Solitude, God's Presence, and the Gospel

Today I have a long post that I intended to be short.  Sorry!  It is also not as clear as I would like, but a mix of too many ideas.  Forgive me even as you wrestle my writing and these ideas so as to grow deeper!

"For my days to remain healthy, I needed this silence.  For to be renewed in strength I needed to come before my God.  It is amazing how a few minutes with our God can so energize us and empower us to return to our daily work.  To miss out on this time of quiet is to deny ourselves our birthright as daughters and sons of God.  If I am to speak meaningfully about God to others, I need to spend time in his presence and learn of his love.  In the same way, if I am to talk meaningfully to God about others and his world, I need to be immersed in the world and relate to others." Adam, The Road of Life, 109.

I have so enjoyed reading this book.  I have taken the time to ponder, to pray, and to meet with God as I read it.  In my years of walking with Christ, I have also found this message to be so true.  If you desire more of God in your life, there is no way to get it except to pursue Him!  

I am always amazed by those who will then argue theologically with me on this point.  They will claim, often with a dismissive and condescending tone, "Don't you know that you have every spiritual blessing in Christ?  You do not need more of God!"  To this I must say, "Really?"  I find that I need more of God's presence and work in my life!  The older I get the more I find I need Him.  To argue theologically about this reality illustrates an aversion to the gospel, to God's presence, and to our need.  As I read scripture and church history, everyone who really walked with God has sought His presence and grown in an awareness of need.

Let me give one example, the Apostle Paul.  Paul writes early in his ministry that we are to be imitators of him, just as I am of Christ.  In what ways do we imitate him?  I believe it was in his humility as he came to Christ for mercy and grace.  At the end of his life, Paul writes "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am the foremost of all.  And yet for this reason I found mercy, in order that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience, as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life." 1 Tim 1:15-16.

The key to this verse is that Paul uses the present tense to describe his life.  He is the chief of sinners.  I know some will argue that he was using to present tense to show past participation.  I find that argument hogwash.  As Paul matured in the faith, he understood his need for Christ to grow.  He understood his sinful self-sufficiency and pride as more and more real.  Christ came into the world to save sinners, and he knew himself to be the foremost sinner!  

This should give us so much hope and encouragement.  We do not have to minimize or fake the reality of our sin.  We should confess it, repent of it, and seek Christ's help to grow deeper.  As we do this, we find God's presence.  We also find wisdom, power, grace, love, and mercy.  All of this leads to peace and joy.  Why?  Because we find fellowship with Jesus.

Take a moment to think of the opposite way of growing.  I believe this is completely hypothetical because it does not match anyone's experience even as we try to make it match our vision of the Christian life!  It has a slight resemblance to the truth, but it ultimately untrue.  Here is the vision of maturity.  Believers grow more and more holy as they become more and more immersed in the Christian community.  We learn how to put aside sin more and more as we mature in the faith.  How?  By growing in knowledge and by escaping the evil World.  The result of such separation from evil will be that we will grow in our knowledge of God and this leads us knowing Him better.  As a result, we put away our sinful tendencies and grow into Christ.  You can tell mature Christians by their personal holiness.  The problem with this vision of grow is where it leads.  Eventually, we find that we do not need a savior as we now have it all together.  Now Jesus is our equal, as we are just like Him.

Such thought does not match the experience of the Apostle Paul.  Nor does it match the testimony of anyone I would trust throughout church history.  The only folks that believe this believe in the Enlightenment ideal of progress through education.  These often well meaning folks deny the effects of original sin and in the process deny their desperate need for a savior.  What is missing in this vision of the Christian life is the gospel.  Because it misses the gospel, it is nothing more than bad self-help advice.

So where does it go wrong?  The hint of the truth is that maturity will be lived out in personal holiness.  As we grow, we do put aside many of the obvious sinful tendencies that marked us.  The problem is that our cultural vision of the Christian life dismisses the very power that can change us.  If we are honest, we find that as we come to know the real God, we find ourselves struggling more and more with real and damaging sin.

At one time, our problem was pornography.  Now it is a heart and mind that just thinks of sexual sin seemingly without cause.

Another example, our problem was outward fighting, brawling, and a rebellious heart.  Now our problem is a heart and mind that cannot stop judging others and looking down on those who are different.

Others have grown to recognize and put aside materialism.  Yet, now they find their heart and soul are so captured by temporary comfort and the pleasant events in this life that we take our eyes of Jesus.  Before we were blind to how our outward actions were really driven by these inward, seemingly innate desires.  Now we see them more and more.

So what should we do?  Do not pretend that these inward thoughts, desires and sin tendencies do not exist.
Maturity means that from the outside people can see us growing more holy, but inwardly we grow to understand our need for repentance and faith.

Confess your struggles with others.  Pray, seek God's face, have others pray for you.  Slow down and seek God in solitude.  Most importantly, remember that the gospel is central to all of life.  It is not merely a ticket to heaven, but it is the foundation for authentic living in a fallen world.

Will you quiet yourself enough today to listen to the power yet still small voice of the living God?