Aiden W Tozer’s The Decline of Godly Leadership
I have just finished reading this biography of Aiden W Tozer, a man whose deep pursuit of God affected hundreds of thousands of people for decades. Since his death in 1963, his anointed writings still remained unsurpassed.
The first book I read written by AW Tozer was, The Pursuit of God, introduced by my pastor in Perth, Australia. Since then, life was never the same again. Never. And since then, I have bought copies of this book and had been distributing it to friends.
Lyle Dorsett, attempted to write facts as it is, not withelding Tozer’s flaws and weaknesses as well. This brief biography was to avoid painting a picture “too real for people who preferred plastic saints”.
Tozer hated everything that made Christianity “large” and “bigger is better”mentality. Here are some excerpts:-
“When he saw many churches becoming as gaudy and extravagant as the automobiles of the 1950s, with their loud colors and massive bumpers and tail fins, the Southside Alliance watchman became an even more outspoken prophet. Fearing that the church was becoming a cheap imitation of the world rather than a genuine biblical alternative, he lashed out against “personality boys”. These pastors and leaders are, according to Tozer, taking their cues from Hollywood. They “shrugg off impatiently the time-honoured ways of the saints and go out for color, flash, size, vim, and zip. Quiet trust, stability, repose: These are passed up in a flurry of religious excitement.” Tozer beamoaned the trend in which “numbers come first, so anything will do if it will bring a crowd”.
Tozer, obviously, had a great disdain for churches in bringing business methods into Christianity.
I fear that sometimes, we are guilty of bringing Hollywood into our Christianity. I am dead against Christians who subscribe to preachers like Joel Osteen who often organised stadium-like crusades and injected secular “feel-good” gospels into the true gospel of Jesus Christ. It is dead alarming to note that there are many innocent Christians who subscribe religiously to the theology preached by him. One of my greatest resentment is targeted at him simply because he is one of the biggest culprit in the world to preach a “you-can-do-it-all” message, and “God-wants-you-to-be-rich-and-successful” gospel.
If his theology is subscribed, then the sacrifices of the great Christian fathers in the past centuries must have been wrong. They must have been “punished” by God and that is why some of them are so poor? Look at Paul himself. He must have done something really bad, or else he would not have been a tentmaker. God must have had held back his blessings on Paul?
That is absolutely absurd. And that’s a topic for another day.
Here’s what Tozer wrote in his weekly magazine, Alliance Weekly, dated 11 May, 1946. (before my mom was even born!)
“The active leadership of the gospel wing of the Church in America has in recent years largely passed out of the hands of men of solid Christian character, and has gone over into the control of young men who are remarkable neither for their learning nor their godliness, but who possess a flair for publicity, boundless ambition, and a pretty fair talent for successful promotion. Gravity has been pushed aside to make place for cleverness, and the novice is now in the saddle in direct violation of the solemn warning of the Apostle Paul”.
Tozer brought up some very points on why this is happening everywhere:-
1. No Spiritual Giants
He concluded this paragraph by saying, “men.. who are not equal in godliness, but who are hungry for power and so are ready to take over at the first opportunity”.
I still feel that people like Joel Osteen were just feeding on his ego with the massive crowd attending his rallies. He, and other secular motivational speakers are no different in persona, the only thing that differentiated him and the rest are the usage of Christian jargons.
Obviously, bad eisogesis.
2. Unworthy Programs
This is so funny.
“Many of our latter day gospel programs bear a disturbing similarity to the familiar radio show. All the elements are there: The sponsor, the product, the artists, the show, and the commercials. The sponsor who is assumed to be back of it all is the Lord; the product is the gospel; the “artists” are the various starts of the evangelistic firmament both speakers and singers; the show is the demonstration these stars put on for the amusement of the public; and the commercial is the dutiful plug which is introduced every so often in favour of the Lord and the gospel”.
How true.
3. Uncompromising leaders
The need for today, is for leaders identified so fully with the cross-carrying Jesus that they have no life apart from Him, no ambition except to make Him appear glorious in the sight of men. Such as these will seek no place, no reputation. Christ Himself will be their glory and their all.
4. Unproved Movements
Every movement that solicits our support should be put to the test of sound Christian godliness.
Is there evidence of the travail of the Holy Ghost in the movement, or was it born painlessly at a get-together luncheon somewhere?
Will we be promoting the personal glory of publicity-hungry men or truly supporting the work of the Holy Ghost in this generation?
5. The Appeal of the Christlike
Like Tozer, I will gladly toil beside the man (and woman) who reminds me of my Saviour, but first, let him show me his scars.
… and the condition of his knees.
