Repellent Personalities
Some Christians face persecution not because of their spirituality, but due to their own repellent personalities and unrecognized sins.
A.W. Tozer addresses the issue of how Christians can sometimes face opposition not solely due to their faith but because of their personal traits. He emphasizes that while the world opposes the Spirit of God, some believers may inadvertently provoke negativity through their own unpleasant personalities rather than their spirituality. Tozer encourages self-reflection and acknowledges that hiding one's faults behind scripture does not lead to growth. He points out the irony that gross sins can be more accepted by society than the subtle, refined sins that Christians may overlook. Ultimately, he calls for a recognition of these traits to foster genuine spiritual growth.
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Sometimes we Christians are opposed and persecuted for reasons other than our godliness. We like to think it is our spirituality that irritates people, when in reality, it may be our personality.
True, the spirit of this world is opposed to the Spirit of God; he that is born after the flesh will persecute him that is born of the Spirit. But making all allowances, it is still true that some Christians get into trouble through their faults instead of through their likeness to the character of Christ. We may as well admit this and do something about it. No good can come from trying to hide our unpleasant and annoying dispositional traits behind a verse of Scripture.
It is one of the strange facts of life that gross sins are often less offensive and always more attractive than spiritual ones. The world can tolerate a drunkard or a glutton or a smiling braggart but will turn in savage fury against the man of outwardly righteous life who is guilty of those refined sins, which he does not recognize as sins, but which may be more exceeding sinful than the sins of the flesh.
Sermon Outline
- The Problem of Repellent Personalities
- The Attraction of Gross Sins
- The Dangers of Unrecognized Sins
- More exceeding sinful than fleshly sins
- The need for self-reflection
Key Quotes
“It is one of the strange facts of life that gross sins are often less offensive and always more attractive than spiritual ones.” — A.W. Tozer
“No good can come from trying to hide our unpleasant and annoying dispositional traits behind a verse of Scripture.” — A.W. Tozer
Application Points
- We should acknowledge and work on our own faults rather than hiding behind Scripture.
- Self-reflection is necessary to recognize and overcome our own spiritual sins.
- The world may tolerate gross sins, but spiritual sins can be more exceeding sinful and lead to persecution.