He did not wait for men to come to
Him, but He went out to meet them by the seaside, and in the city. He
sent His disciples out also that He through them might do as wide a
work as possible. There is no trace of the recluse in Jesus. He
desired to meet people of all classes and mingle with them. At the
last He gathered His disciples about Him, in an upper room, and
instituted a memorial supper as the chief ordinance of His church
(Luke 22:19; Matthew 26:26-30).
Everything that Jesus did in meeting people in a social way had a
purpose and that was to level up society and cause it to conform to
the principles of the kingdom of God. Wherever He went He led the
conversation to the better things of this kingdom. The man who quotes
Jesus and His relation to society, as a justification of attendance
upon numerous social functions, ought also to carry out the purpose of
Jesus in bringing others to a better life; he ought also to lead the
conversation to the same topics. If society sways any man from the
right purposes of life, and he finds that he cannot breast its
temptations he should remain out of it or increase his spiritual
strength.
The Christian Society, composed of a body of persons associated for
the common object of exploiting Jesus Christ and His principles, at
first was almost wholly social.
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