Most people catch their presuppositions from their family and surrounding society the way a child catches measles.
Francis SchaefferRead
Preaching the gospel without the Holy Spirit is to miss the entire point of the command of Jesus Christ for our era. In the area of "Christian activities" or "Christian service," how we are doing it is at least as important as what we are doing.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of intention and divine inspiration in religious practice over mere action.
Francis Schaeffer stresses that simply performing religious acts without the guidance of the Holy Spirit can lead to a hollow practice that strays from the true teachings of Jesus Christ. He highlights that the manner in which Christian activities are conducted holds equal significance to the activities themselves, urging believers to seek spiritual empowerment rather than merely engage in outward expressions of faith.
Themes
FaithSpiritualityActionHoly SpiritServiceJesusIntention
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon about the importance of spiritual guidance in church activities.
More from Francis Schaeffer
All quotes →In two areas above all others the Christian demonstration of love and communication stands clear: in the area of the Christian couple and their children; and in the personal relationships of Christians in the church. If there is no demonstration in these two places, on the personal level, the world can conclude that orthodox Christian doctrine is nothing but dead, cold words.
Francis SchaefferRead
Christian art is the expression of the whole life of the whole person as a Christian. What a Christian portrays in his art is the totality of life. Art is not to be solely a vehicle for some sort of self-conscious evangelism.
Francis SchaefferRead
There are two main reasons why we may not be bringing forth the fruit we should. It may be because of ignorance, because we may never have been taught the meaning of the work of Christ for our present lives.
Francis SchaefferRead
We should not view men with a cynical eye, seeing them only as meaningless products of chance, but, on the other hand, we should not go to the opposite extreme of seeing them romantically. To do either is to fail to understand who men really are--creatures made in the image of God but fallen.
Francis SchaefferRead
You must not lose confidence in God because you lost confidence in your pastor. If our confidence in God had to depend upon our confidence in any human person, we would be on shifting sand.
Francis SchaefferRead
Similar quotes
America is a willingness of the heart.
F. Scott FitzgeraldRead
The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion.
Arthur C. ClarkeRead
If I tell you that I would be disobeying the god and on that account it is impossible for me to keep quiet, you won't be persuaded by me, taking it that I am ionizing. And if I tell you that it is the greatest good for a human being to have discussions every day about virtue and the other things you hear me talking about, examining myself and others, and that the unexamined life is not livable for a human being, you will be even less persuaded.
SocratesRead
Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
The law of evolution is that the strongest survives!' 'Yes, and the strongest, in the existence of any social species, are those who are most social. In human terms, most ethical...There is no strength to be gained from hurting one another. Only weakness.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
It would be naïve to think that peace and justice can be achieved easily. No set of rules or study of history will automatically resolve the problems ... However, with faith and perseverance, ... complex problems in the past have been resolved in our search for justice and peace.
Jimmy CarterRead