The Dangers of a Shallow Faith: Awakening from Spiritual Lethargy

by A.W. Tozer

Let us stand out, even if it is extreme in the eyes of the world. Let us be known as Christians separated unto God; and if the world laughs and the other churches laugh and say, “What’s the matter with you Christians? Are you holy rollers?” Say, “No, I’m not as holy as I want to be. I’m just a believer in the Word of God; and if I go too far, you’ll forgive me, but I’d rather go too far than not far enough.”

I wish I could get the adult males in this country to give as much consideration to their own souls as they give to the standings of their particular sports teams.

God calls, waits, stretches His hand out and says, “Come, come, come.” He calls, invites, exhorts, urges us in a thousand ways and keeps it up for a lifetime. Yet if a man chooses to ignore that call and refuses to see that door, by what moral logic is God required to pick the man up by the scruff of his neck and take him to heaven when he spends a lifetime fooling with things that don’t matter and refuses to consider the one thing that does?

Do you know what has happened in this generation? We have quenched the powers of moral reflection, even in Church circles, so that we are demanding of religious writers that they give us something condensed, brief, colorful, dramatic and full of illustrations, geared to the events and the times, which requires no thinking at all.

This is the essence of evangelism. Not arguments. Not appealing to a man’s lower nature. Not even appealing to a man’s intellect. Rather, it is the power of persuasion that rises above any man’s ability. It is the Holy Spirit convincing a man deep in his heart that these things are true. Argument can never go that deep. Reasoning will not go that deep. Only the Holy Spirit can.

We must demand more than correct doctrine, though we dare not have less. We must have more than right living, though we dare not have less. We must demand more than a friendly atmosphere, though we dare not have less. We must demand that the Word of God be preached in power and that we hear it in power.

We of the evangelical persuasion want God to do all the work and we get an easy ride to glory. Certainly, Christ has paid the full price for our redemption, but our walk with God on a daily basis will cost us much. Are we willing, cheerfully, to pay the cost?

There are times when to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in our life we must walk alone, which goes contrary to our natural inclination. Sometimes we must walk away from the crowd, even the Christian crowd.