[89] The greatness of the opportunity is the measure
of obligation. God's message to this nation has been thus interpreted:
"Here are all these people; I have taken them from the overcrowded
countries where they were living and sent them to you, that you may mass
your forces and lend a hand to save them." No such opportunity ever came
to a nation before. The Christian church must seize it or sink into
deserved decadence and decay. Only a missionary church can save the
world or justify its own existence. The manner in which American
Christianity deals with the religious problems of immigration will
decide what part America is to play in the evangelization of the nations
abroad.
[Sidenote: The Gospel the Chief Factor]
We have now reached the vital part of our subject. We have learned to
discriminate between peoples and find the good in all of them. We have
seen that assimilation is essential to national soundness and strength.
But we have yet to realize that the most potential factor in
assimilation is not legislation or education but evangelization. There
is no power like the gospel to destroy race antipathies, break down the
bars of prejudice, and draw all peoples into unity, brotherhood, and
liberty--that spiritual freedom wherewith Christ makes free.
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