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Our
Gaze
A.W.
Tozer (The Pursuit of God, p.90) wrote:
“One hundred pianos all
tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other…. So one
hundred worshippers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ,
are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they
to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive
for closer fellowship. Social religion is perfected when private
religion is purified.”
The
key to harmony and unity lies not in our efforts to “get along” but in
our alignment with Christ. When we look upon our circumstances or
ourselves rather than Him, we inevitably devolve into division,
battling over opinions and preferences, feeling hurt and hard-done-by.
Conflict
and dissension have marred the church since its beginning. The church
in ancient Corinth experienced prejudice, pride, and false-piety that
threatened to tear it apart. And churches today -- large and small --
struggle with the same sins.
Many
of us feel deeply disillusioned by the “politics” of the local
congregation and suspect that the solution to our pain is to align
ourselves with new or smaller gatherings, where we might avoid the
dynamics of “the institution.” We naively believe that smaller,
less-structured, more relational groups can avoid the pitfalls of
conflict that have wounded us in the past. Yet, we overlook that
even marriage itself (the smallest and most intimate of communities) is
not immune to conflict.
Tozer
defined faith as “the gaze of the soul upon the saving God.” And he
rightly reminds us that until we are all tuned to the same fork, we
cannot be anything but discordant. One hundred pianos will sound fine
alone but cacophonous together, unless tuned to the same fork.
Purity
of heart, honored by Jesus in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:8) is perhaps
best understood in these terms -- not as moral purity but as a correct
gaze; “fixing our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2).
To
the extent that we look around more than within, we’ll breed an
environment for disruption. If we focus more on others than on the
Savior, we’ll experience discouragement. Our hope for the unity of the
church -- and the unity of our families and marriages -- lies not
in articulate visions but in believers who devote themselves to set
“the gaze of the soul upon the saving God.”
Perhaps
it’s time for a spiritual tune-up and eye-exam. No appointment
necessary.
In
HOPE –
David
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