Every Spirit-filled Christian knows he is not perfect, but he wants to be. He also yearns for other believers to be always at their best. He longs to see Christianity in its purest form and most effective state. That’s what A. W. Tozer was hoping for more than half a century ago when he wrote these words:
“I am afraid of a new wave of religion that has come. It started in the United States, and it is spreading. It is a sort of esoteric affair of the soul or the mind, and there are strange phenomena that attend it. I am afraid of anything that does not require purity of heart on the part of individuals and righteousness of conduct in life. I also long in the tender mercies of Christ that among us there may be the following: 1. A beautiful simplicity. I am wary of the artificialness and complexities of religion. I would like to see simplicity. Our Lord Jesus was one of the simplest men who ever lived. You could not involve Him in anything formal. He said what He had to say as beautifully and as naturally as a bird sings on the bough in the morning. That is what I would like to see restored to the churches. The opposite of that is artificiality and complexity. 2. A radiant Christian love. I want to see a restoration of a radiant Christian love so it will be impossible to find anyone who will speak unkindly or uncharitably about another or to another. This is carefully thought out and carefully prayed through. The devil would have a spasm. He would be so chagrined that he would sulk in his self-made hell for years. There should be a group of Christians with radiant love in this last worn-out dying period of the Christian dispensation, a people so loving that you could not get them to speak unkindly and you could not get them to speak uncharitably.”
While we cannot change or control the condition of Christianity as a whole, we can do something about ourselves. When others are at their worse it is all the more reason why we should be at our best. Your neighbor might not know anything about the over-all condition of Christianity, but they know something about the way you represent it and they make judgements about it based on what they see in you. I pray you will show them the best side. Who knows, that just might encourage them to join with you.–Bro. Stone
