O Lord, have mercy on Brother White. He is proud, and will be damned

[Woody]

The reader will please return to Poland Conference. One morning about forty brethren and sisters bowed at the family altar, at the house of Brother Jordan, while Elder H. led in prayer. A portion of that strange prayer was in substance as follows :—

" O Lord, have mercy on Brother White. He is proud, and will be damned unless he gets rid of his pride. Have mercy upon him, O Lord, and save him from pride. O Lord have mercy, and wean him from the pride of life. Break him down, Lord, and make him humble. Have mercy upon him. Have mercy."

He went on telling a long story about me, informing the Lord of my pride, and how sure I was of destruction unless I should speedily repent, and closed up with vehement cries of, " Have mercy ! Have mercy! Mercy ! Mercy !" This was his way of treating those who did not seem to receive him with feelings of great reverence for his special humility and extra holiness. His object in this was to cast fear upon those around him, and thus bring them directly under his influence, that they might show him all that respect which his especial endowments demanded.

But he did not succeed in my case. After the company had arisen to their seats, and had for awhile painfully pondered in silence what these things could mean, I drew my chair near Elder H., and in a kind manner said to him:—

" Brother H., I fear you have told the Lord a wrong story. You say I am proud. This I think is not true. But why tell this to the Lard ? He knows more about me than you do. He does not need to be instructed in my case. But this was not your object. You wished to represent me before these brethren and sisters as proud, and have chosen to do so through the medium of prayer to God. Now, sir, if I am proud, so much so that you are able to give the Lord information on the subject, you can tell me before these present In what I am proud. Is it in my general appearance, or my manner of speaking, praying, or singing ?"

" No, Brother White, it is not in those things."

" Well, is it manifested by these worn and soiled clothes ? Please look me over. Is it in my patched boots ? my rusty coat ? this nearly worn-out vest ? these soiled pants ? or that old hat I wear ?"

" No; I do not see pride in any of these things you mention. But, Brother White, when I saw that starched collar on you, God only knows how I felt."

And here the man wept as though his heart would break. This was for effect. It was his usual resort when he had points to carry in a difficult case. In an extremity, tears are not unfrequently woman's closing and most powerful argument. In her, if her cause be just, they are excusable, and even appropriate and beautiful. But to see a coarse, hard-hearted man, possessing in his very nature but little more tenderness than a crocodile, and nearly as destitute of moral and religious training as a hyena, shedding hypocritical tears for effect, is enough to stir the mirthfulness of the gravest saint.

" But let me explain to you, Brother H., about this starched collar. I may be able to help you. When I came to this Conference, Sister Rounds offered to do my washing, and as I had no clean change, she kindly lent me her husband's shirt, which unfortunately has a starched collar. Mine have only a narrow binding round the neck. I wear no collars only in cases of necessity like the present. It is this, sir, that has given rise to all your ado this morning. I usually wear a black alpaca bosom, but am not the owner of a single collar. You have certainly told the Lord a wrong story about me, under circumstances the most inexcusable. And I think your first and most important work is to settle this matter with him."

Elder H. dropped upon his knees, and said, in substance :—

" O Lord, I have prayed for Brother White, and he is displeased with me for it. Have mercy upon him ! Have mercy! Mercy ! Mercy!"

And seeing that none joined with him, not even so much as to kneel, he felt that his effort was proving a failure, and in a subdued tone came to me and said :—

" Why did you not kneel with me ? O Brother White, I have felt for you, prayed for you, and have wept over you, and I hope you will not be offended."

" Certainly, I am not offended. There is nothing in all this to offend any one. I pity you. You are suffering from unsanctified feelings arising from an unfortunate application of false ideas. Your prayers are no more to me than the howling of the winds. And when you, under such circumstances, plead your tears, feelings of shame and inexpressible disgust and pity for you come over me. I advise you to carry this matter no further; and I hope you will learn a good lesson from the folly you have manifested this morning."

Life Sketches p.89-91

James White

[Woody]

Interesting rebukes for our founder ... James White.

They certainly did rebuke each other in them days. I guess it was just their custom.

[LynnDel]

Interesting story. If I had been part of that group, I am afraid

I would have fallen off my chair laughing on first mention of that starched collar.

LD

[Dr. Shane]

Similar "rebukes", with a bit less drama, are still common in AA. I have been "rebuked" by AA friends various times and they normally have my best interest at heart. I have also "rebuked" others that I loved and cared for deeply. Of course, we don't refer to it as rebuking. We tend to call it confronting. But the thing about AA is that we all know we are broken and we all go there to get better. So when someone confronts another, it is normally accepted much better than it would be between two "Christian" brothers.