Keep Calm and Carry On

In his collection of writings called, Man: The Dwelling Place of God, A.W. Tozer wrote:

“Christianity today is man-centered, not God-centered. God is made to wait patiently, even respectfully, on the whims of men. The image of God currently popular is that of a distracted Father, struggling in heartbroken desperation to get people to accept a Savior of whom they feel no need and in whom they have very little interest. To persuade these self-sufficient souls to respond to His generous offers God will do almost anything, even using salesmanship methods and talking down to them in the chummiest way imaginable. This view of things is, of course, a kind of religious romanticism which, while it often uses flattering and sometimes embarrassing terms in praise of God, manages nevertheless to make man the star of the show.“

Tozer's assessment is as true in 2020 as it was at the height of the 1950s and early ‘60s when he first penned these words––a time when many of us might look back and think things were better; even “the good ole days“ or “the golden years.“ But if we're all being honest with ourselves and one another, the truth is, they weren't “better.“ In fact, the general condition of the human heart was and still remains the same––deceitful and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9).

The tendency for humans to make worship about themselves is very natural and it exists in every generation. If you don't believe me, just look at the Hebrew children all the way back in Exodus 32! They had just been freed from Egyptian bondage and Yahweh was providing for every need, yet while Moses is literally just up the mountain in the glory of Yahweh, the Hebrews were worshipping an idol made out of their own gold and formed into the shape of a baby cow.

How ridiculous! Yet how often are we guilty of our own version of the same? It isn't the “gold“ or the new clothes or the exorbitant amounts of money that we put into our facilities and services that is the problem, but it's the motive of the heart that makes the difference. Matt Redman said it well with his famous song from years ago, “the heart of worship [is] when it's all about you, Jesus!“

But is it really? Or do we just say that while we keep calm and carry on with our own plans? We are all in desperate need of regularly keeping our hearts in check to be sure that our motives are centered on the God we profess to serve.