Margaret Feinberg posted the following on Tuesday and, though I read “The Pursuit of God” by A.W. Tozer several years ago, this quote made me want to go through it again. As Feinberg pointed out, Tozer wrote this over 30 years ago. Stunning how true it rings today.
Every age has its own characteristics. Right now we are in an age of religious complexity. 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.
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.
–A.W. Tozer (The Pursuit of God, p. 17-18)
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That’s an awesome quote! Made me think for a minute…of all the religious activities I take part in, which one’s are truly leading me closer to Jesus?
I think this quote has always rung true, but probably more so in modern society with its many distractions and greatly increased opportunities.
I’m currently re-reading C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, and was surprised to find a chapter about exactly this topic. His eponymous demon writes to his “tempter” nephew about convincing his “patient” who has become a Christian to avoid letting him be a “mere Christian” but to get him involved in “Christianity and..”; meaning things like Christianity and History, or Christianity and the Married Couples, or anything else that can keep him from focusing on Christianity itself. The Screwtape Letters was first published in 1942, but it reads, for the most part, as if it were published last week!