Thursday, July 26, 2007

the veil of self-sin...

"This veil is not a beautiful thing and it is not a thing about which we commonly care to talk... the self-sins are self-righteousness, self-pity, self-sufficiency, self-admiration... and a host of others like them. They dwell too deep within us and are too much a part of our natures to come to our attention till the light of God is focused upon them. The grosser manifestations of these sins - egotism, exhibitionism, self-promotion - are strangely tolerated in Christian leaders, even in circles of impeccable orthodoxy. I trust it is not a cynical observation to say that they appear these days to be a requisite for popularity in some sections of the church... Promoting self under the guise of promoting Christ is currently so common as to excite little notice." - A.W. Tozer

2 comments:

Ben McFarland said...

The diagnosis is cutting -- but what's the solution? Tozer says they persist "until the light of God is focused on them." What focuses the light? Is the self even capable of focusing that light or is it a paradox? Can the community do that -- and how?

Does the fact that each week in church we give a 45-minute lecture to a single person, does that feed into this?

Geoff said...

great questions... I will post Tozer's answer and see what kind of dialogue develops.