Tragedy in the Church: The Missing Gifts

by A.W. Tozer

In this collection of 12 profound sermons, A. W. Tozer points out why so many Christians and churches today are weak. But he doesn't leave us without hope. He uplifts our spirits and helps us recognize what God wants to do in and through each and every one of us.

These sermons deal directly with the subjects of the Christian church and the spiritual basis for its varied and continuing ministries. They display A. W. Tozer's love, appreciation, and concern for the church, which motivated him to so consistently issue caution. Tozer always yearned to reveal to the Christina and Missionary Alliance a desire for each church member to reach their full potential for honoring the Lord Jesus Christ, and this book represents that yearning well.

Genres: Christian, Church, Christian Living, Theology

160 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1990

About the author

Aiden Wilson Tozer was an American evangelical pastor, speaker, writer, and editor. After coming to Christ at the age of seventeen, Tozer found his way into the Christian & Missionary Alliance denomination where he served for over forty years. In 1950, he was appointed by the denomination's General Council to be the editor of "The Alliance Witness" (now "Alliance Life").

Born into poverty in western Pennsylvania in 1897, Tozer died in May 1963 a self-educated man who had taught himself what he missed in high school and college due to his home situation. Though he wrote many books, two of them, "The Pursuit of God" and "The Knowledge of the Holy" are widely considered to be classics.

A.W. Tozer and his wife, Ada Cecelia Pfautz, had seven children, six boys and one girl.

Reviews

[Sophie Ferry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like a theologian is made in how well the truth that they preach holds up throughout time. If it’s bogged down by the pressures of culture or the trends within the church it slowly becomes worthless. I love Tozer so much because this guy swings and rarely misses. What do you mean he’s preaching in support of a racially diverse church in the 1960s? Not even Graham was doing that. What do you mean he’s supporting unity of spirit and not uniformity of church? We don’t even get that today! Every time I read Tozer I’m grateful that there’s at least someone sane to look back on and appreciate the work of.

[James Pereira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many persons preach and teach. Many take part in the music. Certain ones try to administer God's work-but if the power of God's Spirit does not have freedom to energize all they do, these workers might just as well have stayed home.

No matter what a man does, no matter how successful he seems to be in any field, if the Holy Spirit is not the chief energizer of his activity, it will all fall apart when he dies.

This book has been a soothing balm for me during this last season of life (December and the New Year). Many things have happened, but Tozer's reminder of living for the glory of God has been a welcome encouragement as I start this year.

About the book
Tragedy in the Church is a sobering read where Tozer covers topics like prayerlessness in the church, a church functioning without the power of the Spirit, and the role of the Holy Spirit in our walk with God as a church.

The book contains much more, but these aspects stood out to me as I read the book.

How I started reading the book
I picked this book up last year during the bookshelf clearing of a Christian friend of mine. Their grandparents were moving out, and I couldn't let a Tozer book sit on the shelf like that.

So I began reading this during December last year, during a difficult season of life, and it acted as a reminder to strengthen my convictions as I went about living through the busyness of the Christmas season.

It helped me ask myself pointed questions like, Why was I doing what I was doing? Was it for the glorification of God or the glorification of myself?

Learning from the book for me

1. The church is meant for the glory of God, not for the glorification of men. For service and not performance.

Tozer beautifully and emphatically brings this truth out during the initial chapters and uses a lovely analogy to communicate— how we as believers are merely vessels; it is HIS Spirit that ministers life.

This truth hit me hard as I found myself part of a few worship services feeling disillusioned, wondering why I felt so uneasy during band practices. While the team was gifted and talented, we relied more on our skills rather than on the anointing and Spirit of God for our "performances".

To please God, a person must be just an instrument for God to use.

For a few seconds, picture in your mind the variety of wonderful and useful appliances we have in our homes. They have been engineered and built to perform tasks of all kinds.

But without the inflow of electrical power they are just lumps of metal and plastic, unable to function and serve. They cannot do their work until power is applied from a dynamic outside source.

