PASTOR’S PERSPECTIVE: “MODERN-DAY DILEMNA-THE BANKRUPTCY OF THE INNER MAN”
The other day I had the joy of visiting with one of my very best Pastor friends through the modern day miracle of instant e-mail. He asked about the Church and ministry today. He and I have been involved in Southern Baptist ministry now for parts of six decades-beginning in the late sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties, and two decades now into the 21st century. We were discussing how different things have been since the nineties. Ministry has changed drastically in the last half of our six decades! The changes have been so drastic that Gordon MacDonald has documented the changes in his book Who Stole My Church-What to Do When the Church You Love Tries to Enter the 21st Century. The question every faithful Pastor faces is-do we surender to the user-friendly trend or remain faithful to Biblical patterns of ministry-or a combination of both? Or what? I admitted to him that I have not found the answer that has satisfied my committment to ministry. I am willing to make adjustments but have not yet been convinced that the current trends, in spite of the fact that they may result in gathering crowds, are the Biblical model that should be embraced. Then my friend Allen Camp said, “the problem with the Christian culture we are working with these days is that they have been desensitized-demoralized-and defeated!” I have spent the last 3-4 days meditating on what he had to say. I think he may have diagnosed a very pertinent truth about the Christian generation of the twenty first century. Desensitized…Demoralized…and Defeated…and content to accept that reality as the norm.
Perhaps our generation of believers have been Desensitized to True Spirituality. In his book by the same name, Francis Schaeffer warned that these post-Christian tendencies would permeate the Church at the End of the Twentieth Century. (See his book by that same name as well!). Christendom has been offered and accepted a counterfeit for true spirituality. The Apostle Paul, in II Corinthians 4:16 talked about “the outward man perishing on a daily basis but the inner man being renewed day by day”. But by accepting a counterfeit spirituality as a substitute the lack of inward renewal and transformation leaves the believer weak and hollow inside. A.W. Tozer was prophetically insightful in seeing these tendencies coming several years ago when such tendecies were in their infancy stage. He wrote, “A German philosopher many years ago said something to the effect that the more a man has in his own heart the less he will require from the outside; excessive need for support from without is proof of the bankruptcy of the inner man”. Tozer went on to say, “If this is true, (and I believe it is), then the present inordinate attachment to every form of entertainment is evidence that the inner life of the Christian is in serious decline. The average man has no central core…no spring within his own breast, no inner strength to place himself above the need for repeated psychological shots to give him the courage to go on living. He has become a parasite on the world, drawing his life from his environment, unable to live a day apart from the stimulation which society affords him”. Tozer was referring to the views held by the German philosopher and theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher. Schleiermacher believed that a Christian proved the “will and Spirit of God…by the silent working of the inner man”. Tozer said, “For centuries the Church stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was…for this she got herself abused roundly by the sons of this world. But of late she has become tired of the abuse and given over the struggle. She appears to have decided that if she cannot conquer the great god Entertainment she may as well join forces with him and make what use she can of his powers.” Tozer accuses the Church of borrowing the world’s style of entertainment, Christianizing it in content, and using it to attract and occupy the sons of heaven with. To him it is a counterfeit void of true spirituality that has left us enemic in our faith. That is certainly something we should seriously consider. Could such entertaining amusement desensitize our generation to proven disciplines that have edified us in the faith? Tozer certainly feels that is true. He concludes, “in an hour when mature saints are so desperately needed vast numbers of believers are reverting to spiritual childhood and clamoring for religious toys” patterned after the tendencies of the world.
