We must be sober about the present condition of the church. People cannot afford for us to be whimsical nor moody. Youngsters will not endure a stalemate of middle-of-the-road practices which give much more lip service than heart service.
There remains a void in the human heart which can only be filled by the perfect fitting of the Spirit of Christ. We must see that the two are introduced to one another.
Will God be found in His church?
Absolutely!
This completion of relationship, however, will not happen due to safe and normal habit. Rather is will begin to arise when assortment and broken and weak and different are allowed to come together as one. Every generation hungers for Life...authentic, real, sensitive, and tangible Life.
This life is found in relationship to the Holy Spirit. Doctrines may mask; but will not supply the heart's hunger for relationship with he Divine. Dos and Don'ts may be clearly heard; but rules will never replace the Son and his remarkable, immeasurable life to be encountered within.
Will God be found in His church? Absolutely! It is our faith-work to believe Him in all settings. People are everywhere. He will be found in people; not in performance. He will be found in the downtrodden; not in the trim and proper. God will be found in the church...in the very ones we might tend to dismiss should they not fit our standards of uprightness.
A famous author wrote, Every age has its own characteristics. Right now we are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our worship, and that servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all.
A. W. Tozer wrote this in 1948.
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