Direction is more important than position
I It is so common among the church culture that I grew up in and now pastor that few, if any, notice it. An overly harsh judgment would declare this behavior as pseudo-humility, even willfully fake humility. A more gracious judgment would recognize a need for a better and deeper understanding of what salvation does to sin and our lives. I am talking about how many Christians speak with hopeless defeat about their struggle with sin and obedience to God’s word. There is even an overly used, often misunderstood, and theologically deficient phrase that embodies this issue – “I am just a sinner saved by grace.”
Sometimes “just a sinner saved by grace” is employed to excuse or rationalize the behavior of an unrepentant sinner. However, more often, it is spoken by one who truly desires to live righteously before the Lord but feels a need to show humility rather than confidence. Sometimes this same sentiment shows up more subtly. A teacher teaching on an issue of sin will preference their comments with “I fail at this all the time.” A preacher proclaiming from a text that calls the saints to a specific response may temper his words with “we all fall short of this.” In all these things, there is a prominent attitude of defeat. There is an assumption that failure, disobedience, and inadequacy are the norm. Such an attitude recognizes that we should feel bad about not perfectly obeying the commands and expectations of scripture but offers no hope that anything, but a perpetual state of disappointment, can be known.
This attitude is not represented in scripture. Though it may have some righteous overtones of humility, I fear it is a dangerous rejection and denial of the power of God. Having an attitude of defeat grows when your attention is given only to what you cannot accomplish. An attitude of victorious hope grows when we turn our attention to what God has done, is doing, and will do.
Over the years, my wife and I have found great joy in cheering for our children in the various sports they have participated in. When they had successes in each level of competition, we celebrated and rejoiced. Often, even while the euphoria of a win was still in the air, we would turn to one another and recall a memory of when they were just getting started and learning the sport. For example, when our rifle shooter stood on the Junior Olympics winner’s podium with a silver medal, we recalled how excited we were when he could finally get all his shots inside the actual target area. When our swimmer set a personal record and made the finals in the state championship, we recalled how proud we were when he could make it the full length of the pool or learned to do a flip turn. When our softball player earned an opportunity to play with the high school varsity team her freshman year, we recalled how cute she looked when she was playing t-ball, and her helmet was bigger than she was. Or when our cross-country runner races for a top finish, we recall how sweet it was when he was learning to walk and not yet sure-footed. These memories are sweet because we recognize how far our children have come in their abilities.
However, imagine how destructive it would have been when our children tried a new sport to demand that they excel in it from day one. Imagine how demoralizing it would be if we expected that they knew all the particulars of the rules when they were learning the game. Imagine how cruel it would have been if we showed displeasure and disgust every time they missed a shot, failed, were disqualified, or lost a game. We have certainly had many moments when our children were deeply disappointed when a competition did not go their way and even when they did not perform well. But when these moments came, we approached them as an opportunity to encourage. Encouraged them that one loss does not define them. Encouraged them that they were gaining skill and ability. Encouraged them not to lose sight of their goals and keep pressing on. We recognized that failure and defeat are part of the learning process, but they are not the final result. They may be teachable moments, but the goal was always to develop better skills, become more competitive, and strive to win.
Teams do not always win; athletes do not always perfectly perform; students do not pass every test. What matters more than present performance is actively moving in the right direction. Your direction is more important than your position. What we celebrated with our children as they progressed in their sports was their improvement. What fans love to talk about is how their team is rebuilding and will soon be better than they are. Coaches and teachers spend their efforts on moving those under their leadership from where they are to where they need to be and celebrate and reward those who show improvement.
When you have an attitude of defeat, it creates an expectation of failure. When you expect failure, you lose hope. Without hope, there is no motivation to give effort, strive, or try. Without hope, defeat and failure become the norm and the expectation rather than the tutor and teacher they are intended to be.
The gospel has an expectation of victory. Paul writes to the Corinthians with victorious confidence, “thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” He follows this declaration with a command dependent on the victory we have in Christ. He writes:
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58, ESV)
Our motivation for being steadfast, immovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord comes from our confidence in the victory that we will have over sin and death through Jesus. Yes, this is a future hope in the completed work of Christ when He returns, but this is also a present hope in the work of Christ today. In Jesus, sin is being defeated. In Jesus, saints are being sanctified. In Jesus, you can have victory today.
It may be that when you think about where you are and where you want to be in Christ, there is a lot of ground to cover. It may be that you presently struggle with some sins that you wish you had complete victory over. My encouragement is to be less concerned with your location and more concerned with your locomotion. It is better to be far away but actively moving closer than to be close but stagnant and drifting away.
Recently, my wife and I ran a race with over 10,000 other runners. Before the race began, all the runners were placed into different waves based on their qualifying time. At the very front were the elite runners whose qualifying times were the fastest and thus were expected to be competitive to win the race. This wave of elite runners started first and was followed by all the other waves in turn. I was not in the elite wave, so once my wave reached the starting line, those who had started with the elite wave were so far ahead that I had no hope of ever catching them (even if I could match their pace.) At that point, my location was far away from the finish line, and many were closer to the finish line than me. I could have protested that it was not fair that the faster runners started before me. I could have become bitter over the reality that some people can run faster than I can or will ever be able to. I could have decided that since I was so far away from the finish line and many were so far ahead of me, it was a hopeless endeavor, and I should quit and go home. Or I could start running. What mattered at that moment was not my location but my locomotion. What gave me hope and encouragement to press on was that I was moving closer to the finish line with each step.
Until the end of our lives or until Jesus returns, we will struggle with sin, but there will be a day when that struggle will be no more. Presently, we are not called to remain as we are until that day but instead actively pursue the Lord that we might be more like Him each day. The critical question is not how far away you are but in what direction are you heading. Are you daily moving toward the Lord, or are you drifting away? Your direction is more important than your position. As you daily move closer to the Lord, celebrate the victories that He provides. Recognize the victorious work of sanctification that God is doing in you. And rejoice in the confidence that Jesus will bring total victory when He returns.
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