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Man: The Dwelling Place of God: Chapter 2. The Call of Christ

By A.W. Tozer


      TO BE CALLED TO FOLLOW CHRIST is a high honor; higher indeed than any honor men can bestow upon each other.

      Were all the nations of the earth to unite in one great federation and call a man to head that federation, that man would be honored above any other man that ever lived. Yet the humblest man who heeds the call to follow Christ has an honor far above such a man; for the nations of the earth can bestow only such honor as they possess, while the honor of Christ is supreme over all. God has given Him a name that is above every name.

      This being true and being known to the heavenly intelligences, the methods we use to persuade men to follow Christ must seem to them extremely illogical if not downright wrong.

      Evangelical Christians commonly offer Christ to mankind as a nostrum to cure their ills, a way out of their troubles, a quick and easy means to the achievement of personal ends. They use the right words, but their emphasis is awry. The message is so presented as to leave the hearer with the impression that he is being asked to give up much to gain more. And that is not good, however well intentioned it may be.

      What we do is precisely what a good salesman does when he presents the excellence of his product as compared with that of his closest competitor. The customer chooses the better of the two, as who would not? But the weakness of the whole salesmanship technique is apparent: the idea of selfish gain is present in the whole transaction.

      Jesus Christ is a Man come to save men. In Him the divine nature is married to our human nature, and wherever human nature exists there is the raw material out of which He makes followers and saints. Our Lord recognizes no classes, high or low, rich or poor, old or young, man or woman: all are human and all are alike to Him. His invitation is to all mankind.

      In New Testament times persons from many and varied social levels heard His call and responded: Peter the fisherman; Levi the publican; Luke the physician; Paul the scholar; Mary the demon possessed; Lydia the businesswoman; Paulus the statesman. A few great and many common persons came. They all came and our Lord received them all in the same way and on the same terms.

      From any and every profession or occupation men and women may come if they will. The simple rule is that if the occupation is good, continue in it if you so desire; if it is bad, abandon it at once and seek another. If the call includes detachment from all common pursuits to give full time to the work of the gospel, then no profession or occupation, no matter how good or how noble, must keep us from obeying the call.

      The activities in which men engage may be divided into two categories: the morally bad and the morally neutral. The activities of the burglar, the gambler, the dictator, the procurer, the dope addict, the gangster and all who prey upon society are bad; nothing can make them better. The call of Christ is away from all such. This is not to be questioned or debated, but accepted without delay and acted upon at once.

      But the majority of our human activities are not evil in themselves; they are neutral. The laborer, the statesman, the housewife, the doctor, the teacher, the engineer-such as these engage in activities that are neither good nor bad. Their moral qualities are imparted by the one who engages in them. So the call of Christ is not away from such things, for they may be sanctified by the prayer and faith of the individual, and thus turned into a positive good.

      One thing is certain: the call of Christ is always a promotion. Were Christ to call a king from his throne to preach the gospel to some tribe of aborigines, that king would be elevated above anything he had known before. Any movement toward Christ is ascent, and any direction away from Him is down.

      Yet though we recognize the honor bestowed upon us, there is no place for pride, for the follower of Christ must shoulder his cross and a cross is an object of shame and a symbol of rejection.

      Before God and the angels it is a great honor to follow Christ, but before men it is not so. The Christ the world pretends now to honor was once rejected and crucified by that same world. The great saint is honored only after he is dead. Rarely is he known as a saint while he lives. The plaudits of the world come too late, when he can no longer hear them; and perhaps it is better that way. Not many are selfless enough to endure honor without injury to their souls.

      In those early Galilean days Christ's followers heard His call, forsook the old life, attached themselves to Him, began to obey His teachings and joined themselves to His band of disciples. This total commitment was their confirmation of faith. Nothing less would do.

      And it is not different today. He calls us to leave the old life and to begin the new. There must never be any vacuum, never any place of neutrality where the world cannot identify us. Peter warming himself at the world's fire and trying to seem unconcerned is an example of the kind of halfway discipleship too many are satisfied with. The martyr leaping up in the arena, demanding to be thrown to the lions along with his suffering brethren, is an example of the only kind of dedication that God approves.

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See Also:
   Preface
   Chapter 1. Man: The Dwelling Place of God
   Chapter 2. The Call of Christ
   Chapter 3. What We Think of Ourselves Is Important
   Chapter 4. The Once-born and the Twice-born
   Chapter 5. On the Origin and Nature of Things
   Chapter 6. Why People Find the Bible Difficult
   Chapter 7. Faith: The Misunderstood Doctrine
   Chapter 8. True Religion Is Not Feeling but Willing
   Chapter 9. How to Make Spiritual Progress
   Chapter 10. The Old Cross and the New
   Chapter 11. There Is No Wisdom in Sin
   Chapter 12. Three Degrees of Religious Knowledge
   Chapter 13. The Sanctification of the Secular
   Chapter 14. God Must Be Loved for Himself
   Chapter 15. True Faith Is Active. Not Passive
   Chapter 16. On Taking Too Much for Granted
   Chapter 17. The Cure for a Fretful Spirit
   Chapter 18. Boasting or Belittling
   Chapter 19. The Communion of Saints
   Chapter 20. Temperament in the Christian Life
   Chapter 21. Does God Always Answer Prayer?
   Chapter 22. Self-deception and How to Avoid It
   Chapter 23. On Breeding Spotted Mice
   Chapter 24. The Unknown Saints
   Chapter 25. Three Faithful Wounds
   Chapter 26. The Wrath of God: What Is It?
   Chapter 27. In Praise of Dogmatism
   Chapter 28. What Men Live By
   Chapter 29. How to Try the Spirits
   Chapter 30. Religious Boredom
   Chapter 31. The Church Cannot Die
   Chapter 32. The Lordship of the Man Jesus Is Basic
   Chapter 33. A Do-It-Yourself Education Better Than None
   Chapter 34. Some Thoughts on Books and Reading
   Chapter 35. The Decline of Apocalyptic Expectation
   Chapter 36. Choices Reveal - and Make - Character
   Chapter 37. The Importance of Sound Doctrine
   Chapter 38. Some Things Are Not Negotiable
   Chapter 39. The Saint Must Walk Alone

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