Daily EncouragementSample

The pre-eminence of Christ is a glorious fact, wonderfully affirmed in the opening chapter of Colossians.

The pre-eminence of Christ must be the guiding principle in all our service. He is the Lord of the harvest and his will must be sought for every aspect of his work. Each labourer in the field should know his guidance, perhaps sometimes mediated through other members of the body. Recognition of this principle is what characterizes a living church.

The pre-eminence of Christ demands the subservience of everything else. At the end of a long day of questions about politics, theology and ethics, our Lord asked the supreme question: “What do you think about the Christ?” (Matt. 22:42). It is the supreme question still. Everything else and everyone else must take second place, be they churches or missions, be they creeds or theologies or eschatologies, be they ministers or missionaries or ordinary saints. Secondary things are not unimportant, but they are not first.

The pre-eminence of Christ precludes a spirit less gracious than his own and an embrace less wide. A. B. Simpson expresses this well: “I want to enjoy the broadest fellowship myself, and I want my people to receive the benefit of the ministry of all God’s gifted servants, regardless of whether they agree with me in everything or not.”