Why Haven't Evangelicals Listened?
March 20, 2005
Long before the voices of McLaren and Webber and Grenz and Sweet were addressing some much-needed changes within the Church, and especially (although not limited to) the evangelical church, there seems to have been other voices -- calling the Church to account, and giving her a deeper vision of who she was created to be.
I believe A. W. Tozer was one such voice. (1)
Sometimes painful or even aggravating to listen to, I find myself repeatedly drawn to the teachings and wisdom of this man. Here's an example:
As might have been foreseen, this resulted in a steady decline in the quality of Christian worship on the one hand and, on the other, the rise of religious entertainment as a source of mental pleasure. (2) Wise leaders should have known that the human heart cannot exist in a vacuum. If men do not have joy in their hearts they will seek it somewhere else. If Christians are forbidden to enjoy the wine of the Spirit they will turn to the wine of the flesh for enjoyment. And that is exactly what fundamental Christianity (as well as the so-called "full gospel" groups) has done in the last quarter century. God's people have turned to the amusements of the world to try to squeeze a bit of juice out of them for the relief of their dry and joyless hearts. "Gospel" boogie singing now furnishes for many persons the only religious joy they know. Others wipe their eyes tenderly over "gospel" movies, and a countless number of amusements flourish everywhere, paid for by the consecrated tithes of persons who ought to know better. Our teachers took away our right to be happy in God and the human heart wreaked its terrible vengeance by going on a fleshly binge from which the evangelical church will not soon recover, if indeed it ever does. (3) For multitudes of professed Christians today the Holy Spirit is not a necessity. They have learned to cheer their hearts and warm their hands at other fires. And scores of publishers and various grades of "producers" are waxing fat on their deliquency. (4) (Tozer, A. W. -- "Christ Died for Our Hearts" in The Root of the Righteous,1955)
Ok. Here are my thoughts and questions in response:
1) I'd love to hear who you believe those "other voices" might be.
2) Why do we need ________ -- whatever it might be -- in order to enjoy God? This reminds me of how some people need "weed" in order to enjoy a conversation, need a BIG screen TV in order to enjoy sports, or need to act-out a fantasy in order to enjoy sex. Do you suppose we have brought this cultural phenomenon into our spiritual lives more than we realize?
3) Is this really possible? Possible that the evangelical Church has so messed-up, that it's wound is incurable?
4) What should we make of entrepeneurs who, within our commericalized society, are personally making millions of $$ from all-things "Christian"?
And one more...
5) Why haven't evangelicals listened to voices like Tozer?
Chris,
Great questions. I will only attempt to tackle number 3. I wonder if even the concept of the "evangelical church" is just that - a construct. I do think that evangelicals (of which I suppose I am still one) have failed to offer a sufficient counterscript to a world looking for authentic faith. Fortunately God exists above our constructs.
Ok, number 4 as well. Just too tempting. I have lived in the CBA all my life. It is not as evil as it might seem, yet way more insidious. Take my wife as an example. We are not getting rich from her career as a CBA novelist. Yet in some way she participates in the whole deal. The difference with Lisa is that she seeks to offer an alternative, well-written fiction that genuinely raises questions. I think that too many people in the Christian industry are just out to make a buck, so they will shape their message however they need to. The best example of this is Jerry Jenkins, someone who seems to want to be a great writer and instead has settled for pumping out shlocky Left Behind books.
Posted by: will | March 21, 2005 at 04:42 AM
I would put forward Keith Green as a similar influence in my walk - a prophetic voice, perhaps a bit more visceral than Tozer. I'd write more, but I see that you have beat me to it (here), even quoting my favourite song and referencing my favourite message of his. I believe it was Green who first opened my eyes to how badly the church often fails in its true calling, and prepared me to hear other voices like those of McLaren, Webber, Grenz, et al... Thanks for this - I'm going to have to go read some Tozer now.
Posted by: Jonathan | March 21, 2005 at 05:29 AM
'Why haven't evangelicals listened to voices like Tozer?'
some have.
which explains some of the friction within the church today ;)
Posted by: tammy | March 21, 2005 at 09:26 AM
For me, I think one of the other voices has been Eugene Peterson. When you read his pastoral theology and spirituality stuff, you're confronted with challenges to the church's focus on attendance, commercialism, "the show".
We're talking about a guy who, when his church began a building campaign and he was being pressured to go visit the wealthier members of the congregation, instead spent the majority of his time in rest homes visiting those who couldn't possibly help financially.
That's authenticity.
