The Sacred Obligation of Judging

Part III

by A.W. Tozer

From his book “Reclaiming Christianity”

Examine Yourself

What are we to do about it? First, let us be aware of something. Let us beware of presumption and self-righteousness. This is the snare of all cults and sectarians, and the Pharisees. Let us beware of the spirit that says, “I am right, judge yourself by me.”

The wonderful thing about a right man is that he does not want to talk about it. The wonderful thing about a godly man is that he does not know he is godly. The beautiful thing about a holy man is that he is the only one who does not know it.

As soon as we begin to talk about how holy we are, we are not holy any more, if we ever were. If somebody else says a man is holy, I would listen; but if he gets up and says that he is, I close my ears right there, because I do not want the decibels to disturb the atoms inside my eardrum because I know he is not telling the truth. A good man does not know he is good, and a holy man is not aware that he is holy, and the righteous man thinks he is miserable. “Oh, I’m such a poor wretch. I love my Savior so, and I’m happy in God, but when I think of myself it makes me sick.”

What then is the right attitude? The right attitude is to refuse to compare yourself with anybody else. Compare yourself only with Jesus. The man who belongs to the remnant is not asking if he belongs to the remnant; he is hoping and believing and trusting and seeking and longing and comparing himself not with somebody else but with the Savior. Compare yourself with somebody else and you will be proud as Lucifer. Compare yourself with Jesus and you will be as humble and meek as Moses (see Numbers 12: 3).

So the thing to do is not look for the remnant; the thing to do is beware of presumption and self-righteousness and to compare yourself only to Jesus. Then when you have done that say, “I am an unprofitable servant.”

The point is, you are going to have to come to Him in meekness and humility and not say, “I am holy, stand thou aside,” but say, “Lord God, I trust that by Thy grace and the power of the blood of the everlasting covenant, I may gain some little reward there; but I am an unprofitable servant.”

It is my opinion – I believe it is more than an opinion, it is insight – that evangelical Christianity as we know it is almost as far from God as liberalism. Its nominal creed is Biblical, but its orientation is worldly. The modern evangelicals, the Holiness people, the Pentecostal people, the Bible loving people – we who claim to be evangelical and traditional in our Christian faith – have an orientation toward the big businessman. You know, Jesus never got along with any of the businessmen in His day. But we use them as our model.

Our orientation is around the banquet hall.

The evangelical church is oriented around showmanship.

I can always tell who they are, and I smile to myself and pray that God would wake them up. When I hear a young man leap to the platform, I know where he has been; I know where he has been brought up. He leaps up almost vibrating, and he is an emcee. He learned that from TV. He knows how to smile that greasy smile he puts on with a paddle, and he drags that damnable thing into the church. He leaps up and announces the meeting: “And now Mabel Persnickety and Harry Jones will sing…all right, kids.”

I know where he has been, and when I sniff, there is no aroma of myrrh, no aloes, no cassia, no fragrance of heaven. When I take a whiff, I know where he has been. His orientation is TV and movies. Bur he has a Bible as big as a cedar chest under his arm, and he carries it down the road and says, “I’m preaching a sermon five blocks long, carrying my Bible five blocks.” The he upsets the sermon by arriving at the church acting like a worldling.

We are oriented to play and toward being respecters of persons, of religious bigwigs. We are mousey and timid, and if one of these fellows swaggers down the aisle, the little preacher leaps to attention and salutes.

There is not a man in Chicago high enough in society or deep enough in debt or owning enough property or having enough bank accounts or able to write a big enough check to shut my little old mouth. Not one. He may be a priest of this or a cardinal of that or a bishop of the other. He may be the uncrowned potentate of fundamentalism or the self-appointed without portfolio ambassador of modern evangelism, but I will still preach what God wants me to preach.

Live Like the Early Church

So, what can we do? I think the first thing that we must do is return to New Testament living. We must get into the Scriptures and discover the level of morality and ethics that are the mark of true believers in Christ. We are to deny ourselves and forsake the world on every level possible and always keep in mind that Christianity and the world do not mix. You cannot have a Christian world, but unfortunately, you can have a worldly Christian.

Finally, we must resist the magnetism of the majority. We must never allow the majority to overrule the clear teaching of the Word of God. Then we can return to Jesus Christ as Lord and throw our loyalty and support to Him and all those who follow Him.

I Would Be Like Jesus

by James Rowe (1865 – 1933)

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Earthly pleasures vainly call me,

I would be like Jesus;

Nothing worldly shall enthrall me,

I would be like Jesus.

He has broken ev’ry fetter,

I would be like Jesus;

That my soul may serve Him better,

I would be like Jesus.

All the way from earth to glory,

I would be like Jesus;

Telling o’er and o’er the story,

I would be like Jesus.

That in heaven He may meet me,

I would be like Jesus;

That His words “Well done,” may greet me,

I would be like Jesus.

Chorus

Be like Jesus, this my song,

In the home and in the throng;

Be like Jesus, all day long!

I would be like Jesus.