The Perfect Church

by A. W. Tozer

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. —1 Peter 4:8 KJV

And above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. - 1 Peter 4:8 NAS

Our lofty idealism would argue that all Christians should be perfect, but a blunt realism forces us to admit that perfection is rare even among the saints. The part of wisdom is to accept our Christian brothers and sisters for what they are rather than for what they should be....

There is much that is imperfect about us, and it is fitting that we recognize it and call upon God for charity to put up with one another. The perfect church is not on this earth. The most spiritual church is sure to have in it some who are still bothered by the flesh.

An old Italian proverb says, "He that will have none but a perfect brother must resign himself to remain brotherless." However earnestly we may desire that our Christian brother go on toward perfection, we must accept him as he is and learn to get along with him. To treat an imperfect brother impatiently is to advertise our own imperfections.

Prayer: Lord, give me patience and grace today in dealing with others' imperfections. And give them the same grace in dealing with mine! Because of Jesus' love - Amen.

—from Tozer on Christian Leadership, July 28

Wilderness Encroachment

by A. W. Tozer

Because you say, "I am rich, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked... Revelation 3:17 NAS

The wilderness encroaches on the fruitful field, and unless there is a constant fighting off of this encroachment, there will be little or no harvest.

I think it is exactly the same with the church, for as one of hte old saints said, "Never think for a minute that there will be a time when you will not be tempted. He is tempted the most effectively who thinks that he isn't being tempted at all."

Just when we think we are not being tempted, that is the time of danger, and so it is with the Church. We lean back on our own lawrels and say, "That may be true of some churches, but it is not true of us. We are increased with goods and have need of nothing!" (See Revelation 3:17).

This is to remind us that we must fight for what we have. Our little field of God's planting must have the necessary weapons and plenty of watchmen out there to drive off the crows and all sorts of creatures, to say nothing of the little insects that destroy the crops. We have to keep after them. We must keep our field healthy, and there is only one way to do that, and that is to keep true to the Word of God. We must constantly go back to the grass roots and get the Word into the Church.

Lord, don't ever let us become complacent in Your blessing. Keep us vigilant that our field might stay healthy and the little weeds might never be allowed to take root. Amen.

(from Tozer on Christian Leadership, July 6)

The Conditions of Discipleship

If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also . . . . And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me . . . . So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple —Luke 14:26-27, 33

If the closest relationships of a disciple’s life conflict with the claims of Jesus Christ, then our Lord requires instant obedience to Himself.

Discipleship means personal, passionate devotion to a Person— our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a vast difference between devotion to a person and devotion to principles or to a cause. Our Lord never proclaimed a cause— He proclaimed personal devotion to Himself. To be a disciple is to be a devoted bondservant motivated by love for the Lord Jesus. Many of us who call ourselves Christians are not truly devoted to Jesus Christ. No one on earth has this passionate love for the Lord Jesus unless the Holy Spirit has given it to him. We may admire, respect, and revere Him, but we cannot love Him on our own. The only One who truly loves the Lord Jesus is the Holy Spirit, and it is He who has "poured out in our hearts" the very "love of God" (Romans 5:5). Whenever the Holy Spirit sees an opportunity to glorify Jesus through you, He will take your entire being and set you ablaze with glowing devotion to Jesus Christ.

The Christian life is a life characterized by true and spontaneous creativity. Consequently, a disciple is subject to the same charge that was leveled against Jesus Christ, namely, the charge of inconsistency. But Jesus Christ was always consistent in His relationship to God, and a Christian must be consistent in his relationship to the life of the Son of God in him, not consistent to strict, unyielding doctrines. People pour themselves into their own doctrines, and God has to blast them out of their preconceived ideas before they can become devoted to Jesus Christ.

(from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers, July 2)