Posted by: Pat | March 21, 2005 at 01:12 PM
I have come to the realization that I am one of perhaps a handful of Paradoxology faithfuls who is not well-educated in religion. However, as a lay person and relatively recent Christian convert, I do believe I have something to contribute... I disagree that adapting Christian worship to what we could call "worldly expectations" is a bad thing. This is not a case of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Rather, by writing and performing Christian rock and soulful gospel, modern disciples are shaping their message to be palatable to the masses whom they are trying to reach. Must worship be boring to be authentic? If the American culture is accustomed to watching TV and video, would evangelicals not be failing in their mission NOT to attempt to embrace the media of choice of its target market, the unchurched? Yes, simply finding joy in God for who he is is the ideal, but we must first reach those who need to understand they are missing that joy in their hearts to make them want it. I enjoy Chirstiian entertainment and resent Tozer's implication I should feel guilty about it to be an authentic Christian. I am going to listen to music and praise God my children and I have a great local Christian rock station to listen to in the car, rather than my previous favorite -- classic rock --which often glamorizes drugs and illicit sex.
Posted by: Mary | March 21, 2005 at 03:42 PM
So many people read Tozer and yet so few actually heed what he is saying. It saddens me.
1. Leonard Ravenhill, contemporary and friend of Tozer, is another person we should be heeding, even though he is deceased, also. Ravenhill and Tozer are prophetic voices in an age of itching ears. I know of no living prophetic voices like theirs in the 21st century American church. Prophets assess the times accurately and call people to repentance. Many claim to do the former but few the latter. Very, very sad.
2. Yes.
3. Yes. I believe the remnant in this country is rapidly shrinking. There will always be a few sold-out Christians who truly understand the Lordship of Christ (as Tozer was a Lordship preacher), but I meet fewer and fewer people like this every year.
4. It depends. You can't blanket condemn a Christian who does well. If I were to setup a company that helped people travel to the Holy Lands and I made a lot of money doing it, is that ungodly? I don't think so. (How I spent that money would be a greater indication of my faithfulness to Christ.) But if I try to Christianize contemporary cultural artifacts and make a fortune doing so, I have a much bigger issue with that.
5. Evangelicals have not listened to Tozer because they ultimately love the world more than they love the Lord. I see it all the time. One family in a church is losing their home due to health or unemployment issues, while other families buy a third car, a plasma TV, or another computer to add to the lot they already own. The response to the hurting? "Oh, that's so sad for you!" The hurting get a brief pat on the back as if to say, "Buck up, buckeroo--we'll pray for you!" and then it's off to Williams Sonoma to buy the latest $300 panani-maker. And the prayer doesn't come, either. We're creating a generation of people a mile wide and a quarter inch deep. Doesn't take a genius to realize how fast a puddle like that will dry up when the heat is on.
Posted by: DLE | March 22, 2005 at 09:36 AM
Tozer is one of the many reasons I started taking Orthodoxy seriously.
"Is it possible that the evangelical Church has so messed-up, that it's wound is incurable?"
Yes, I think so.
Posted by: Karl Thienes | March 22, 2005 at 07:35 PM
Funny this should come up. I have been listening to a series of sermons from Tozer, by Tozer himself on www.sermonaudio.com. We can discuss incurable wounds, but it may be drowning out God's call to the type of radical revival that Tozer pleads for. We're it... let's do it!
Posted by: Greg | March 24, 2005 at 03:52 PM
Great point, Greg. Talking about the "incurable wound" is helpful, but we can't afford to get stuck there.
Posted by: Chris | March 25, 2005 at 11:06 AM
As I'm not an American, and not overly familiar with the American Church (although I've read a lot of Tozer, listened to Keith Green, and Ravenhill), I don't know if Paris Reidhead was considered to be an Evangelical, but his sermon "Ten Shekels And A Shirt" (preached, oh, 35 years ago?) is a MUST.
The audio can be found at sermonindex.com, and I think the transcript of it is easy to obtain there and elsewhere too.
Posted by: Johan | March 31, 2005 at 01:50 AM
Just started reading Tozer today, and saw your post.
There is a sharp clear message in his writing, surely a prophet of the 20th century.
Posted by: off shore fisherman | April 04, 2005 at 07:56 AM
1) Peterson has been mentioned. I would add J.I. Packer, Harvey Cox (early on), Francis Shaeffer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Tony Campolo, C.S. Lewis...
2) Wow, how much space do we have to talk about the infilatration of consumerism into conteporary church.
3) Perhaps.
4) See 2) above.
5) Some have. However, the heresy attack-dogs in the evangelical church are well trained at silencing unwanted voices and stopping new thinkers from maturing in their voice.
Posted by: Fernando Gros | May 09, 2005 at 03:40 AM