Jean-Baptiste
From HTB
Good afternoon everyone,
I'm currently translating the Worship Central Course as I'm planning to run one in France this coming January (please pray for that!) and I'm having trouble with this sentence in the second session (page 6, at the bottom):
A. W. Tozer warned: “If God took his Holy Spirit out of this world, what the church is doing would go right on and nobody would know the difference.”
I just can't agree with that, so I must be missing something. I believe that if God takes his Spirit away from us, then we would be terribly missing the point at church, and nothing would be right at all! I think there's a HUGE difference in having his Spirit or not having it.
Could you give me your opinion on that one please?
As above - he's not saying that the Spirit doesn't do anything for us, he's saying that the church isn't making use of God's spirit, that they're doing things in human strength rather than seeking the Spirit's guidance.
It's a pretty profound quote, and one that even in context I don't agree with fully - I believe there are many churches who would notice the difference and would sense a real change (and not a good one!) I see the point and it makes a good thing to think about but applying it to the church in general is a bit too broad IMO.
Having said that, I've no doubt that for some churches that rely on hype more than the Spirit it would be true. So whether you fully agree or not it does make an good point to think about.
Thanks to both of you!
I get the meaning of it with the context now! I didn't think of it this way, but it makes much more sense now.
It will be easier to explain it during the course.
New Song
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Tozer was attempting to rebuke churches that do what they do as a result of human planning and effort rather than reliance on the guidance and empowering of the Holy Spirit.
He was trying to shake churches (and individual Christians) out of our complacency and small-mindedness and re-kindle a desire to see the Holy Spirit do amazing things in and through us.
Alex