The Untouched Bride: 8

A work may bear Christ's name and still quietly seek glory for the one performing it. In 1940-1941 Shanghai, twelve historical parables enter the hidden territory of motive, sanctification, reputation, natural ability, and the purpose of God to obtain a Bride wholly of Christ. Under wartime pressure, work that appears useful must still answer the question of its source, its motive, and ultimately whose glory it serves. These are not stories about obvious corruption. They examine the subtler danger of Christian work that is sincere, disciplined, and outwardly fruitful while still carrying traces of self-importance, personal ambition, inherited prestige, or the desire to be seen as useful to God. The Bride does not exist for her own name. God's purpose is not merely effective Christian service, but a people whose origin, character, holiness, and glory are found in Christ rather than in human pedigree, ability, reputation, or ambition. Again and again, the characters are brought to the place where usefulness itself must be surrendered, motives must be searched, and even worthy service must pass through the question: is this for Christ, from Christ, and unto Christ? Holiness, in these stories, is not withdrawal from life. It is freedom from mixture. Do we desire Christ Himself, or what being associated with Christ may make of us? The Untouched Bride is Volume Eight of The House-to-House Chronicles: Parables of the Little Flock.