CONTENT TO BE SHALLOW
We have a certain realization that a meaningful walk of faith often comes from passing through deep waters. But we don’t really trust that pain, especially the heart-breaking, knock you to your knees, rip your heart out by the roots kind of pain, is worth it. We want growth, but without the process to get there.
But God sees a different perspective. He is like the parent who has to take their young child to the doctor and hold them down on the table, pinning them there while a painful test is done. The child cries . . . screams . . . pleads with their eyes, and looks to their parent with total disbelief that they could be betrayed by the very one that they thought loved them totally. The look says, “How could you allow this pain?” But the parent knows that it is essential to really take good care of their child, because they love them.
Do we want to feel pain? Of course we don’t. We would call the man who seeks it a fool. But above all else, God wants us to trust Him, to really trust Him. It is the question asked through all of scripture . . . “Will you trust Me?” Through the pain, through the heartache, through the loss, through whatever excruciating circumstances His sovereign plan has in store for us?
Shallow faith never learns to trust. It spends all of its time and energy striving to avoid hard things, even to the extent that scripture is defined as an assurance that life will be all blessings, with no hardship or pain. Not only is this thinking hard to support from scripture, it is not what we see in our lives experientially.
Our faith will deepen and mature only as we seek to trust that He loves us enough to carve out the path our lives will take. Which is why I believe the doctrine of Sovereignty is so vitally important. (More thoughts on that in later posts.)
Paula Bonhoeffer chose a hymn with the following words at the funeral of her eldest son.
What God has done, it is well done,
His will is always just.
Whatever He will do for me,
In Him I’ll place my trust.
God, give me faith like that. So that when the pain comes, and it will, it is not in vain, but results in growth, maturity, and trust, not in a fist-shaking bitterness.
I've been appreciating all of your bolg posts. This analogy of the child at the doctor is one of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteWhat does deep faith look like? Plenty of believers think of it as mustering up good thoughts about God or being truly sincere like Linus' pumpkin patch. To them it looks like the mountain top guru.
Deep faith trusts that God has me covered so I can go about the business of the kingdom without hedging my bets.
My faith is shallow when I spend my energy trying to improve my circumstances. My faith is shallow when I spend all of my time contemplating my navel, wondering how I'm perceived by others, wallowing in self pity, soaking in the acid bath of resentment or frozen in regret.
My trust is growing when I actually get up out of my chair and finish that project because it is important to my wife. When I actually get down on the floor and play Chutes and Ladders with my granddaughter - not for a facebook photo op but because that's what she wants to do. When I quit rehearsing the story I want to tell about my mundane adventure and attend with interest to the account my friend is giving of his. We trust God when we let him care for our reputations and happiness and we go about the actual dirty knees business that he has set before us.
Wondering if your pumpkin patch is sincere enough isn't going to cut it. As you mentioned in an earlier blog post, our lives are like vapor. If we want to make sure we are contributing to the kingdom in the short time we have here, that our investments will be long lasting, that we are growing in faith, we've got to stay in the Word.
Knowing who we are in Christ and setting aside our own ambitions to serve others (the outline of most of Paul's epistles) is how we dive into the deep waters of abiding faith. Faith and deeds are so closely connected by James that they define each other. The book of 1 John can well be used as a litmus test of faith by pausing at each of the "whoever claims", "if we claim" and "here is how" statements. If it ain't working, it ain't faith. Right now you can find someone who needs help, someone who needs encouragement, someone you can love with simple actions. This is faith.
- Larry Dean
What a perfect description of faith! Especially "If it ain't working, it ain't faith". (Though that might be the red-neck version!) Don't you think it's most prevalent in America? We live such spoiled, easy lives. I have a hard time envisioning those in more persecuted places ever "coasting" like I find myself doing. (My idea of a trial is when my computer freezes, not when my family is imprisoned for their faith.) You sure see this warned against in the O.T. when God repeatedly tells them, "When you prosper, don't forget the Lord your God." Thanks for sharing Larry, good to hear from you.
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ReplyDeleteAgree with you and see so many people who see Jesus either as a "Santa Claus" to keep happy, or a task master, or a "In case of emergency". I also see a different brand of people who are very mature in the area of Bible study and knowledge. They love to attend Bible studies with other "mature people" and read books and talk about all the implications. They wring their hands about the state of our culture and how it has "departed from God's standards". BUT they don't want to get involved with messy people. People who are divorced, living together, using drugs, drinking in excess are excised from their lives and fellowships. They don't like the tension of trying to help people wrestle through to faith and then wrestle through to maturity. I don't call that maturity, it seems like they are closer to Pharisee than Jesus. We always need to define Maturity as being more like Jesus.
Paul Glazner
Love that both you and Larry Dean had the same response, in that "faith without works is dead". Good to remember that. Maturity cannot be defined apart from Christ-likeness, as Paul said. Nor do I think that we can achieve "deep faith" by striving for it. I guess my thought was that our response to what God brings into our lives is so important. And that response is largely shaped by my view of God's sovereignty. It is the biggest thing He has been teaching me for a couple of years now, and has been influenced immensely by the writings and preaching of John Piper. Piper says the following in an article entitled "A Very Precious and Practical Doctrine" (at Desiring God website).
ReplyDelete"Therefore, the mercy and the sovereignty of God are the twin pillars of my life. They are the hope of my future, the energy of my service the center of my theology, the bond of my marriage, the best medicine in all my sickness, the remedy of all my discouragements. And when I come to die(whether soon or late)these two truths will stand by my bed and with infinitely strong and infinitely tender hands lift me up to God."
Love it! I will attempt to flesh out my thoughts on this in up-coming posts. Might get just a little long for one post! I mean, not like there's been volumes and volumes written on this subject, right?
Ken