Rethinking the Victorious Christian Life

The title sounds almost sacrilegious, doesn’t it? The Christian life is supposed to be a life of victory, isn’t it? Aren’t we supposed to have faith in the promises that have been given to us in the Bible? Aren’t we supposed to be overcomers? What is there for a good, faithful Christian to rethink?

Quite a bit, actually. As I see many of my peers becoming disillusioned with our faith – some leaving it, others simply losing interest in pursuing it whole-heartedly – I wonder if it is not in part because the church has promised victories that God did not quite guarantee.

One extreme is the health-and-wealth gospel, the idea that no good Christian should fall ill, that a lack of healing is an indication of a lack of faith, that all who tithe faithfully are guaranteed a return on their eternal investment while in this life (which doesn’t quite make sense, if you think about it – there’s a reason it’s eternal). For most of us who call ourselves Christians in this part of the world, I don’t think we preach such a gospel.

We may, however, make more subtle errors.

In YF’s and CF’s, the message of Christianity is very upbeat and positive. We are told that God has a plan for our lives. We are told of the joy and freedom we have in Christ. We are told of the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us to overcome sin. Someone give me a Hallelujah! Someone give me an Amen! Cause it is true! It is all true!

…only, it is not quite the whole story. In the Christian youth culture, the flip side is (unintentionally, I believe) rather understated. We forget to preach about how long it took for God’s plans to make sense for some people. (And, anyone ever wondered about those Israelites who died in Egypt before Moses led the Exodus?) We forget to talk about Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, or Job, who said “The LORD gives and the LORD takes away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.” We fail to understand that the Christian life does not promise a set of continuous victories over sin in our lives - not that God couldn’t accomplish that, but looking at most of us, the changing process is full of ups and downs and takes all our lives. We have faith for a few weeks or months, and then we start getting impatient and wonder when God is going to show up.

Even those of us who understand this cognitively, we struggle when we experience it.

And I think that this is one reason why many waver in their faith as they transit from youth into adulthood and realize that life is complicated. The (temporary though seemingly long) incoherence of the life we experience doesn’t match up with the coherence of life Christianity is supposed to promise.

You see, we are victorious. But we are not victorious in every way now. And we expect more than has been promised us on this side of life.

And, ironically, we also expect less.

I don’t think we can fully appreciate the amazingness of the victorious Christian life until we understand the ways in which we are not necessarily victorious.

We can be victorious in all circumstances, even if we are victorious over no circumstance. We can be joyful and thankful always. We can pray always. We can trust and have faith in God always. We can be obedient always. We can love always. And we can do this, by the power and grace of God, regardless of whether life makes coherent sense.

These qualities – they are easy (easier at least) to practice when we are victorious over our circumstances. When we are in control. When we can change the outcome of the things going on around us. It may seem really unfair that we are expected to do the same when life is a mess.

Or, we can marvel at the fact that God has given us the ability to do the same, even when life is a mess. Such is a greatness and sufficiency of our God! Such is the quality of the victory we are promised! (And, we may yet see victory over our circumstances, if it is God’s good will and timing)

A final thought: I read somewhere that wisdom is not understanding the full plan of God for our lives. We keep searching and trying to pry and understand, mostly in vain. Wisdom is knowing how to respond in whichever part of God’s plan for our lives we find ourselves in. (This may be something we are a little less enthusiastic in searching for) True victory can be found in following true wisdom.

A final caveat: I don’t mean to swing to the opposite extreme and suggest a small God, or that the Christian life is nothing more than slogging and suffering and merely surviving. Significant and visible victories are to be expected in our Christian walk. I do think we often forget that the true measure of victory is not to be found in what is visible, or even how we feel, but in the measure of our dogged faithfulness to the truth in God’s Word (the doubts that assail our minds and the fluctuations of our emotions not withstanding) and our obedience to it.