The Missing Jewel
No, this is not the title of the next Indiana Jones adventure film, it is an observation made of Christianity by the late A.W. Tozer. Let's humbly allow this greet observation settle to become an accusation.
A. W. Tozer died on May 12, 1963, almost a week after preaching his last sermon. A simple epitaph marks his grave in Akron, Ohio: A. W. Tozer—A Man of God.
During a preaching series in 1962 Tozer informed his congregation that he desired to write one more book, on the theme of worship. He continued “If I do not succeed in writing that book, it will be all right. I would rather have Jesus Christ come than write a book”. Thankfully the book was completed and the challenge to live a “worshipful” life remains for generations.
Worship is a lifestyle, it is our calling and we are to be consumed by worshipping God each day of our lives. Somehow, worship has been reduced to a superficial debate between hymns and choruses. While it is true that we gather for “worship” on Sunday’s, it is equally true (and much more important) that we disperse from church services to live our lives in “worship”. Tozer remarks “if you cannot worship the Lord in the midst of your responsibilities on Monday, it is not very likely that you were worshipping on Sunday”.
The essence of our worship is a focus on God – to love him, to know him, to desire what he desires and participate in what he is doing. We need to rediscover a hunger for the presence of God in every aspect of our lives. This is not something that happens only on a Sunday morning. It is something that must happen in all facets of our lives.
I remember being asked some time ago what type of worship I enjoyed (referring to music). My answer has not changed. I enjoy authentic worship. If transcends style. Evelyn Underhill has defined worship as “the total adoring response of man to the one eternal God, self revealed in time”. True worship transcends Sunday’s methodology, technique, composition, choir, skilled instrumentalist or knowledge itself. Worship begins in the heart and plays out in life. Let it not be the missing Jewel in any of our own lives.
