I recently received a question from a friend. In all our talks, I always saw his desire to please God, and to be drawn closer to Him. It is with this thought that I sought after what to say, where to turn. Is this a common problem? It didn't take long, in fact, I had set my homepage to a teaching by AW Tozer called "The pursuit of God" that takes this issue head on. Here is the question(edited for use here)
"Mark,
I want to feel passionate toward the things of God and overwhelmed
with gratitude for all He has done (like saving me), my Christian
walk seems to be one of head knowledge and I can not seem to get my
heart wrapped into it. My head has the understanding, but the passion
does not flow from my heart. I believe in Christ and have confidence
that I am saved, but I am not sure that I have ever experienced God.
I tend to be more accountable to my brothers than to God, more
concerned about what they might think if they knew this about me,
than I am about God who already knows more evil about me than I do
about myself."
The answer from Tozer:
"Sound Bible exposition is an imperative must in the Church of the living God. Without it no church can be a New Testament church in any strict meaning of that term. But exposition may be carried on in such way as to leave the hearers devoid of any true spiritual nourishment whatever. For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience, they are not the better for having heard the truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts"
It is in this answer that I see the root problem for many churchgoers. Proverbs 2:1-5 tells us that if we will "incline your ear unto wisdom and apply your heart to understanding" then you shall "understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." I see too often the basic teachings and lack of accountability that allow people to come into the worship service week after week and feed off the milk of the Word and never be questioned about their walk. Men's groups become social engagements and times to pray for someone's business dealings, but not to challenge each other to grow in the Lord.
This fellow that I spoke to has been saved for years, attending and being in leadership positions in a local, Bible believing church to the best of my knowledge. To retain his anonymity, I will not go into any more details about his story, but rather delve into the problem and the solution.
If one is able to attend church services weekly, be involved in leadership, and yet never be taught what it is to truly seek after God and grow closer, though reading, prayer, and meditation on the Word of God, then there is a serious problem. It would be easy to place the blame on the leaders of the church, and that would be valid to some extent.
On the other hand, our personal walk with God is not really up to anyone else. In the darkest spiritual areas of the world, there are truly men of God that seek to maintain an upright walk with the Lord and reach others for the Savior. The writer of this letter seems to be honestly seeking to draw closer to God and asked in another portion of the letter for advice from Scripture to help remedy his problem. This is an honest effort on his part, and he truly needs to be shown how to study the Bible, and encouraged to do more than just read the Word, but to put it into practice in every part of his life. I would encourage him to read "The pursuit of God" which is available online for free reading HERE. But really, we need to look to the Word of God to find the remedy, so let's find some Scripture that will show us how to seek God's face.
The Psalms are rich with honest and heart wrenching prayer for forgiveness, renewal, and closeness to the Lord. Psalm 51 shows us the honest desire of the writer to be cleansed from sin. It may be that sin is keeping us from coming closer to God. First, we must make sure there is nothing keeping us from God's presence and, if there is to clean it out. Verse 12 of this chapter says "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation" and verse 10 "Create in me a clean heart, O God;and renew a right spirit within me"
James 1: 22-25 speaks of a man who beholds himself in a mirror, and instead of fixing the flaws, he walks away and "forgets what manner of man her was" James continues to show us what we need to do to draw close to God in James 4:8"Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded" Back in the Psalm 139:23-24 we see that we must honestly seek God's heart and ask Him to show us what the problem is "Search me, o God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts. See if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting".
We need to keep in the forefront of our minds a few things.
1- Even when we were dead in sin, God reached down to us and sent His only Son, Jesus, to come and die so that we may have life in Him. Jesus is the "way, the truth, and the life" and seeking after Him with a pure heart, He will not deny us.
2-Those who are truly born again have the Holy Spirit living in their hearts, always ministering to us. When we read the Bible, it is the Holy Spirit who guides us into all knowledge of God.
3-Titus 3:7 tells us that "being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" we need to remember that, as Christians, we are heirs to the kingdom of God, with a promise of eternity in heaven. That thought should make anyone want to jump for joy, shouldn't it? That thought brings us to the final thought that we need to keep with us.
4- The most important part of our job as followers of God is to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" as Mark 16:15 tells us. Charles Spurgeon rightly said "If you are saved, the work is only half done until you are employed(doing the work) to bring others to Christ."
It is not the responsibility only of "missionaries" and those with a "gift of evangelism" to go and reach lost souls. Indeed, it is all of our jobs. We are told to GO and PREACH to EVERY creature. We cannot sit around and wait for people to come to us. We also will not reach souls by just hoping they see something different about us and waiting for them to ask what that is. It is the prayer of my heart (and the Lord's) that we are so excited about what God has done for us, that we give up our own intentions, desires, and truly ourselves, and take on the cause of Christ. His cause was to bring salvation to all people, "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance"
With the fire of evangelism and the horrifying thought that someone we know or care about is headed to a real and eternal hell for all eternity, we draw closer to God and seek Him to take over our lives. We are completely incapable of doing this on our own, as man is and always has been selfish, wanting our own desires. Seeking the desires of God's heart and being willing to give up on the ideas and dreams that we have of the flesh is the requirement of following Christ. Jesus always did what pleased the Father, and so must we also. We must pray earnestly that God would show us what to do.
My best answer is only that which comes from the Word of God. We can be aroused and emotionally charged by wonderful speeches and encouragement from other believers, but in order to bring about change, we must be willing to change our course and seek only what God has for us. With that thought, I encourage you, my friends to pray earnestly, seek God's face, and study His Word. He will show you what you need if you only ask. But, you must ask honestly, coming to Him with a broken spirit, willing to do whatever He leads you to do. It may not be easy, but it is the only way.
May the Lord richly bless as you continue to seek after Him.
Mark
