22
	(organ playing light music)	55:37
	(choir singing "Hallelujah")	56:37
	(organ playing light music)
-	Everything is dying, oh Lord.	57:41
	We returned these gifts which first Thou gave us.	57:45
	Remembering our Lord's death,	57:50
	believing in his rising,	57:54
	and longing to recognize his presence.	57:56
	Now in this place, we obey his command.	58:00
	We offer our gifts, we offer ourselves,	58:05
	to be used for the purposes of Thy love.	58:09
	Come risen, Lord, live in us,	58:13
	that we may live in you.	58:18
	Amen.	58:21
	Go forth in peace to serve your neighbor.	58:26
	May the blessing of God, the Father, the Son,	58:31
	and the Holy Spirit be with you all.	58:34
	(choir singing in unison)	58:43
	(bell dinging)	59:56
	(organ playing light music)	1:00:11
	(tape rewinding)	1:00:41

Item Info

Title:

Howard C. Wilkinson - "Christians Are a Minority" (September 27, 1970)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4gb22j13

Date:

September 27, 1970

Speaker:

Wilkinson, Howard C.

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0539
ref6281_hod
uachapelsermaud
duke:628126
dcrau002528
ark:/87924/r4gb22j13
3a4088b6-1215-4ce6-ba32-e01b0250e36c

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

Related Resources:

See below

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

Educational Use Permitted

Rights Note:

This material is made available for educational and non-commercial use. This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the license indicated here. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For other reuses of this material beyond those permitted by fair use or otherwise allowed under the Copyright Act, please see our page on copyright and citations https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

Sponsor:

Sponsor this Digital Collection

Howard C. Wilkinson - "Christians Are a Minority" (September 27, 1970)

Transcript

Item Info

Related Item

Duke University Archives