An Inner Corrective

E. Stanley Jones was a missionary, a theologian, and a prolific writer. In his devotional book Victorious Living he shows how the Spirit of Christ is the corrective for the church:

"As we talk about holding a cosmic optimism there rise up before us the many, many futilities and puerilities within the Christian Church itself, and these would dampen, if not destroy, that optimism. These irrelevancies stand out now against the background of world need. We have built up things about Christ which have now become an embarrassment to Him--and to us.

"A pious monk found that a little mouse distracted his devotions, so he tied a cat to a post near by, that it might frighten away the mouse. After his death his followers wanted to do everything just as the master did, so they tied cats to the posts of the rooms where they meditated. In the course of time the original reason for tying the cat was lost sight of, and they had long discussions on what kind and color of a cat should be used, how far from the worshiper, and so on. Many things which occupy our attention in Christendom are as meaningless as tying cats in devotional hours. This tendency toward irrelevancies within Christendom drives one almost to despair. Except--except for one fact.

"There is within the Christian system a corrective and regenerative principle and power in the person of Christ. He has an asceptic [sic] influence upon the Christian system. He exerts a constant cleansing impact from within. This inner corrective is our hope. He is today confronting us with the question He asked His disciples, 'What were you reasoning in the way?' And we are silent, as they were, for we too have disputed about our own greatness, our denominationalisms and petty irrelevancies in the face of a world crisis. But as He corrected them so He shall correct us. His Spirit is mightily pleading through the voices both within and without the Christian Church. And, above all, it is pleading through the world need itself. Those that hear that voice shall live, those who do not shall perish."