Christ’s Personal Ministry

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 8, 1916

Christ’s Personal Ministry

Our Great Example came into the world to seek and to save the lost. In doing this he did not lead the life of an ascetic; he did not spend his time in a monastery. The very nature of his work required that he should mingle freely with the people, and this he did. Words of gracious truth fell from his lips in public discourse. The beautiful and sublime thoughts to which he gave utterance excited the wonder of his listeners, and they were led to exclaim, “Never man spake like this man.” And the beauty of his life, the exemplification in his own daily living of the truths he taught, gave power to the message of salvation he proclaimed. In the record borne by the four evangelists of his public work much more is said of his personal ministry than of his public labor.

Wherever there were souls longing for help, there the Master was found. In the temple, in the synagogue, in the public mart, by the wayside, in the home, at the marriage feast, and at the bedside of the suffering, everywhere his kindly presence and loving counsel brought hope and courage to weary hearts. Associating freely with the world, he preserved unsullied his spotless purity and kept himself free from every taint of the worldly spirit. We have, through the Spirit of prophecy, this record of his influence:—

“Jesus reproved self-indulgence in all its forms, yet he was social in his nature. He accepted the hospitality of all classes, visiting the homes of the rich and the poor, the learned and the ignorant, and seeking to elevate their thoughts from questions of commonplace life to those things that are spiritual and eternal. He gave no license to dissipation, and no shadow of worldly levity marred his conduct; yet he found pleasure in scenes of innocent happiness, and by his presence sanctioned the social gathering.”—The Desire of Ages, pp. 150, 151.

Christ never designed his followers to be recluses. Man was created with social instincts. The love of home and friends and of association with his fellows was implanted in his very nature. To a follower of the Master the opportunities afforded in social intercourse are invaluable. Rightly used, such association may be the means of bringing many to the Saviour. These avenues of touch with the world at large must be guarded. The world engages in many gatherings which Christians cannot consistently attend.

The line of demarcation between the church and the world must never be obliterated. While living in the world the followers of the Master must keep the spirit of worldliness out of their lives, otherwise they lose their distinctive character, and their profession of Christ amounts to mere form. Unconsciously we are affected by the influences which surround us, and it is only by eternal vigilance that we can keep the demoralizing and disintegrating evils which operate so strongly among men, and of which we are oftentimes unwittingly eyewitnesses, from affecting our own lives. Regarding the necessity of this the apostle gives earnest exhortation: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” 1 John 2: 15-17.

In every relationship Christ is man's example. “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” Were Christ on earth today, we could not think of him as attending and finding pleasure in the world's popular sports. It is unthinkable that the Master would be found seeking recreation and enjoyment at a horse race, a theater, a circus, a card party, or a skating rink. We cannot believe that he would grace with his presence many of the social gatherings which are held. He would find no pleasure in listening to idle gossip. Dignified but kindly in all his bearing, modestly reserved but approachable by the humblest disciple, he would move among men as the personification of noble, generous, elevating, and inspiring manhood. As of old, his ministry would be to the discouraged and depressed, to the sick and suffering and sorrowing. In these social relationships he would find his chief joy. Possessed of his spirit, his followers will do as he did and as he would do today were he present personally among them.