The trouble with many men is that they have got just enough religion to make them miserable. If there is not joy in religion, you have got a leak in your religion.
Interpretation
A shallow understanding of religion can lead to unhappiness and dissatisfaction.
Billy Sunday highlights the paradox of religion where a superficial grasp can bring more misery than joy. He suggests that true religion should inspire happiness and fulfillment, and if it does not, there is a fundamental flaw in one's understanding or practice of faith.
In practice
This quote could be used in a sermon to emphasize the importance of finding joy in faith.
Whenever a day comes when I can stand and preach God's Word without an agony of anxiety lest the people will not accept Christ; whenever a day comes when I can see men and women coming down the aisles without joy in my heart, I'll quit preaching.
Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile.
The saloon is a liar. It promises good cheer and sends sorrow.
I don't believe there are devils enough in hell to pull a boy out of the arms of a godly mother.
The church is not a dormitory for sleepers, it is an institution for workers; it is not a rest camp, it is a front line trench.
The backslider likes the preaching that wouldn't hit the side of a house, while the real disciple is delighted when the truth brings him to his knees.
For many of the world's conflicts, it is difficult even to conjure up a feasible settlement.
I know of nothing sublime which is not some modification of power.
On this narrow planet, we have only the choice between two unknown worlds. One of them tempts us - ah! what a dream, to live in that! - the other stifles us at the first breath.
It may be -- I hope it is -- redemption to guess and perhaps perceive that the universe, the hell which we see for all its beauty, vastness, majesty, is only part of a whole which is quite unimaginable.
Power acquired by violence is only a usurpation, and lasts only as long as the force of him who commands prevails over that of those who obey.
I remain terrified of the capacity of the media, the capacity of spin doctors, here and abroad, particularly the United States media, to perpetuate false lies, perpetuate lies.
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