A LITTLE”
Story★★★BISHOP CANDLER was a great storyteller and one never meets a group of Southern ministers of the Methodist Church these days that he does not hear much about the Candler stories. 121 The bishop, one story goes, had a certain preacher in his conference who was notoriously lazy. He came to the bishop one day and said to him: “Bishop, I have come to the time of life when I have the feeling that I ought to slow down a ,lU e’ and therefore 1 am asking you for a church which ahttlT” mV°1Ve t0° mUch Work‘ rve Just got to slow down !
The old bishop was a realist, and brutally frank when he was dealing with a malingering minister. He snorted in indignation: “Slow down, brother? Slow down? Why, brother, if you slow down even a little, you’ll back into’ somebody behind you!”
About the worst disease that man is heir to in this nation I is the slow-down disease,” “the slow-down strike,” “the slow-down spirit.” These are phrases that I have selected from contemporary American life. Now that we have won World War II there is a certain self-satisfied lethargy on the spirit of the American people. It is the “slow-down disease” and it is dangerous.
In World War I the French had it; they would dig deep trenches, fix them up m comfortable style, dig themselves in, and fight a defensive war. They would lay off for “soup” at ten in the morning, and again at four in the afternoon. They fought a defensive war and prolonged the war many years. With c aracteristic vigor the Americans went in, put on an active aggressive campaign of “Let’s get it over and go home!” much to the disgust of the French.
It was much the same in World War II. The policy of the armed forces was “the best defense is a good offense ” We did not dig in and we did not wait. From island to island we carried an aggressive war in the Pacific until we were at the gates of Japan and Tokyo. That is our American way.
B^after the victory over Germany and Japan a seeming indifference and lethargy came over the American people. We feel that it is all over now, and have thrown overboard the old American army tradition that the best defense is an offense. What we need is to have a Bishop Candler chal¬ lenge us with a realistic, blunt, brutal slogan directed at our desire to slow down: “Slow down, man? Brother, if you slow down even a little, you’ll back into somebody!”
This is no time for the “slow-down disease” in American life if we want to save the world—and our civilization.
Found in Sermon stories of faith and hope, William L. Stidger
The point
Bishop Candler's story: a lazy preacher asks to slow down; the bishop replies 'If you slow down even a little, you'll back into somebody behind you'—challenge against spiritual lethargy.