The Church Is Us
The church's improvement is dependent on the moral and spiritual growth of its individual members.
A.W. Tozer emphasizes that the most urgent need for the church today is a revival that leads to a reformed and purified body of believers. He argues that the quality of Christians is more crucial than the quantity, as each generation's spiritual state directly influences the next. To improve the church, members must first seek personal moral and spiritual growth, recognizing that the church reflects its individual members. Tozer highlights the challenge of genuine improvement, as it requires personal sacrifice and commitment rather than mere academic discussion.
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Our most pressing obligation today is to do all in our power to obtain a revival that will result in a reformed, revitalized, purified church. It is of far greater importance that we have better Christians than that we have more of them. Each generation of Christians is the seed of the next, and degenerate seed is sure to produce a degenerate harvest not a little better than but a little worse than the seed from which it sprang. Thus the direction will be down until vigorous, effective means are taken to improve the seed.
And how can we improve the church? Simply and only by improving ourselves: and there is where the difficulty lies. The church in any locality is what its individual members are, no better and no worse.
We as members must begin by seeking moral amendment that will result in a positive spiritual renaissance. And that is why improvement is hard to achieve. As long as we can keep the whole thing at arm's length and deal with it academically we may preach and write about it at little or no real cost to ourselves and, it must be admitted, with no real advance in godliness.
Sermon Outline
- The Need for Revival
- A reformed, revitalized, purified church
- Better Christians than more Christians
Key Quotes
“It is of far greater importance that we have better Christians than that we have more of them.” — A.W. Tozer
“The church in any locality is what its individual members are, no better and no worse.” — A.W. Tozer
Application Points
- We must prioritize personal holiness and moral amendment in order to see the church improved.
- Improvement of the church begins with individual improvement, not external changes.