So it is in the work of God in the church.

Many persons preach and teach. Many take part in the music. Certain ones try to administer God's work-but if the power of God's Spirit does not have freedom to energise all they do, these workers might just as well have stayed home.

2. The role of prayer in the believing church and the role of the Spirit
Tozer, in the book, writes hard-hitting truths about our beliefs as Christians on the efficacy of prayer and the role of the Spirit in our services.

Without the Holy Spirit guiding our work, we will in vain try to do in the flesh what only God, through His Spirit, can do.

Work that is only religious work and religious activity can be done by ungifted men and women and it can be done within the framework of the Christian church. But it will wind up with the judgment upon it that it is only a product of a human mind.

Religious "activists" have many things of which they can boast. They build churches. They write hymns and books. Musically, they sing and play. Some of them will take time to engage in prayer. Others will organize movements and crusades and campaigns.

No matter how early in the morning they begin and no matter how late at night they stay with their project, if it is an exercise in human talent for religious purposes, it can only wind up as a mortal brain doing a mortal job.

And across it God will write a superscription: "It came to die and it came to go!

He juxtaposes this to Working for the glory of God

What we do for God must be done in the power of the Holy Spirit and we know that we may have little praise from men. But what we do accomplish for Him as true spiritual work done with eternity in view will have His praise written across it: "This came to live and to last!"

This truth hit me hard as I read through the book.

Would I rather live in obscurity and in the presence of God than be surrounded by religious clamour and be far, far from God?

Overall
All in all, I must say that this was a powerful and moving book for me. Tozer sobers you up as you read the book and challenges you, as a Christian, as to why you are doing what you're doing. And I loved it!

That being said, as I proceeded towards the end of the book, it became increasingly difficult to stay engaged as I read, and I drifted off, trying to finish the book more than devour it. The writing grew more dense as I went on, or rather he spoke on something I wasn't passionate about at the moment, who knows?

So 3 stars for me.

So cheers, and I'll catch you later, my dudes. Perhaps you'll never be famous, you'll never be heralded, but may you labour in a kingdom that will ever last.

I'll leave you with this bittersweet Tozer medicine as I end the review.

For myself, I would rather be among those who are unknown, unsung and unheralded doing something through the Spirit of God that will count even a tiny little bit in the kingdom of God, than to be involved in some highly-recognised expression of religious activity across which God will ultimately write the judgment: "This too shall pass!"

[Ashley Ethridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the 3 recommended books in the study material of my small group Bible study that my church is doing this spring. The focus was on the study of the spiritual gifts and screening them all against scripture. Tozer is truly prophetic (now that I’ve learned that the spiritual gifts of a prophet is being forth telling not fortune telling and understand why many have called Tozer and his spiritual gifts as a prophet) and felt immediately convicted about how I dismiss or minimize the Holy Spirit. The only reason I rated it 4 stars instead of 5 is because I thought this was going to speak about and break down of each of the spiritual gifts in detail and while it is still edifying, it does not do this much. Rather it explains the importance of the Holy Spirit and what we are lacking as a church in the West from believers not faithfully using their gifts for the body and how we lack the Holy Spirit much in the West. Highly recommend!

[Deemel · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an inspiring book for todays church. So many challenging thoughts to build and to restore the body of Christ. To know that He is the “Shekinah Glory” God is with us during the good and the bad when the world around us appears to be crumbling away. I loved the writing of this author and the message of this book has enhanced my life in so many ways. I highly recommend this book and will be reading other books by AW Tozer in the future.

[Michael Buchanan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still timely today!

There is something about the writings of Tozer that strikes to the heart. While this was written many years ago, the truths are timeless. Do we see the “tragedy” today in the church that Tozer wrote of? Only to a greater degree. That is one reason I like to read Tozer today. This book is no different in it is a “wake up” call to the church as the body of Christ and the individual believers.

[Gordon · Rating 2 out of 5]

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