Dear Bruce, Weekly–Volume 2

16. November 2007 by BruceSmith.

Dear Bruce

Transformation: formation or fix?

Dear Bruce,

I have been a Christian for many years. After 20 years of being in God’s family I still find myself battling the same things I did when I was a new believer. Actually, it seems like many of the struggles and failures are more intense now than they were early on. I have tried everything to get free of so many problems. I have tried many different kinds of churches. I have been to hear powerful Christian leaders at conferences, deliverance ministries and miracle services. I have attended churches where others seem so excited and healthy, and praise God with abandon, shouting, clapping, crying, laughing. I have tried to think positive thoughts so as not to allow bad thoughts to set me up for failure. I have read books about claiming the promises of God. Still though, I find myself severely depressed at times over my past, and I still wrestle with the same issues I had before I was a Christian. What do I do? Why is this not easier?

Sincerely,

A desperate reader

Dear Reader,

First let me assure you that you are not alone in this battle. Many, far too many, Christians have been or are now in the same situation as you find yourself. I hope the words which follow will bring you hope, clarity, and help, but I must let you know from the start that the advice will be direct. The good news is that your dilemma is typical. The bad news is that your dilemma is typical. The reality is that I believe some fundamental re-thinking must take place as it pertains to the process of transformation.

Notice, right off, that your description of the route you have taken throughout your Christian walk has a different bent to it than the one word I have already used here at the start. It seems that your experience, my experience early on, and the experience of so many, is marred by the idea that as soon as we “come to faith” we are completely fixed in all aspects of our life. When we fail to see the kind of full scale change we expected when as we said a prayer or walked down an isle we tend to panic and/or question what, if anything, really took place. The truth is, we are indeed justified by faith when we come to God through Christ, and at that moment we are His. The truth also is, the character work has just begun. We battle against our old nature. We are flawed. We can win the battle, however.

What I have found in speaking to many people, and through my exposure to a wide array of Christian settings, is that often people make the mistake of thinking that Christian character development is like instant cocoa. The thinking tends to go like this, “If I am struggling with an addiction, I’ll just go to the deliverance service down the street and get set free when the super-spiritual folks there pray for me.” Or it may sound like, “I am depressed. That means some spirit of oppression is over me. I need to get free. I think I will try that church I heard about where lots of people get free from things like this.” The thinking can unfold along many similar themes, but essentially it comes down to an expectation that “events” or “experiences” can fix us.

Now, let me clarify something. I like great events and experiences. I certainly believe that God is intimately and actively involved in our lives and I have seen and experienced Him working “in an instant” at certain times in my life. I am not suggesting that God does not heal, deliver, remake, or otherwise touch us in various circumstances throughout our life. Yet, I am absolutely convinced (by scripture and experience) that the real life makeover we desire is accomplished not by an event-driven approach, but through the God ordained process of transformation, which is conformity to the person and character of Christ.

As human beings in a fallen state, and especially as American Christians in a fast-paced, Internet driven, drive-thru culture, we are all too prone to want our fixes and to want them post haste. There is little question that this carries over into our faith life. It is much easier for us to accept the event driven approach to Christianity than it is to embrace the model of Jesus and of Paul which calls us to a daily, moment by moment, commitment to embrace and pursue Biblical character formation.

Just as it is easier to hit a baseball 400ft. with the quick and simple help of a steroid injection, it is easier, quicker, and less demanding for us to hop from event to event to find a fix. The problem is, just as it is in the case of steroid abuse, reality eventually catches up with you. With steroids, the “catch” comes in the form of a broken body, possible cancer, the loss of reputation, the loss of respect, rage, enlarged craniums, and a host of other health,mental, and emotional ills. With respect to spiritual quick fixes, the catch comes in the form of depression, guilt, a sense of spiritual inferiority, spiritual burnout, bitterness, doubt, and a host of other personality and character issues.

