Talk:In His Steps

That one of the best-selling books in the history of our world is merely an unmarked stubbed with a single edit (by the creator!) and no discussion page is an outright travesty. We need a expert here pronto. 12.208.40.109 03:13, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating

This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 13:39, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

So what's the plot?

What's the content of the book, we ask ourselves, as it is quite impossible to get this from the article, as of now. Is it poetry? Is it nonfiction, e.g. a collection of sermons? Or is there a real plot? Which? --Ayacop (talk) 16:28, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

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I don't have time to learn wiki editing, but here is some material someone might like to add:

QUOTE A central theme in the book is the difficulty of engaging in ‘modern’ business practices and social mores while “doing what Jesus would do.” The newspaper owner and editor, Ed Norman, concludes that he not only should not publish stories of prize fights and similar events, but he should not publish on Sundays and should not run ads for tobacco and liquor. His paper suffers disastrous declines in circulation, and is able to continue to publish because of funding from another, wealthy Christian who also has taken the WWJD pledge.

A high ranking railroad man inadvertently learns that the railroad is deliberately violating the law. As a WWJD pledger, he reports the violations, and not only losses his job, but he and his family lose their “social position.” A ‘slumlord’ who has taken the pledge struggles with his sense of guilt as he continues to rent substandard housing to the poor and disadvantaged. The owner of the property in which “the saloon” is located similarly struggles, finally concluding that he cannot renew the lease. (The drive for prohibition is also a repeating theme in the book.) A talented singer, Rachel Winslow, decides to turn down a lucrative singing contract and use her talents for the good of the church and the disadvantaged people who are drawn to a revival center in the poor part of the town.

Another central theme in the book is the plight of the poor and disadvantaged, who reside in “the Rectangle,” the “most notorious district in Richmond.... The great slum and tenement district of Raymond congested its worst and most wretched elements about the Rectangle.” P57

An evangelist had started up in the rectangle, but his mission is struggling until Rachel Winslow began to sing at his revival meetings, and Reverend Maxwell undertakes to support the mission’s work.

The question of whether the poor of the city deserve to be supported is raised briefly in the context of a seminary student asking why the needy don’t simply move to the country to find work. The question is dismissed through mention of the costs and other significant impediments (such as serving their families.)

The third major theme of the book, developed towards the end of the book, is the Christian duty to suffer for Jesus, and the conflict between the comfortable lives the rich members of the congregation (and its pastor) and the Christian duty to support the oppressed and the duty to suffer for Jesus.

An official of another church, “the Bishop,” sympathetic to the First Church’s pledge, laments about the “terrible city in which we live. Its misery, its sin, its selfishness, appall my heart.... all of this ... in its contrast with the easy, comfortable life I have lived fills me more and more with a sense of mingled terror and self-accusation. I have heard the words of Jesus many times lately” ‘Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least my Brethren, ye did it not unto Me.’ And when have I personally visited the prisoner or the desperate or the sinful in any way which has caused me suffering? ... Where have I suffered for Jesus’ sake? P190”

The book ends with a powerful sermon by pastor Maxwell:

“Is it true that the church of today, the church that is called after Christ’s own name, would refuse to follow Him at the expense suffering, of physical loss, of temporary gain?” P234 . . . . “What is the test of Christian discipleship? Is it not the same as in Christ’s own time. Have our surroundings modified or changed the test? If Jesus were here today would he not call some of the members of this very church to do just what he commanded the young man, and ask them to give up their wealth and literally follow him? I believe He would do that if He felt certain that any church member thought more of his possessions than of the Savior. The test would be the same to-day as then. I believe Jesus would demand- He does demand now- as close a following, as much suffering, as great self-denial as when He lived I n person on the earth and said, ‘Except a man renounce all that he hath he cannot be my disciple.”

"Are we ready to make and live a new discipleship? Are we ready to reconsider our definition of a Christian? What is it to be a Christian? It is to imitate Jesus. It is to do as He would do. It is to walk in His steps.” Pp 235-237. END QUOTE Page citations are to the Grosset & Dunlop, New York, 1984 Printing. ISBN: 0-448-01662-1 Rjw2008 (talk) 23:51, 16 September 2010 (UTC) rjw2008

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