Excerpts from Repentance Series, School of Christ by B.H. Clendennen
Man, in his rebellion against God, by choice, partook of that which God had commanded him not to take. At that moment, man became his own centre. God was no longer the centre of his being. Man became his own centre and “self” became his god. Since the fall blinded man has ever continued to make himself central.
We may be centred in an experience, a group, an emphasis of truth; we may be centred in a spiritual person, our work, or a religious cause. All of these are false centres.
Believers may not realize it, but we are either centred in man or we are centred in God. Every choice we make in life becomes the test. Every test, every temptation, is whether you are going to remain centred in God or be centred in yourself. There is no alternative. Either God is the centre of our universe and we have become rightly adjusted to Him, or we have made ourselves the centre. When the centre is wrong, then everything in our reckoning is wrong.
The little choruses that we sing today, for the most part, have to do with man. Man has become the centre. Man has become the focus. From his point of view, concepts and methods become twisted until it seems the church is presenting a God whose entire working is for man’s blessing and happiness.
Perhaps you have wondered why the church has not come to maturity as God intended. The reason is that it is man-centred. The secret of realizing God’s ultimate purpose is to be found in the correction of our starting point. God must become my centre and my desire.
Make no appeal for man to come to God in order to be happy and to be blessed. Our approach is to urge men to wake up and become adjusted to the purpose for which they were created.
Modern believers have imagined they can win men by arguing with them. This is a farce which means they have won us. The hour is too late for us to continue to play with the surface issues. We must turn from our selfish playthings and cease our man-centred attempts to make religion serve us.
God must become my centre and my desire. God’s desire must be my desire, and God’s will my will. My wants must be God’s wants. “Our Father which art in heaven…” In that prayer Jesus moved the centre to God. Recognizing that man has become the centre, there has to be a genuine repentance. A repentance of what we have allowed ourselves to become. May God make it a revelation to the heart.
We may be centred in an experience, a group, an emphasis of truth; we may be centred in a spiritual person, our work, or a religious cause. All of these are false centres.
Believers may not realize it, but we are either centred in man or we are centred in God. Every choice we make in life becomes the test. Every test, every temptation, is whether you are going to remain centred in God or be centred in yourself. There is no alternative. Either God is the centre of our universe and we have become rightly adjusted to Him, or we have made ourselves the centre. When the centre is wrong, then everything in our reckoning is wrong.
The little choruses that we sing today, for the most part, have to do with man. Man has become the centre. Man has become the focus. From his point of view, concepts and methods become twisted until it seems the church is presenting a God whose entire working is for man’s blessing and happiness.
Perhaps you have wondered why the church has not come to maturity as God intended. The reason is that it is man-centred. The secret of realizing God’s ultimate purpose is to be found in the correction of our starting point. God must become my centre and my desire.
Make no appeal for man to come to God in order to be happy and to be blessed. Our approach is to urge men to wake up and become adjusted to the purpose for which they were created.
Modern believers have imagined they can win men by arguing with them. This is a farce which means they have won us. The hour is too late for us to continue to play with the surface issues. We must turn from our selfish playthings and cease our man-centred attempts to make religion serve us.
God must become my centre and my desire. God’s desire must be my desire, and God’s will my will. My wants must be God’s wants. “Our Father which art in heaven…” In that prayer Jesus moved the centre to God. Recognizing that man has become the centre, there has to be a genuine repentance. A repentance of what we have allowed ourselves to become. May God make it a revelation to the heart.
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