Permission To Struggle

I did a fair amount of reading during our vacation time this summer. And from a lot of different sources. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to remember where I read this so I can’t document it. That part really bugs me. Nonetheless, it really got my attention at the time and I’ve been thinking a lot about it since. Someone who should really know what they were talking about said that the biggest thing today’s young adults are looking for in a church is ‘permission to struggle’. I seem to recall that he was citing statistical support for his statement as well.

For me, these kinds of comments are like spiritual smelling-salts that bring us suddenly back to full attention clearing our sleepy minds of all kinds of theological debris. We really need these kinds of reminders.

It all happens quite naturally. We get so focused; so intent; so ‘into it’ … ‘doing it’ (‘it’ being the stuff that Christians are supposed to be doing), that we inadvertently (giving us the benefit of the doubt here) ignore and thus fail to acknowledge, even to ourselves consciously, when and where we are coming up short. In all of our valiant effort to live for Christ, it’s like taking the time and effort to focus at all on our personal failings in the quest just seems (subconsciously at least) to be counterproductive; distracting us from the goal we are stretching for, taking away from our concentration … and if we are not careful we lose the sensitivity (struggling for words here) to acknowledge, be forthcoming… about our ‘struggles’.

One of the results of this can become the ‘impression’ that we are actually ‘doing it’. And the result of that is that others who know they are not ‘doing it’ are left to feel alone in their struggles, alienated from the very ones who should be able to relate.

And those who are more conscious of their ‘struggles’ seem often to be those who are younger or those who are newer to church life. At this point, I think it needs to be pointed out that this should not be the case. The maturity of us ‘older’ Christians is really called into question by this because, really, we should become more conscious of our personal failings over time, not less.

Anyway, when this happens church can go from being wonderful beyond words to being a very lonely place. After all, being in relationship with those who really can relate to how we feel and what we are going through and experiencing is what church life together is all about. It is at the heart of the biblical concept of ‘fellowship’. There are tons of passages that highlight this concept. One that comes to mind is from James… confess your faults to one another and pray for each other that you may be healed …

There is just so much I would like to say about this but I don’t want to turn this posting into something that some or most of you will not have time to read. For now, just think about this – ‘permission to struggle’ – it’s a wake up call people. If we aren’t being real, are we really being anything?

Here is one more thought: The Christian life isn’t lived by concentration alone but also by contemplation. We are called to go for it and stretch out for the goal, but we are also called to be still and to know God and be known by Him. If our zeal to ‘do it’ for Jesus, exceeds our recognition of our ongoing need for His ongoing grace and mercy, then are we concentrating too hard and not contemplating enough?