DAY 218 – WHY THE CHURCH EXISTS ------------------------------------------------- Just as Jesus Christ was in this world, so the Church must be also. Christ Jesus did not come into this world to be ministered to, but he came to minister – he did not come to be honoured, but to save others. The Church when she understands her work, will perceive that she is not in this world to gather to herself wealth, honour, or to seek any temporary glory and position. The Church is here to live unselfishly, and if necessary, to die unselfishly for the deliverance of the lost sheep and the salvation of lost men. “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing”- Friends, Christ’s prayer on the cross was an unselfish one. He does not mention or remember himself in it. That should be the Church’s life-prayer, the Church’s active intervention on behalf of sinners. The Church ought to live not for her ministers, but for the lost sons of men. The churches are not formed to maintain or sustain ministers. Do you really think the Church exists in this world merely that so much salary may be given to bishops, deans, prebends, curates and the like? If that be the main aim of the Church, it may well be good to put an end to its existence. The main aim of the church is not to provide relief for the younger sons of nobility – when they don’t have enough brains to make a living for themselves, they are stuck into family livings. Churches are not made so that those who can speak may stand up on Sabbaths/Sundays and talk, so that they may get paid by their admirers. No, there is another end and aim for this. Churches are not built so that you have a place to sit comfortably, and listen to something that will make you pass your Sundays with pleasure. A church which does not do good in the slums and shacks is a church that has no reason to justify its existence. A church that does not exist to fight evil, to destroy error, to put an end to lies, a church that does not take the side of the poor, to denounce injustice – this is a church that has no right to exist. A church does not exist for herself, just as Christ did not exist for himself. His glory was that he laid aside his glory, and the glory of the church is when she lays down her respectability and her dignity, and considers it her glory to gather together the outcasts, and her highest honor to seek among the filth the priceless jewels for which Christ’s blood was shed. To rescue souls from hell and lead them to God, to hope, to heaven – this is the church’s occupation. May the church always feel this. She may have her bishops and preachers, and they may be supported – and let everything be done decently and in order, but let the end be looked to, which is the conversion of the lost, the teaching of the ignorant, the help of the poor, the maintenance of righteousness, putting down the wrong and upholding all the hazards of the crown and kingdom of our LORD Jesus Christ.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 19:46:53 +0000
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