Friday, June 13, 2008

The Heart-beat of Missions

A denominational paper ought to be the counterpart in spirit and purpose of the Acts of the Apostles. Instead of a little "missionary corner" in the paper there ought to be a pulse-beat in every line for missions. The supreme trouble with the missionary work now is that it is crowded off into a little corner. We want a missionary literature that will enthrone the one great passion and purpose of Jesus Christ, and do this in every issue of the paper and in every column of every issue. Until that is done by our papers, our preachers, and our churches, the continuing black plague upon all our religious efforts will be the anti-missionary spirit. We are not here primarily to cultivate sociology or to build up civilization. Our primary business is to give the gospel to the whole world. On no other basis has a church the moral right to the plot of ground on which her building stands. What was our Lord's conception of his church? For what did he build it? His church, he tells us, was to be his body, the instrument of his will, the medium through which be would manifest himself to the world. It is the business of the body to execute the purpose of the head. Christ's church is his body, and it is his purpose that the body shall carry forward the work that brought him from heaven to earth. For what did he come? "It is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." This was his supreme mission, and that of his churches is identical with that of their divine founder and king. For this cause he brought them into the world, and for this cause he keeps them here.

Taken from "The Inspiration of Ideals" by George Truett, Page 42