What's Your Spiritual Narrative
A fundamental question of spiritual formation is your starting point. Where do you begin when you think about growing spiritually? For many, okay probably most, in the church today the starting point of spiritual growth is behavior. In reality, it is keeping God happy through performance out of a sense of fear that at any moment His smiting arm might be wielded against you in a fit of unhappy rage. So, maybe you don’t fear a lightning bolt emanating from the sky because you made a mistake. But does your spiritual worth begin from a point of fear, of self-preservation? Are you on a journey that is largely about spinning a bunch of spiritual plates in the air in hopes that none of them fall and break? God doesn’t intend His children to run a non-stop treadmill of spiritual behavior but to live a life that trusts His story of redemption in Christ. Following Jesus is really a story of wholeness in Him, not ourselves.
The Consequences of Fear
Fear is a very natural emotion. It tells us something about our situation, our environment, even our safety. Fear is important, but God didn’t intend it to guide our paths or life choices. Living from a point of fear, especially in our spiritual life, comes with consequences.
Fear skews and messes with our thoughts and actions. It erodes our confidence and creates indecisiveness.
Fear sows seeds of doubt about God’s faithfulness, His promises, and even our own salvation.
Fear takes away our God-given peace, comfort, and joy. It moves our grounding into temporary things like possessions, feelings of happiness, or money.
Fear leads us to build more destructive habits and thoughts into our lives.
God didn’t call us to live in fear and He certainly doesn’t expect us to grow spiritually through fear. Fear based living will actually stunt our spiritual growth, or worse, it will fool us into thinking that we are growing based on our own behavioral efforts!
Growing through Wholeness
If you have been in church sometime in the past few decades you have probably heard repentance described as turning and going the opposite direction. That idea is not a bad one, or even completely wrong. It’s just that it doesn’t give the fullest picture of what is going on. In fact, it maintains a fear/self-centered approach to your spiritual life. It keeps you thinking the whole thing is on you, like you just need to find the right combination of behavior to make yourself spiritually elite. That idea isn’t new. Paul confronted it in one of his earliest letters to churches:
Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
Galatians 3:3 New American Standard Bible
Read that again.
Hurts doesn’t it?
Paul is telling us that since salvation is only through Christ, then so is spiritual growth. You can’t work your way into spiritual maturity. Jesus wants you to grow through wholeness. See the idea of repentance is the idea of returning. Yes, it involves turning away from sin, away from what separates us from God. But it isn’t just going the opposite way. It is returning to who God called you, created you, formed you to be. It is recognizing that you are whole, and complete, only in Christ. And that in Christ you are already there, but your life doesn’t fully reflect that yet. By trusting in Jesus, and what He says about you, your life will begin to reflect Him because He is transforming your heart.
What is the narrative going on in your heart and mind?
Are you living spiritually in a state of fear that God is going to revoke His love because you are not getting things right? Are you trying to work out your salvation through your own efforts?
Or, do you see yourself as God sees you? His beloved creation with abilities, gifts, and experiences that make you valuable. That because of Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross you are whole in Him. You are complete in Christ. Think about it. One of the earliest messages to the church was about the narrative they were living with. What are you selling yourself right now?