March 16, 2010: Through Seasons Of Lean Spirituality (Part 1)

From time to time I hear confessions from sincere Christians who bemoan their spiritual dryness and lack of fervor. They feel they have lost the edge off their Christian zeal, and wonder how to get it back. William Cowper expressed this lament about 250 years ago in his great hymn "Oh For A Closer Walk With God":

Where is the blessedness I knew
When first I sought the Lord?
Where is the soul-refreshing view
Of Jesus and his word?

What peaceful hours I once enjoyed
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching void
The world can never fill

Before I make a suggestion (next week) to spiritually weary people about how to get their zeal back, let me first warn. I believe there is a danger in chasing after spiritually exhilarating moments that once came to us unbidden. It is important to remember that God has called us to faith and obedience, not excitement and thrill. Jesus said, "If you love me you will keep my commandments," not, "If you love me you will wave your hands in the air and moan." It is easy to deceive ourselves into thinking that we are pleasing God when we really aren't doing much more than feeling wonderful.

Spiritual feelings are extras and by-products. They are hard to control and easy to fake, and if we make them the holy grail of our quest we will find ourselves chasing after wind. What really pleases the Lord is simply believing what is true and doing what is right. Doing good and believing truth may seem mundane, but they make God happy - and divine pleasure must remain our central goal. Christians know that God's happiness matters more than our fulfillment, but because we are corrupt, we will tend to pursue things that energize us whether or not they honor the Lord.

There is a lesson to be learned from the tragic case of a friend I'll call Chuck. Chuck was an ordained minister who served as a missionary in the South Pacific. Back in 1985 he told my wife and me how much he careened from spiritual highs to spiritual lows, and how he wanted to maintain a close fellowship with Christ. In 1998 he regaled us with the story of joining a million men at the Promise Keepers assembly in Washington, and how exhilarating it was to be a part of this amazing work of God in history.

Then a few years ago Chuck rejected the Christian faith and left his wife and took a lover and became active in "New Age" spirituality.

Oh Chuck, Chuck, you didn't need spiritual highs and "mountain-top experiences" with the Lord. You didn't need to be "at the center of what God was doing" in the Promise Keepers movement. You just needed to be faithful to your wife and do your job and go to church on Sundays. How hard was that?

The prospect of a spiritually enriching experience can become for some people the idol that replaces God, the feeling that replaces faith, and the rule that replaces obedience. That is why I feel a little reluctant to propose a "cure" for spiritual dryness. First I want to ask a couple questions and make some blunt points: "Who cares about your spiritual dryness? Are you sure you are not indulging a fallen tendency to look inward when you gauge your spiritual humidity? Christian practice demands that you look outward! Look to Christ and obey him! Look to your neighbor and serve him! Forget about yourself and how spiritual you are. You may be in danger of succumbing to unnecessary guilt if you find yourself spiritually "dry", and damnable pride if you judge yourself spiritually "wet".

Having said that - or having warned that - I can say that in recent months I have been able to delight in some real spiritual refreshment. I thank God for it. Next week I'll pass along some personal testimony on the matter, Lord willing.