In the time of the American Civil War, a man lived in a district which was sometimes occupied by the Northern army and sometimes by the Confederates.
When the Northern army was in the neighborhood he said he was “a Northern man,” and when the Southern army was nearby he said he was “a Confederate.”
This contemptible conduct led at last to his being despised by all alike, and he had to suffer much at the hands of both sides.
On one occasion a company of soldiers came to his house unexpectedly. He was asked by them to declare whether he was a “Rebel” or a “Yankee.” Before answering he looked earnestly at their uniforms in order that he might say he was on the same side as themselves, but he could not make them out at all. The uniforms they were wearing were half Southern, of a gray color, and half Northern, of a blue tint. He was puzzled and did not know how to reply. At length, however, he blurted out: “Well, gentlemen, I am just nothing at all, and mighty little of that.”
Miserable man! A turncoat, a timeserver.
We condemn him for his base conduct, but is there not danger of our being sometimes for Christ and sometimes for the world? Is it known by all whose side we are on?
ML 09/03/1961