d lights of other
faiths find here their centre, and all their prophesies find here
fulfillment. The need of Christianity, by all men, is supreme. Whatever
may be said in favour of other faiths we must say of them that they are,
in many respects, perverted and are inadequate as a means of salvation.

And in addition to this the missionary must feel that all non-Christian
peoples are in supreme need of Christ, the Saviour. This fact we cannot
afford to qualify, without, in very truth, cutting the nerve of missions.
When a missionary regards Christ and His mission and message as only an
incident in the life and need of our race and ceases to acknowledge that
all men need Christ supremely, he had better give up his work; for his
missionary motive has lost its foundation and his life work has been
robbed of its power.

The missionary is called to go wherever the Macedonian cry of human need
and of spiritual helplessness is heard. Our Lord's command was
world-embracing in its extent; it was a discipling of _all_ nations; it
was a call to be witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth.

Shall the missionary go and preach everywhere the gospel of Christ,
whether men invite him or not? In view of recent events in China and in
other lands some people (and among them are a few well-meaning Christians)
question our duty and even our right and privilege to carry the gospel to
a people against its will and when it is satisfied with its own faith.
They claim that this restraint is demanded by true Christian altruism and
by the spirit of Christ. That the day has come when the Christian Church
should thoroughly reconsider the best methods of missionary approach to
such peoples I readily agree. I also maintain that Protestant missions
should everywhere scrupulously avoid all Jesuitical methods and political
influences and should always strive to minimize, if not ignore, their
political rights and magnify the spiritual side of their work. Under these
conditions no people has lent an unwilling ear to the missionary's
message, or, for a long time, failed to rejoice in his presence and work.
But had missionary societies sent their missionaries only to those people
who invited them, or were prepared to give them a cordial welcome, where
could they have found work or how achieve the magnificent success of the
last century? Imagine the great missionary apostle sending messengers in
advance to inquire whether the inhabitants of Lystra and