Let me start with a question: What comes to mind when you think about God?
One
particular man has said that your answer to that question, "is the
most important thing about [you]." So think about it
again: "What comes into your mind when you think about
God?" This week's "thought" explains
why he makes the above assertion. It is taken from the book, "The
Knowledge of the Holy" by A.
W. Tozer, and I pass it along to you because I want to challenge
you to think more deeply about what you believe about God.
As
with most of the "thoughts" I pass along, I believe
Tozer is right in the things he says. What we believe about God does have
a tremendous effect upon who we are, what we do, and who we will become.
I pray that his words might cause you to earnestly consider, and if necessary
make some adjustments, in relation to your view of God. In fact, if you desire
a very thoughtful and readable consideration of what Scripture tells us God is
like, this book is well-worth the cost and time it takes to read it (or listen
to it) The following entry tells you why he wrote the book. Enjoy.
"What
comes to mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us. The
history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its
religion, and man's spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no
religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is either
pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God. For this
reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the
most portentous fact about any man is not what he at any given time may say or
do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a
secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not
only of the individual Christian, but the company of Christians that composes
the Church. Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea
of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or
leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. She can
never escape the self-disclosure of her witness concerning God.
Were
we able to extract from any person a complete answer to the question,
"What comes to mind when you think about God?" we might predict with
certainty the spiritual future of that person. Were we able to know
exactly what our most influential religious leaders think of God today, we
might be able with some precision to foretell where the Church will stand
tomorrow. Without doubt, the mightiest thought the mind can entertain is the
thought of God, and the weightiest word in any language is its word for
God. Thought and speech are God's gifts to creatures made in His image;
these are intimately associated with Him and impossible apart from Him...
We may speak because God spoke. In Him word and idea are indivisible.
That
our idea of God correspond as nearly as possible to the true being of God is of
immense importance to us. Compared with our actual thoughts of Him, our
creedal statements are of little consequence. Our real idea of God may lie
buried under the rubbish of conventional religious notions and may require an
intelligent and vigorous search before it is finally unearthed and exposed for
what it is. Only after an ordeal of painful self-probing are we likely to discover
what we actually believe about God. A right conception of God is
basic not only to systematic theology but to practical Christian living as
well. It is to worship what the foundation is to the Temple. Where it is
inadequate or out of plumb, the whole structure must sooner or later
collapse. I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure
in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and
ignoble thoughts about God...
The
church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it
one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshiping
people. This she has done not deliberately, but little by little and without
her knowledge; and her very unawareness only makes her situation all the more
tragic. This low view of God... is the cause of a hundred lesser evils
everywhere among us. A whole new philosophy of the Christian life has resulted
from this one basic error in our religious thinking. With our loss of the
sense of [God's] majesty has come the further loss of religious awe and
consciousness of the divine Presence. We have lost our spirit of worship and
our ability to withdraw inwardly to meet God in adoring silence. Modern Christianity
is simply not producing the kind of Christian who can appreciate or experience
the life in the Spirit. The words, "Be still and know that I am God,"
mean next to nothing to the self-confident bustling worshiper [of our
day]... The decline of the knowledge of the Holy has brought on our
troubles... A rediscovery of the majesty of God will go a long way toward
curing those troubles. It is impossible to keep our moral practices sound and
our inward attitudes right while our idea of God is erroneous or
inadequate. If we would bring back spiritual power to our lives, we must
begin to think of God more nearly as He is."
I
have seen the truth of what he says play itself out in my own life, as well as
in society. You too (if you are the introspective type) may be able to
see traces of that progression (in a positive or negative direction) in your
own life. We inevitably (subconsciously) take on the characteristics of
the God that we worship. In fact, speaking of idols and those who make
them the psalmist says: "Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them" (Psalm 115:8). This
is why it makes such a difference what we believe about God. "We tend by
a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God," as Tozer put it.
Do
you believe God is permissive? You believe God is a heartless taskmaster?
You believe God is gracious and kind? You believe God is a heartless
rule-enforcer? You believe God is Santa Claus in the sky? Do you
believe ______________? The answer to these questions is extremely
important, for you will gravitate toward exhibiting the characteristics of the
God you envision. As many have realized (and used for both good and bad
purposes -- like the empathetic counselor who wants to free from guilt
with the Gospel, or the terrorist who wants to enlist people to do unspeakable
acts of cruelty): All you need to do to bring about change in a
person is to change their view of God.
Which
leads me to ask you one last time: "What comes to mind when you think
about God?" And to close, let me ask you to imagine how
different you, and this world could be, if the answer to that question was,
"Jesus." (Hebrews 1:3).
Just
some food for thought, Pastor Jeff
