The Gospel of Christ's Church For the World

Ray Ortlund posts an important reminder/corrective:

Hence, though a man of sorrow, [Christ] was even on earth anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows [Psalm 45:7]. . . . Shall we wonder that there was divine gladness in the heart of him who came into the world not by constraint but willingly, not with a burning sense of wrong but with a grateful sense of high privilege . . . ?
-- A.B. Bruce

The ministry today can be motivated either by a burning sense of wrong or by a grateful sense of high privilege. It is possible to build a big church with the energy of a burning sense of what's wrong. There are angry Christians who are ready to rally around someone who will validate their anger. But is that the gospel at work?

The apostles did not fuss and wring their hands and moan, "What's the world coming to?" They gladly announced, "Look what's come to the world!" And people were set free.

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