IN THE CHURCH: THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST IN CONTROL

“…Ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory” (EPHESIANS 1:13-14)

The nervous compulsion to get things done is found everywhere among us and right here is where the pragmatic philosophy comes into its own.

 

It asks no embarrassing questions about the wisdom of what we are doing or even about the morality of it.

 

accepts our chosen ends as right and good and casts about for efficient means and ways to get them accomplished. When it discovers something that works, it soon finds a text to justify it, “consecrates” it to the Lord and plunges ahead. Next a magazine article is written about it, then a book, and finally the inventor is granted an honorary degree. After that, any question about the scripturalness of things or even the moral validity of them is completely swept away.

 

You cannot argue with success. The method works; ergo, it must be good!

 

The whole religious atmosphere around us is largely geared to pragmatic methodology. What shall we do to break its power over us?

 

The answer is simple. We must acknowledge the right of Jesus Christ to control the activities of His Church. The New Testament contains full instructions, not only about what we are to believe but what we are to do and how we are to go about doing it. Any deviation from those instructions is a denial of the Lordship of Christ!

 

  1. W. Tozer