“Unbelief is actually perverted faith, for it puts its trust, not in the living God but in dying men. The unbeliever denies the selfsufficiency of God and usurps attributes that are not his. This dual sin dishonors God and ultimately destroys the soul of man.” – A.W. Tozer
And… discuss.
Todd
Wow. This is a very relevant quote given the recent media coverage of Hitchens/Dawkins and the new atheism.
Atheists, for one, purport to be against the concept of any God and faith but this in itself serves as both for them. To contemplate the possibility that we humans are the highest-power is not only laughable but requires a whole lot of faith on the part of the atheist.
My question would be how do we go about reaching these people?
Anyhoo, just some pre-dawn thoughts…hope I haven’t totally missed the point.
Cheers!
Great quote! Unbelief is like myopia–only being able to see what is in front of you, like the mule with blinders. Belief requires vision outside of ourselves to see beyond our narrow realm of understanding.
I came to the conclusion long ago that faith is something everyone has, and it will go somewhere. If not in God, it will be in something or someone else. I agree with Tozer on this one. Putting one’s faith in man is always disappointing, as much as I love people. God is the faithful one.
I think I’ll steal your quote and share it.
If someone doesn’t believe in God, they will but their trust in something or someone. I think even believers struggle with believing in God at times. It seems to be human nature for the mind to put trust in things that the physical body can sense, and often things that can be sensed are perishable. The mind has to be retrained to trust what the eternal scriptures proclaim, as well as that which the soul and spirit attest to. To not believe that God is self sufficient is to think that the human mind and body could create somethine everlasting on its own, that something human could be whole and complete as God is. Without God, there is nothing any human could do or think that has any lasting value. If a human gives themself completely over to pursueing and trusting anyone or anything other than God, and think that they will find true worth from anything or anyone other than God, they are living in vain. At the end of their time on earth when they die, all that they will leave will be their own perishable ideas and history of actions , which will one day completely vanish, and their potential to join with God’s solid, everlasting ways will be completely lost. What a tradegy their time on earth will have been!
I have been a Christian for 40 years and I find my greatest struggle is with unbelief. Not the “do you believe this or that?” kind of belief–when asked I will usually be able to say yes. But the kind of belief that is living and daily in my life. When I struggle through my day, trying to be kind, gentle, patient, loving, etc. and then find at the end of that day it was all about me struggling through it, finding the “right” way to deal with a situation, without ever having approached God to find out what He wanted me to do–well, is that belief in God, or unbelief? When I step back and look at it, I have to call it unbelief. I put my trust in my own wisdom, my own abilities to manage, organize, find solutions. I even catch myself “helping God” at times such as “protecting my church” from “bad people”–as if God cannot do it without my help–while in my mind I am trying to honor God. Oh Lord, teach me Your ways! Let me learn to approach You for help in everything, even all the little daily things.