Tozer was a Pharisee!

Occasionally I upset a few people with what I blog about. For instance, a few people have thought that this post was way off base and so I am a "Pharisee" because I don't feel like "Friends in Low Places" to be an appropriate song for church (or anywhere for that matter.)

Now, my opinion is really not worth two cents, so I thought I would post a few quotes from someone whose opinion is really worth something when you look at the impact they have had in Christianity, even though he is no longer living. So, here's a little bit of A.W. Tozer on worship and the Church.

A religious mentality characterized by timidity and lack of moral courage has given us to a flabby Christianity, intellectually impoverished, dull, repetitious and to a great many persons just plain boring. This is peddled as the very faith of our fathers in direct lineal descent from Christ and the apostles. We spoon-feed this insipid pabulum to our inquiring youth and, to make it palatable, spice it up with carnal amusements filched from the unbelieving world. It is easier to entertain than to instruct, it is easier to follow degenerate public taste than to think for oneself, so too many of our evangelical leaders let their minds atrophy while they keep their fingers nimble operating religious gimmicks to bring in the curious crowds.

Yes, I don't think Tozer would be real comfortable with "Friends in Low Places" at church, and I don't think he was real big on "seeker sensitive" either!

We must have a new reformation. There must come a violent break with the irresponsible, amusement-mad paganized psuedo-religion which passes today for the faith of Christ and which is being spread all over the world by unspiritual men employing unscriptural methods to achieve their ends.

This next quote is great considering that today churches aren't just running "like" nightclubs, but now there are churches that "are" nightclubs - with the pastors drinking it up just like everyone else!

We are running our churches the way you would run a club. I wish we might get back again to worship so that when people come into the church they instantly fall on their faces and worship God.

So much for "seeker sensitive"!

Some of these attractions that we have to win people and keep them coming may be fine or they may be cheap. They may be elevated or they may be degrading. They may be artistic or they may be coarse-- it all depends upon who is running the show! But the Holy Spirit is not the center of attraction, and the Lord is not the one who is in charge. We bring in all sorts of antiscriptural and unscriptural claptrap to keep the people happy and keep them coming. As I see it, the great woe is not the presence of these religious toys and trifles--but the fact that they have become a necessity, and the presence of the Eternal Spirit is not in our midst!

Well, I guess A.W. Tozer must have been a Pharisee too!!