Daily Inspiration Quote by E. Stanley Jones

E. Stanley Jones, the Methodist missionary famed for The Christ of the Indian Road and his dialogues with Gandhi, insists that conversion is first a re-centering on a Person and only then a reordering of everything else. The capital P signals Jesus Christ. That precision matters: the claim is not about generic spirituality but about a living relationship that precedes and judges every institution, movement, ideology, or moral code.

The statement pushes back against the confusion of Christianity with its cultural packaging. In early 20th-century India, missions were often entangled with colonial power and Western norms. Jones worked to separate Christ from Christendom, arguing that people stumble less over Jesus than over the baggage we strap to his name. If conversion ties one primarily to Christ, then churches, doctrines, and activism become necessary but secondary tools. They serve the relationship; they are not its substitute.

Attachment to a Person guards against two distortions. Against legalism, it reminds that obedience flows from love, not mere rule-keeping. Against activism without roots, it insists that social action derives its force from communion with the one who calls and sends. Beliefs and codes remain vital, but they are derivative, tested by whether they reflect the character and teaching of Jesus.

This ordering also opens space for unity. If the center is a Person, not a party or denomination, Christians can disagree on many secondary matters while sharing a common allegiance. Jones’s Christian ashrams embodied this, gathering seekers across traditions for Christ-focused discipleship.

The emphasis on attachment speaks to the heart. It suggests that conversion is not merely assent or affiliation but a change of loyalty and love. Loyalty to institutions alone breeds tribalism; loyalty to a Person reforms institutions. Jones sets a simple but searching criterion: cling first to Christ, and let all else find its place around that center.