OUR MOST URGENT NEED
Over the summer months I’ve spent a lot of time
reading and thinking in preparation for a new course at GTC. It’s a course on
spiritual development – essentially an introduction to Christian spirituality.
It’s been intriguing to note how many writers,
both modern and ancient, have agreed on the most urgent need of Christians and
the Christian church. The one thing we need above all others, they say, is a
deeper knowledge of God.
Take well-known theologian and author R.C. Sproul, for example. He begins his book The Soul’s Quest For
God with these words: “Something is missing. It is missing from the life of
the church. It is absent from the normal Christian life. What is missing is a
depth of spiritual communion with God. Worship is unsatisfying to multitudes,
and the Christian life is often marked more by a sense of the absence of God
than a vital sense of his presence… There is a spot deep within our souls that
is hungry and not being fed. There is a place in our hearts that is thirsty,
and no one gives us to drink. There is a naked corner in our spirits that no
one offers to clothe” (p. ix).
Contemporary scholar D.A.
Carson says the same thing. He begins his book A Call To Spiritual Reformation by posing
the question, “What is the most urgent need in the church of the Western world
today?” and then summarises a number of common responses. Some, he says, argue
that purity in sexual and reproductive matters is the most desperate need.
Others say it is a clear position on public moral issues such as abortion.
Others still insist that it is integrity and generosity in the area of wealth.
And still others say what the church needs is a renewed interest in the
Scriptures and commitment to evangelism.
Much as he agrees with the
seriousness of all of these issues and their relevance to the church today,
Another to echo this cry, this
time from a slightly earlier generation, is Aiden
Wilson Tozer. He once wrote, “In this hour of
all-but-universal darkness one cheering gleam appears: within the fold of
conservative Christianity there are to be found increasing numbers of persons
whose religious lives are marked by a growing hunger after God Himself. They
are eager for spiritual realities and will not be put off with words, nor will
they be content with correct ‘interpretations’ of truth. They are athirst for
God, and they will not be satisfied till they have drunk deep at the fountain
of living water” (The Pursuit of God,
p. 11).
Tozer goes on to say
that it is important not to equate sound Bible teaching with a personal
experience of God. “Sound Bible teaching 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 a 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 centre of their hearts” (Ibid., p. 13).
What is this intimate, sweet,
satisfying fellowship with God really like? And how can we experience it? These
are the questions we will explore together in our weekly insights over the
coming months.
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