The Test | AdventAI

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 26, 1885

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 13.

The Test.

It is a mistake to think that Christ's doctrine of separation from the world means to withdraw one's self from common everyday life or from intercourse with reputable society. The key to Christian living and conduct is, "If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his." We may go safely wherever we can maintain the spirit of Christ; and we do well to stop and consider whether Christ, if he were here, as he was once in Palestine, would accompany us. And this is neither an unnatural nor misleading test. For the question is not how the world, nor indeed how the church, or our fellow Christians, will look upon us, but how it appears to Christ, to whom we have pledged allegiance.

It is the spirit of this world against which we are to guard. A spirit, let it be remembered, that finds its way into churches, and even takes possession of the services of religion. It was especially this that was offensive to Christ when he was among men. The spirit that paraded its virtues even in its prayers, that sought the chief places in ecclesiastical gatherings, that recounted its gifts and zeal and devotion, to obtain the praise of men rather than of God. Let no one deceive himself on so important a matter as conformity to the world. To be in this world and not to be of it is the test of a Christian life—Christ's test, not the world's.

—Central Christian Advocate.