Referring to the message of his book, The Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer says this:
“It is called forth by a condition which has existed in the Church for some years and is steadily growing worse. I refer to the loss of the concept of majesty from the popular religious mind. The Church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshipping men. This she has done not deliberately, but little by little and without her knowledge; and her very unawareness only makes her situation all the more tragic.”
This book was originally published in 1961. What Tozer wrote about is far worse now than when he first wrote about it.
When I visit churches, I am usually struck by the absence of any kind of real thought about God and any real reverence for Him. It is probably thought that we are doing church and so of course God is with us. The name “Jesus” is perhaps mentioned some, but He is talked about only as a means to an end or perhaps only in ways that make people think that Jesus does nothing but focus on people. Christ as God is utterly and gloriously majestic as well. Has the truth of the majesty of God been so lost that what is thought of as the Church is no longer really the Church? I think we should take this very seriously. The Israelites were rejected by God and yet they kept on practicing their rituals. Could it be that the modern “Church” has been rejected by God as evidenced that they no longer worship Him in His majesty? The greatest thing that God can do for a people is to give them Himself. When God gives Himself He gives His people a sense and taste of His glory. Clearly, this sense of glory is not with us.
As evidenced in the last forty years or so, God has withdrawn. His absence has been noticed by some, but what they have noticed is the lack of interest and the lack of numbers. We have turned to entertainment and special speakers from athletics and the television. We have turned to church growth methodologies and all sorts of analysis of the church. We have turned to so-called seeker sensitive ways of doing church. We have a postmodern version of the church called “the emergent church.” We have all sorts of conferences and a vast amount of books that will help you grow the church and help you become better at virtually anything. We have all sorts of Christian music and we are told that we must have certain kinds of music to worship. Do we need music to worship? We need God to come among us to worship. But of course this is all done in the Christian way and is usually sprinkled with a few verses here and there. The church is seen as having a product and the people are seen as the consumer. Where for God’s sake and glory is God?
The Church and each church is to be the temple of the living God. The church is to be the dwelling place of God. True worship is only found when God comes among His people and opens their eyes to taste and see of His glory. When Isaiah saw God he did not ask for any kind of music as he saw the music of glory and majesty. When the disciples saw and heard Jesus speak and tell the wind and the waves to hush, they were more afraid of Him than of the weather. They did not need anyone to sing a special or to sing a certain kind of music to prepare them for worship. Even more, they did not need to hear some simply little message in order to inspire them to lead a better life. They did not need some postmodern around to help them make church more relevant. The most relevant thing in the world to them was God and His glory. The disciples and Isaiah were not ready for a conference to teach them how to do church, they were in the presence of a holy God and they knew what majesty really was.
Now, it may seem as if I am knocking all conferences and music. That is not the point. The point is that we must seek God for a return of the presence of God. The sign of God’s presence is for His people to be humbled in His presence which is “seen” by people who are caught up in His majesty. People who are caught up with God are no longer concerned about all the daily things of self; they are concerned about their souls and the glory of God. Conferences and music and church need to focus on seeking God for Himself and not for anything else. As Tozer said, we have lost the concept of majesty. Instead of seeking God for His return, we have made many substitutes. Nothing will substitute for the lack of the concept of majesty. The Church does not need more programs and all of its corresponding vanities, it needs God. The problem, however, is that God is sovereign. He does not have to return and we cannot make Him. A program is far easier and we can control it. Don’t settle for cheap imitations, go for the real thing. We should never settle for anything less than the majesty of God. If we do, it just shows that we have no idea of what His majesty is really like.
God Loves... Himself 
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