Right Opinion Doesn't Always Lead to Right Response

A right opinion doesn't always lead to a right response. A.W. Tozer talks about this in his Preface to the Pursuit of God. Here's part 2 of my reading and reflection notes on the section.

Marked:

"Though right tempers cannot subsist without right opinions, yet right opinions may subsist without right tempers. There may be a right opinion of God without either love or one right temper toward Him. Satan is proof of this."

Thoughts:

a. To know who God is, most superior, most holy, most loving, most good, and yet not be moved to make the right response in spite of what you know, is very possible.

b. This still happens today. You and I know God is all-wise and all-loving, yet we doubt Him at times. We refuse to yield to our powerful, trustworthy Father.

Marked:

a. "There are today many millions of people who hold “right opinions,” probably more than ever before in the history of the Church. Yet I wonder if there was ever a time when true spiritual worship was at a lower ebb."

b. "The art of worship has been lost entirely, and in its place has come that strange and foreign thing called the “program.” This word has been borrowed from the stage and applied with sad wisdom to the type of public service which now passes for worship among us."

Thoughts:

Church programs need to remain mindful of the long-term aim. It’s so easy to get sidetracked and become people-pleasing, people-driven programs.

Marked:

a. "Sound Bible exposition is an imperative must. Without it no church can be a New Testament church. But exposition may be carried on in such way as to leave the hearers devoid of any true spiritual nourishment. It is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and until the hearers find God in personal experience, they are not the better for having heard the truth."

b. "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."

Thoughts:

a. It is important to leave a church service or private devotional with a lesson, a discovery of God, and a practical application. The Word of God should leave you changed for the better and deeper in closeness to God.

b. Likewise, preachers and handlers of God’s Word should make it a point to guide the hearers into achieving these. The aim is not only to pass time or to entertain. Neither is the purpose to tickle people’s ears or to crowd them with information but to challenge and enlighten people towards getting a clearer picture of God and His desires for their lives.

photo credit to armennano