A.W. Tozer
, popularly known as “20th-century prophet” in his lifetime and was for 31 years pastor of Southside Alliance Church in Chicago, penned this provocative article
relevant to our churches today.
“The most critical need of the church at this moment is men, bold men, free men. The church must seek, in prayer and much humility, the coming again of men made of the stuff of which prophets and martyrs are made.” – A. W. Tozer
It would be too easy to dismiss this dislike for church as only another symptom of original sin and love of moral darkness, but I believe that explanation is too pat to be wholly true. It doesn’t explain enough. Some persons, for instance, find church intolerable because there is no objective toward which pastor and people are moving, aside possibly from the limited one of trying to enlist eight more women and 10 more men to chaperon the annual youth cookout or reaching the building fund quota for the month. And believe me, that can get mighty wearisome after a while, so wearisome indeed that alert, forward-looking persons often forsake the churches in droves and leave the spiritless, the dull and those afflicted with permanent insouciance to carry on, if a phrase so active dare be used to describe what they do. To Paul there was nothing dull or tiresome in the religion of Christ.*
God had a plan which was being carried forward to completion, and Paul and all the faithful in Christ Jesus were part of that plan. It included predestination, redemption, adoption and the obtaining of an eternal inheritance in the heavenly places. Gods purpose has now been openly revealed (Ephesians 3:10,11). It was the knowledge that they were part of an eternal plan that imparted unquenchable enthusiasm to the early Christians. They burned with holy zeal for Christ and felt that they were part of an army which the Lord was leading to ultimate conquest over all the powers of darkness. That was enough to fill them with perpetual enthusiasm.*
Is this happening in your church today? If so, I pray for breakthrough not only for your church but more importantly to you, who make church happen.
*source: Oneplace.com
, church
Buy A.W. Tozer books at Amazon.com:
1. A Passion for God: The Spiritual Journey of A. W. Tozer
2. Living as a Christian: Teachings from First Peter
3. God’s Pursuit of Man
4. The Pursuit of God
5. Reclaiming Christianity: A Call to Authentic Faith
