[Faith-talk] {Spam?} A Faith That Lasts: The Root of the Righteous by A.W. Tozer

[Paul Smith]

(A.W. Tozer (1897-1963) was the pastor of Southside Alliance Church in 
Chicago for 31 years and for 12 years was the editor of _Alliance 
_Weekly.  This article is adapted from his book "The Root of the 
Righteous (Christian Publications 1955), with permission from Lowell Tozer).

One marked difference between the faith of our fathers as conceived by 
the fathers and the same faith as understood and lived by their 
children is that the fathers were concerned with the root of the 
matter, while their present-day descendants seem concerned only with the fruit.

This appears in our attitude toward certain great Christian souls whose 
names are honored among the churches, as, for instance, Augustine and 
Bernard in earlier times, or Luther and Wesley in more recent times.  
Today we write biographies of such as these and celebrate their fruit, 
but the tendency is to ignore the root out of which the fruit sprang.  
"The root of the righteous yieldeth fruit," said the wise man in 
Proverbs 12:12 (KJV).

Our fathers looked well to the root of the tree and were willing to 
wait with patience for the fruit to appear.  We demand fruit 
immediately even though the root may be weak and knobby or missing 
altogether.  Impatient Christians today explain away the simple beliefs 
of the saints of other days and smile off their serious-minded approach 
to God and sacred things.  We'll imitate their fruit without accepting 
their theology or inconveniencing ourselves too greatly by adopting 
their all-or-nothing attitude toward religion.

So we say (ore more likely think without saying), and every voice of 
wisdom, every datum of religious experience, every law of nature tells 
us how wrong we are.  The bough that breaks off from the tree in a 
storm may bloom briefly and give to the unthinking passerby the 
impression that it is a healthy and fruitful branch, but its tender 
blossoms will soon perish and the bough itself wither and die.  There 
is no lasting life apart from the root.

Much of what passes for Christianity today is the brief bright effort 
of the severed branch to bring forth its fruit in its season.  But the 
deep laws of life are against it.  Preoccupation with appearances and a 
corresponding neglect of the out-of-sight root of the true spiritual 
life are prophetic signs that go unheeded.  Immediate "results" are all 
that matter.  Religious pragmatism is running wild among the orthodox.  
Truth is whatever works.

A tree can weather almost any storm if its root is sound, but when the 
fig tree that our Lord cursed "dried up at its roots" it immediately 
"withered away." A church that is soundly rooted cannot be destroyed, 
but nothing can save a church whose root is dried up.  No stimulation, 
no advertising campaigns, no gifts of money and no beautiful edifice 
can bring back life to the rootless tree.

The whole Bible and all the great saints of teh past join to tell us 
the same thing:  "Take nothing for granted.  Go back to the grass 
roots.  Open your hearts and search the Scriptures.  Bear your cross, 
follow your Lord and pay no heed to the passing religious vogue.  The 
masses are always wrong.  In every generation the number of teh 
righteous is small.  Be sure you are among them."

"A man shall not be established by wickedness:  but the root of the 
righteous shall not be moved" (Proverbs 12:3, KJV).

In my opinion there's a lot to think about here, and I hope you agree.

If you'd like to hear the actual voice of Pastor A.W. Tozer, one 
website you might like to explore is
http://www.sermonindex.net.
Not having gone there myself, I can't tell you how accessible it is, 
but the old expression may prove true in this case:  "Nothing ventured, 
nothing gained."

And that will do for now.  Until tomorrow when, Lord willing something 
else of a thoughtful nature will be posted, may the God of Abraham, 
Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, in 
these last days in which we live.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul