The Pursuit of God by Tozer - Reflections (10)

 

 

“The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, and that servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all” (pp. 17 – 18).

 

“If we would find God amid all the religious externals, we must first determine to find Him, and then proceed in the way of simplicity…We must simplify our approach to Him” (page 18).

 

As I pondered the above, it occurred to me that programs program us. We have become programmed to program, and now we have come to the point where AI is taking this beyond the comprehension of most of us. Now those who programmed are being programmed. Tozer writes, “The evil habit of seeking God and effectively prevents us from finding God in full revelation. In the and lies our great woe” (page 18).

 

Jesus is no longer enough for professing Christians, Jesus is no longer enough for the church, Jesus is no longer enough for our congregations.

 

Tozer writes of the simplicity of Christ being rare in his time. Paul writes, “I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3). What would Tozer say about our time? Is the simplicity of Christ rare, or is it virtually nonexistent?

 

Of course, it is hard to argue with success, and if some churches are growing and others are closing, well, that’s just the way it is. If the social sciences work better than the Holy Spirit, if marketing is more fruitful than the Holy Spirit and the Word, if we are meeting the needs of the people, then even if they don’t really know Jesus Christ, that is just the way it is. We can’t have unrealistic Biblical expectations these days, bills need to be paid, organizations must be sustained, the world is changing and we need to change with it. We may say that our message hasn’t changed, but do we really believe that?

 

In the previous reflection there was a quote from page 16 that included, “How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done for us by our teachers.” I’m not sure what Tozer meant when he wrote this, but I do want to say that we are all products of a system from which we cannot very well extricate ourselves, even if we want to. I think this was probably true when Tozer wrote The Pursuit of God, and I am sure it is truer today after 77 years.

 

When we do have pastors and teachers and leaders and professors who understand, in some measure, that we are captives in Babylon, there is usually little that they can do to help us – for we have been programmed to want programs, we have been addicted to what Tozer terms “nervous activities,” and our servile adoption of the world’s promotional methods has far exceeded anything that Tozer dealt with a generation ago.  Jesus is no longer enough for us, gathering together in His Name and Nature is no longer enough.

 

Tozer saw a hunger for God in his time, I don’t see that today. I see people satiated with programs, with Gnosticism (a perpetual looking inward instead of beholding Jesus), with entertainment that is termed “worship,” with a view of justification that, as Tozer says, actually keeps us from God, with humanistic approaches to the Bible – many cloaked in what is supposed to be a “high view” of Scripture, with a rejection of the Cross of Christ as the way of life...well…I could go on. The seeds which Tozer saw being planted, the plants coming up from the earth that Tozer discerned, have now had a generation to grow – what would Tozer say today?

 

What would Tozer say to our capitulation to economic, political, social, and nationalistic agendas? What would he say to our prostitution to these spirits which are not the Holy Spirit of God, which are not the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Jesus is not really enough, is He? It must always be, as Tozer writes, God and.

 

What shall we do?

 

Let us seek Jesus, let us pursue God.

 

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you” (Isaiah 60:1 – 2).

 

I do believe these words of God through Isaiah with all of my heart, and I deeply believe the trajectory we see in Romans Chapter 8 of the manifestation of the sons and daughters of God…otherwise, why would I continue on this pilgrimage? Am I not looking for that City (Hebrews 11)? Must we not follow the Lamb wherever He goes (Revelation 14:1 – 5)?

 

Yet, perhaps even Tozer contributed to the problems he saw. Perhaps we all do. I know I have been part of the problem more than once – I thought I was doing what I could and should for the people I was serving, but as I look back I would most certainly do some things differently…trusting Christ (I hope!) more than making things happen (Psalm 127).

 

I think Tozer does miss the mark on page 14 when he downplays the importance of the body of believers in our communion with God – for we need one another in our pursuing God, in our knowing God, in our growing in Christ. Our pursuit of God is personal, but it is also communal. Yes, there most certainly are private elements to our koinonia with the Trinity, but we do not have a privatized communion – that would hardly be the Nature of the Trinity! I will even say that our vision of the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11 – 16) ought to motivate us to obedience and faithfulness and our pursuit of God. Yes, I want to know God for me, but I also want to know God so that others may know Him in Jesus Christ – I cannot separate the two.

 

(The first full paragraph on page 14, that begins with, “This intercourse between God and the soul…” is, I think, the weakest paragraph in this chapter; it is exceptionally problematic. It betrays a parochial view of the Body of Christ, rather than a view that embraces the many streams of the Church which contribute to our heritage. This is all I’ll say about this because it is not central to Tozer’s theme, it is a tangent that perhaps should have been omitted in the final draft.)

 

When Tozer writes that, “We must simplify our approach to Him,” we need only ask, “Where is Jesus?”

 

Where is Jesus in this Bible passage?

 

Where is Jesus in this sermon or teaching?

 

Where is Jesus in this curriculum?

 

Where is Jesus in our congregation?

 

Where is Jesus in marriage and family?

 

Where is Jesus in my soul, my heart, my mind?

 

Is my friendship with Jesus growing and deepening daily?

 

Is Jesus my Way of Life?

 

Tozer concludes Chapter One on a challenging and positive note, we’ll explore that in our next reflection, the Lord willing.