I have seen this practically in many lives, and in many churches. Some of the most charismatic Christian personalities are found to be so void of compassion, love, grace, and Christ-likeness that it is scary. They seem enthused to praise, yell, pray, teach, smile, and pronounce, yet, in daily life these same folks can be seen to be harsh, impatient, unkind, dictatorial, selfish, crude, joyless, and downright sinful. And I am not just speaking of people in the “ministry”. How is this? Because, once we embrace the all powerful, Christian Superhero, happy face, claim-a-fix approach to Christianity, it always misses the mark. God has much more for us.

So, how do we get there from here? I think we must stop looking for demons around every bush, and stop blaming (more likely excusing) our patterns on spiritual oppression, gremlins, and the like. And we must be spiritually secure enough to avoid embracing the pronouncements of others who suggest, “If you just had enough faith you would be fixed.”

Notice, with regard to the woman at the well, Jesus did not tell her she was oppressed by a spirit of sex, or encourage her to just claim her victory over her issues. He said, “Go and sin no more.” That is to say, “Now walk according to the life you have seen and experienced in Me today.” Jesus and the example of Paul is for us to see what the life of God looks like and to then walk in that manner.

The more we walk in the ways of God and follow the example of Christ, the more we will experience the kind of life, joy, and fulfillment we are promised in the New Testament. The extent to which we close the gap between who we are called to be and who we are largely dictates how we experience life. This is an internal character issue. This is not about some external promise or formulaic model for Christian “success”. Rather than show up at a meeting and ask some “healer” or spiritual guru to pray for us, we ought to be so convinced of Christ’s model that we long to pursue life that way. This means we really believe that the Sermon on the Mount applies to us, and that we really ought to like, love, and do life with “sinners” just as Jesus did. It means we should live the life of Christ so compellingly that others are drawn to what they see in us. This means we don’t claim some spirit of addiction is upon us, but rather, we recognize we are called to put away those things which characterized our lives in the past (Paul writes a great deal on this). Paul encouraged his readers to remind themselves of who they were in Christ and to then live accordingly.

Rather than “binding” and “loosing” everything each time we face a challenge, perhaps we should look to Christ and to the writings of the New Testament in order to find wisdom, strength, and grace to match every situation, struggle, and opportunity. Rather than get all hot and bothered over the conduct of the “reprobates” around us at work and in society, perhaps, we should have the mind of Christ and engage them with sobriety, joy, vision, grace, and love. There are too many Christians who are “oppressed” at work and at play by the “evil-doers”. For Goodness sake, literally, Jesus hung out with sinners! You actually get the idea He liked them! He actually liked you and I, and that’s what drew us to faith, right?

Like the rich young ruler, we have the opportunity to accept Jesus” invite to walk in His path for us. Like the rich young ruler, we can turn away and say, “That is too hard.” If we choose the latter, like the rich young ruler, we will go away “sad” (depressed). I have a hunch that he lived the rest of his life that way. This is true not only with the call to salvation. It applies also to our daily life. Every moment we decide if we will live for an audience of One or if we will pursue the easy way, the wide way, the quick fix. Someone makes you angry, get even. Someone cheats on you, cheat back. Someone gets ahead of you at work, beat ‘em down. Someone cuts you off in traffic, give ‘em the finger, both hands! You get the point. As Christians, the extent to which we pursue transformation, character formation, conformity to the image of Christ, dictates the level of contentedness we experience as it relates to Biblical living. When we continually respond to life “in the flesh”, as Paul describes it, we widen the gap between what God promises and what we experience. This happens in our thought life as well as our active life.

The world is broken, and total spiritual bliss, perfection, will not be attained this side of Heaven. Yet, the Kingdom of God is both already and not yet. We can drink fully of the kind of life God promises us. The extent to which we accept this truth largely determines our experience in this life. Our fix comes each moment as we fix our eyes upon Him. There will be times we need friends and counselors around us to walk through specific pains, failures, struggles, surely. That is Biblical. And there will be times we must cry out for God’s timely and critical touch. That too is Biblical. On the whole, however, the Christian life is about Transformation. The renewing of our minds is a moment by moment issue. Walk it out in joy, in pain, in the highs and the lows…in all things and at all times walk toward the life He is calling you to. Do this, and 20 years from now your life will be much more fulfilling. That is His promise.

Bruce Smith

optimuslife.org

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