Three short illustrations fit aptly into the pattern of our thinking today:

1. Mark Antony, in his eulogy at the funeral of Julius Caesar, had just whipped up the emotions of the crowd to fever pitch, and as they broke out into a vengeful mob seeking Brutus and the other traitors, Antony stood by and remarked: "There let it work!"

2. A visitor to the City of Rome was being shown the wealth and riches of the Roman Church - its monuments, shrines, gilded altars and diamond studded chalices - and the guide remarked to him, "No longer can it be said of the church, ‘Silver and gold have I none.’ " "True," said the visitor, "and neither can the church say to the lame man at the gate, ‘In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk.’ "

3. A minister had taken his young son on a tour of a g…