Supreme Need

Just one more quote from James Stewart’s, Heralds of God (p220-1):

When all is said and done, the supreme need of the Church is the same in the twentieth century as in the first: it is men on fire for Christ.

I beg you not to commit the fearful blunder of damping down that flame. It is, of course, understandable and right that you who are going out into the ministry should distrust, and set your faces against, the spurious fervour which notoriously brings discredit on the faith. But the pity is that there are preachers so frightened of this taint that they have actually done violence to the flame Christ has kindled within them, choosing deliberately an attitude of cool and imperturbable detachment, and perhaps even confounding frigidity with philosophic depth and logical precision with spiritual power. Let us have precision of utterance and clarity of exposition by all means: but even precision and logic are bought too dear if they stifle the living flame. The radical mistake, of course, is in supposing that precision and the heart on fire are somehow exclusive of each other.

I have thoroughly enjoyed these classic quotes. Tomorrow I’ll move on to some other thoughts. However, let’s recognize the value of these quotes, and let’s make sure we are not ignoring all that needs to be learned from writers who are no longer with us, but are waiting for us . . .

One thought on “Supreme Need”

It is all too true for some that:

“there are preachers so frightened of this taint that they have actually done violence to the flame Christ has kindled within them, choosing deliberately an attitude of cool and imperturbable detachment, and perhaps even confounding frigidity with philosophic depth and logical precision with spiritual power”

This is consistent with the idea of ministering out of the overflow. That study/preparation alone does not prepare us to preach.

I find this tendency of “confusion” happens more with older folks, but all are still susceptible. But I ask myself: “Am I missing something?” My perceptions of confused individuals, is just how Stewart described above. Am I missing the cosmically logic side of our Lord? Or do the confused grow tired of burning with passion? For either case, I pray that the confused find the flame that burned inside; and for the passionate that they do not forget the practicality of our Lord.

So how do we help each other?

Nate

October 1, 2009 at 7:31 pm

It is all too true for some that:

“there are preachers so frightened of this taint that they have actually done violence to the flame Christ has kindled within them, choosing deliberately an attitude of cool and imperturbable detachment, and perhaps even confounding frigidity with philosophic depth and logical precision with spiritual power”

This is consistent with the idea of ministering out of the overflow. That study/preparation alone does not prepare us to preach.

I find this tendency of “confusion” happens more with older folks, but all are still susceptible. But I ask myself: “Am I missing something?” My perceptions of confused individuals, is just how Stewart described above. Am I missing the cosmically logic side of our Lord? Or do the confused grow tired of burning with passion? For either case, I pray that the confused find the flame that burned inside; and for the passionate that they do not forget the practicality of our Lord.

So how do we help each other?