Ep10. The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer
In this tenth episode of The Berean Bookclub, we talk through a book by A. W. Tozer called The Pursuit of God
Tozer, born in the 1890s and died in the 1960s, was a pastor and author best known for a burning concern that the Church lose sight of what it means to pursue God and instead pursue the things of this world. In this book Tozer opposes the idea of merely knowing about God, showing that the Christian life is a pursuit of God not only to know him but also to experience him.
In these ten chapters Tozer considers what this pursuit might look like, the things which stand in the way of this pursuit, how we understand God's presence in this pursuit, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus and how we reconcile secular work with this sacred pursuit. In a tangible way, Tozer calls us to run hard after God and shows us how to do so. It's a book which challenges what it means to truly follow Jesus, it challenges our desires for God and tests the way we think about experiencing God.
In this episode we discuss our proneness to gather up stuff for ourselves which keeps us from God, experiencing far-ness from God, how our self-love may keep us from experiencing God, the necessity and pain of dying to self and union & communion with God.
Quotes
"The pronouns “my” and “mine” look innocent enough in print, but their constant and universal use is significant. They express the real nature of the old Adamic man better than a thousand volumes of theology could do. They are verbal symptoms of our deep disease. The roots of our hearts have grown down into things, and we dare not pull up one rootlet lest we die. Things have become necessary to us, a development never originally intended. God’s gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by the monstrous substitution."
"Think for yourself whether much of your sorrow has not arisen from someone speaking slightingly of you. As long as you set yourself up as a little god to which you must be loyal, there will be those who will delight to offer an affront to your idol. How then can you hope to have inward peace? The heart’s fierce effort to protect itself from every slight, to shield its touchy honor from the bad opinion of friend and enemy, will never let the mind have rest. Continue this fight through the years and the burden will become intolerable. Yet the sons of earth are carrying this burden continually, challenging every word spoken against them, cringing under every criticism, smarting under each fancied slight, tossing sleepless if another is preferred before them. Such a burden as this is not necessary to bear. Jesus calls us to His rest, and gentleness is His method. The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort. He develops toward himself a kindly sense of humor and learns to say, “Oh, so you have been overlooked? They have placed someone else before you? They have whispered that you are pretty small stuff after all? And now you feel hurt because the world is saying about you the very things you have been saying about yourself? Only yesterday you were telling God that you were nothing, a mere worm of the dust. Where is your consistency? Come on, humble yourself, and cease to care what men think.”
"Lord, how excellent are thy ways, and how devious and dark are the ways of man. Show us how to die to our selfish desires, that we may rise again to newness of life. Rend the veil of our self-life from the top down as thou didst rend the veil of the temple. We would draw near in full assurance of faith. We would dwell with thee in daily experience here on this earth, so that we may be accustomed to the glory when we enter thy heaven to dwell with thee there. In Jesus’ name, Amen."