For too long, the only concept I held about being a Christian was that of doing the right thing. I had zero idea of any new life arising from within. No supplied power. No enabling grace. Following Jesus was an exercise of rugged human will, motivated by a cocktail of fear, and native human goodness.
Though the notion is inaccurate, and always proves grueling, this is the hands-down most popularly held version of Christian life.
Still, certain people seem to excel at it.
But they only seem to.
D.L. Moody wrote,
“Some years ago a remarkable picture was exhibited in London. As you looked at it from a distance, you seemed to see a monk engaged in prayer, his hands clasped, his head bowed. As you came nearer, however, and examined the painting more closely, you saw that in reality, he was squeezing a lemon into a punch bowl! What a picture that is of the human heart! Superficially examined, it is thought to be the seat of all that is good and noble and pleasing in a man; whereas in reality, until regenerated by the Holy Spirit, it is the seat of all corruption.”
Prior to second birth, the internal reality of a man or woman–even those who are religious–is sadly predictable. Jesus portrayed it in Matthew 15:19 when He said, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.”
What happens when some of this dark matter begins to seep out in words, attitudes, and behaviors? Our first impulse is to counteract it, as if, having smelled traces of raw sewage in our home, we lit scented candles throughout the house. It’s a futile effort to resolve the problem. Despite an entire box of “Magnolia Breeze” and “Tropical Paradise,” there’s a broken pipe in the basement, leaking twenty-four hours a day.
Cultural Christianity treats our worst problems as materializing outside of us. We, therefore, battle these embarrassments externally, as well. We’re sincere. But no wonder at the end of the day we’re left exhausted, having tried desperately to be something we’re not.
The religious public, and secular press, are often shocked to see moral failures, where another apparently good, saintly person turns out to be a scoundrel. Their sin got found out. Your particular sin hasn’t (at least not yet). But it will, especially with a heart-pumping garbage day and night. The point is, none of us are naturally cut out to be Christians. There’s no inborn personality trait that gives anybody an edge over anybody else.
You will need a completely different supply train if you want anything approximating the life described in the New Testament. According to Jesus, a person’s first gulp of living water, “will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). The epistles refer to this as being filled with the Holy Spirit, a necessary daily experience (c.f. Eph. 5:18).
And so, the answer to our internal exhaustion lies in the Holy Spirit Himself, whom you received by believing in Jesus. Truly, He is “the Spirit of life” (Rom. 8:2). All authentic Christian living emerges from this inner life, whether you are introverted or extroverted, regardless of where you show up on a Meyers-Briggs test or a spiritual gift inventory.
“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water”
(John 7:38)
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on John Myer
Featured Image by Marouane on Unsplash
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