“She is a traitor to the Master who sent her if she is so beguiled by
the beauties of taste and art as to forget that to ‘preach Christ...
and Him crucified’ is the only object for which she exists among
the sons of men. The business of the Church is salvation of souls.”
C.H. Spurgeon
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"The business of the Church is salvation of souls.”
Close. He actaully got it a right a couple of sentences earlier; "preach Christ...
and Him crucified’. "
God's in the business of saving souls.
(I hate to be nitpicky on some of this stuff...but words actually do mean things, and we might as well get it right... if we can)
That we are His instrument in this is not a debate (or shouldn't be).
He got it right.
Business in the sense of the direction and responsibility of going into all the world and preaching the gospel to every creature; not in the sense of capitalizing in a financial gain.
Wayne, do you see the church as having more of a missional responsibility? I've always thought of the church as a "school" of sorts with more of a responsibility to mature existing Christians so they could go out and be missionaries wherever they find themselves (at work for most people), and then they regroup, reorganize, reenergize each week at church.
By the way, I really enjoyed the conversation we had concerning my post "A Plain Reading." Did you get a chance to read my response to you?
I just mean that when someone gets "free will" stuck in their head (as do so many), that they actually believe they can convince people to be saved...or not.
God is in the Salvation business. That is what we ought proclaim, and announce.
So, the first job of the church is to be in the proclamation business.
A subtlety, I know. But I think it is worth making the distinction.
"So, the first job of the church is to be in the proclamation business."
Yes, Amen!
I thought that was exactly what Spurgeon was saying through his quote.
Jonathan -
Jesus told us to go and preach the gospel to every creature in Mark and go make disciples in Matthew; teaching them to observe everything Jesus commanded.
I believe that we go and preach the gospel and when God saves a person we disciple them.
Learning the Scriptures is very important, but a new-born Christian, at the very least, should be able to share the basic gospel.
By the way....I am behind on getting back into reading blogs after being down in New Orleans on a mission trip.
And, our church is hosting something called Global Impact Celebration starting today through Sunday. About 40 missionaries and their families are here to meet and educate us about their particular field.
I do plan on getting back to that discussion!!
cool quote, charles spurgeon was a cool dude. keep it up ;)
Wayne,
Maybe I was being too nitpicky.
I can't help it, the Lutheran in me is always on guard against the power of 'people' (the church)or whomever...as opposed to God)
It's all good, Steve.
It's all God!
Sola Scriptura
Sola Gratia
Sola Fide
Solus Christus
Soli Deo Gloria
I don't think we disagree, though Steve's comment on free will tempted me a bit. I don't know that the "primary" purpose of the church is to "preach Christ and Him crucified" nor the business of church the "salvation of souls." I just realized though that we all may be defining church differently in our minds, or maybe just me. I know we are the body, we are the church, but with regard to this quote I was thinking more along the lines of what happens at the place where people gather on Sunday.
The business of the traditional church on the corner is, in my view, to preach Christ and to mature (grow) Christians no matter what stage they are at. And the business of Christ is the salvation of souls, for it was His work that accomplished such a feat.
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