Having been desensitized by counterfeit spiritual disciplines, that are really nothing more that sanctified entertainment for Christian spectators, perhaps that has led to a generation of believers that have become demoralized over time. Samson satisfied his every fleshly appetite repeatedly. Eventually lying in the lap of temptation, and constantly satisfying every urge took its spritual toll. Delilah discovered the secret of his strength to be his relationship with God, symbolized by the unhindered growth of his hair. Once that was interupted, Samson went into spiritual battle totally unaware that he was now “as any other ordinary man!” (Judges 16:20). He had become desensitized to spiritual things by feeding on fleshly things, and it had taken its toll. He was captured, they put out his eyes, and Samson imprisoned by his failure, completely demoralized to where he despaired even of life itself. Another favorite author of mine quotes another German author, (with a staggering truth for us). Eugene Peterson, author of the Biblical paraphrase The Message, has written an excellant book on Spirituality titled A Long Obedience In the Same Direction. In that book, he quotes a very unlikely source for Christians to be listening to. He quotes the Agnostic Philosopher Freidrich Neitzche’s words “The essential thing in heaven and earth is…that there should be a long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results, and has always resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth living.” Peterson claims that long obedience in the same direction is missing from the lives of most who claim to walk with the Lord in our generation. Could it be missing because we have been desensitized to spiritual things by compromising repeatedly by choosing the flesh over the spirit so often that we don’t know the difference any longer? Some of the fleshly entertainment may be cleverly disquised as new and appealing spiritual entertainment. Maybe we should not be so quick to exchange proven ways of worship for the “new and improved” alternatives being offered to us without testing them out first! Maybe accepting substitutes, without testing them first, has left us demoralized. We know we are devoid of the birthright of our spirituality, and like Esau, we shed tears over our choices, but lack genuine repentance to pursue the genuine over the counterfeit. Over the years I totally misunderstood the passage in the book of Hebrews that talked about Esau being a “profane” person who forfeited his birthright by choosing the fleshly over the spritual. Hebrews 12:17 says that Esau “sought repentance with tears but could not obtain it”. I always understood that to mean that Esau sought repentance with tears but was denied it because of his years of wrong choices, and now it was too late for repentance. But another German Evangelical author by the name of Erich Sauer, in his book In the Arena of Faith opened my eyes to a different interpretation. Sauer points out that Esau still wanted the birthright. He still wanted the prosperity and results that were due him as the “firstborn”. But he did not want to change his heart or his nature. He wanted his father to repent of his decision to give it to Jacob instead. That is the only repentance he sought! He sought that reversal with tears! But finally he settled for missing out. That is the current status of many demoralized worldly Christians today.
Having been desensitized by current trends; having been demoralized by years of failed choices, and shedding tears over what has been forfeited, but no genuine tears of real repentance, have we settled for defeat as the norm for the Christian life? Bruce Larson, in his book Ask Me To Dance, (referring to David dancing before the Lord in total abandonment to his enthusiasm for the Lord), thinks so. He points out how many Christians, after repeatedly choosing pathways that lead to failure, wave a white flag of surrender, and settle for such defeat as the norm for the Christian life. He quotes a poem by Dorothy Parker, titled The Veteran, that expresses this tragic choice. He writes,
“When I was young and bold and strong
Oh, right was right, and wrong was wrong,
My plume on high, my flag unfurled,
I rode away to fight the world.
‘Come on you dogs, and fight!’ said I
And wept, there was but once to die
But I am old and good and bad
Are woven into a crazy plaid,
I sit and say, ‘The world is so
And he is wise who lets it go.
A battle lost, a battle won,
The difference is really quite small my Son’
Inertia rides and riddles me!
That-has become my philosophy.”
(“The Veteran” in the Portable Dorothy Parker.)
Allen and I both agreed that what is needed today is to keep on being faithful in challenging the believers of our generation to seek the things that produce True Spirituality. That requires us to be able to discern between the real and the counterfeits that are being offered by so many today. But the reality is we have a generation that has been marked and marred by a stifling spirit of desensitivity; demoralization; and defeat. Recovery will require genuine repentance and revival. Paul said that we need our inward man “to be renewed day by day”. Back in 1972, Godspell told us how to renew ourselves in their song Day by Day. They sang- “Day by Day-three things I pray- to see thee more clearly-follow thee more nearly-love thee more dearly”. Simple recipe for revival. God send that revival. Let it begin with me…and how about you too?