Pragmatism?!?

The work done in…apostolic days by the preaching of the Gospel was very decided. The religion that it produced was of no diluted nor ambiguous kind. The Christians then were men about whom there could be no mistake—uncompromising, unworldly, out-spoken men, who were not ashamed of their faith, or of their Lord, or of His badge, the cross. They came out and were separate, and touched not the unclean thing. It was in this way that “the masses” of Corinth, and Ephesus, and other Gentile cities were “evangelized” and “elevated,” not by concerts, and clubs, and amusements either for eye or ear.

Morality, culture, and refinement were not despised, but the regeneration of individual men by the power of the Holy Ghost came first as the root of all blessing to the community. “Temples of the Holy Ghost,” not “whited sepulchers,” were what the primitive preachers sought to erect. Lights of the world, not lamps without oil, were what they sought to produce everywhere in the dark cities and villages of heathendom. Nothing less than this is our work now. Nothing below this must be the church’s standard in every age. Out and out Christianity, unmistakable religion—not varnished worldliness or baptized paganism. “Ye must be born again” (Joh 3:7). “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (2Co 5:17). “But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified” (1Co 6:11). These are the keynotes of the church’s testimony. Let us not lower this for a moment.

Excerpt from " the Treasures of Bonar " at Chapel Library