Pondering His Holy Word

2 Corinthians 12: 9-10

Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

At 16 years old, I “officially” became a believer. That is not to say that I first heard of Christ when I was 16. I knew of Jesus for as long as I can remember, but that was the first time I “accepted” Jesus in my heart. I was baptized nearly a decade later a few months shy of my 25th birthday. After both experiences, I had unrealistic expectations of what life would be like after life changing events. Yet, I will focus on my baptism because my expectations were that I would become an ultra-religious person who is all of a sudden spiritual about all things. After a conversation with dad, who passed away nearly two years after I was baptized. I supposed I was feeling my new “super spiritual” life because he told me “Now, now, you were just baptized.” and something to the effect of “You are not there yet.” Even then, I knew he was right. A few weeks later I was back to backslidding and my old self. As the Apostle Paul says, giving into temptations of my old self: impatience, harshness, impulsiveness, pettiness, and such things. At a certain point, the only thing that showed my new self is my certificate of baptism. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ Our Lord.” for being so patient and keeping me then and now. 

As I look back, I see a few stumbling blocks that tripped me up: Temperament, Faith, Justification, discipline, and Sanctification. Make no mistake, I’m not saying these are stumbling blocks hindered my walk with God, but my lack of understanding of these five concepts really tripped me up.

Temperament

When I say temperament what I’m not talking about is temperate or sober-minded, which is not being intoxicated with the things of the world or to think clearly and logically about thing. Those terms used in the New Testament epistles. We know that God, the Holy Spirit, will help all believers develop in their walk with Him. 

When I say temperament what I really mean is a person’s natural disposition and I use both words synonymously. What I’m describing is a person’s prevailing tendency, habitual inclination, and mode of emotional response (Merriam-Webster). For instance, I have always had a quiet and reserved disposition. I prefer to stay to myself and be in my own head. I’m not much of a small talker, and I’m a person who prefers to stay in the background. Now, my disposition can be either a good or bad thing depending on the circumstances. This has been my temperament before I became a Christian and it is still my disposition now. But one thing that I want to be clear about, our disposition, before and after we begin our walk with Christ, does not save us. Many people have many dispositions that are faithful to the Lord. 

Now that being said, the church has created an idol of the ideal “Christian” temperament. This ideal temperament may appear different in different cultures, but it may come off as nice, sweet natured, innocent, always forgiving, and happy. We can insert many other adjectives to describe this person. Now these are great traits for a person to exhibit. Those character traits may appear in all people, whether Christian or unbelievers, sometimes, at some point in our lives. The problem arises when this ideal Christian temperament can be a stumbling block to Christians in their walk with Christ. In many cases, this is not the temperament with which we are born. I go back to my timid and quiet disposition which seems to go against the fiery preachers and contenders for the faith. Yet, my timid and quiet disposition is the temperament that the Lord gave me before I was born. There was a brief time in my life when I was a car sales associate. Let me tell you, I did not have the temperament to be a car sales associate. Now, does it stand to reason that I don’t have the temperament to be a Christian? No, it doesn’t. The Lord knew my temperament when He called me into His flock. I’m not saved by quietness. God didn’t condemn me for eternity because of my timidness. Nor does the Lord justify someone, whether believer or unbeliever, because they exhibit certain traits that are considered godly. 

The temperament that we are born with does not change when we become a Christian. When the Apostle Paul was converted by Christ on the Damascus Road, his temperament did not change. His education did not go away because he began preaching Christ. He was just as zealous for God, but before his conversion like many of his other Jewish brothers, his zeal for God was “not according to knowledge”, but after his conversion, his zeal was according to knowledge (Romans 10:2). Before his conversion, he was a student of the Pharisees and after his conversions, he was a student of Christ. If I was born with an outspoken temperament, that will not change when I convert to Christian. We may do things that go against our temperament thanks to the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying power (I will talk about that in a late blog), but that is not typical. God uses our temperament for His own glory. 

Going back to my own walk with God, after the euphoria of my baptism wore off, my personality did not change. This was a problem for me, because I was supposed to feel different; I was supposed to be different. The old man was crucified, but the old man’s temperament is still alive in me. My temperament did not change, but it adjusted to my walk with Christ. My old desires for the world changed because my spirit became repulse by the things of the world. Also, I became increasingly aware of the gap between God’s holiness and my sinfulness. Yet, my temperament did not change. I suppose I would have to give up my plan of becoming a fiery hell fire preaching preacher. 

Toxic Positivity

Another consideration that we, as human, experience in the secular world as well as within the Christian faith, toxic positivity. When I’m talking about toxic positivity, I’m not referring to positivity in general, or the presence of hope, happiness, and confidence, which is a very good thing. Walking with Christ is a positive, hopeful thing experience, and we can be confident in our walk with Christ. I am talking about a something very insidious when I speak of toxic positivity.

The best definition that I can find for toxic positivity comes from the Anxiety & Depression Association of America. “Toxic Positivity occurs when encouraging statements are expected to minimize or eliminate painful emotion, creating pressure to be unrealistically optimistic without considering the circumstances of the situation (Reynolds, 2022). Toxic positivity is a subtle tool Satan uses to derail the faith of young and mature believers alike. It appears in othewise well-meaning people. When Job expressed his frustration with his circumstances. His friends rebuked him for expressing those feelings. All of their arguments boiled down to “Everything happens for a reason,” and God is just to punish the wicked. Everyone gets what they deserve; bad things happen to wicked; bad things happened to Job; thus, Job was wicked and deserved what he got and God is still just. I oversimplified the conclusion of their arguments, but the essence is there. 

Toxic positivity appears in Christians when believers feel the pressure to be happy and suppress their pain no matter how evident it is. Here is the problem, God never told us to suppress our pain or pretend that we don’t face difficult times. Jesus told His disciples, “In this world you will have tribulations. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). In the end all pain and suffering will go away, but in the meantime, pain and suffering are a serious and real part of life. It doesn’t disappear when we accept Christ, it is part of our walk with God, and it will not go away for believers until we are in our glorified bodies in the presence of God. 

A person who desires to comfort other people experiencing trials and tribulations may resort to toxic positivity by diminishing the other person’s pain by trying to be positive and trying to make that person feel better. I must catch myself from doing this because I, like many other people, hate to see people I care about in distress and anguish. Jesus’ disciples fell asleep out of sadness when He asked them to keep watch while He prayed. In the beginning of Job’s suffering, his friends did the right thing at first. After Job lost his family and his health, his friends initially responded in a loving way. “They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great” (Job 2:13). If only they would have kept quiet. Sometimes the best thing a person can do to support someone in grief is to be quiet and listen. Another thing we can do is to “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). It is ok to feel each other’s grief. At the grave of Lazarus, Jesus knew that He raise him from the dead, but when He saw Mary and Martha’s grief, “He was deeply moved in His spirit and greatly troubled” (John 11:33). If God incarnate is deeply moved by our pain, agony, and grief even while He heals us, surely we can take His lead and feel the agony for our brothers and sisters who are experiencing tough emotions. 

On the other hand, someone experiencing trials and tribulations may resort to toxic positivity by completely ignoring those trials in front of other people. They may suppress the real emotions that they feel when they are in anguish. They will focus on the positive things because they believe that acknowledging their anguish and pain is a sign that they lack faith. My question would be who they are trying to fool. If it is God, that is not possible because He knows what we are thinking and how we are feeling. If it is our brothers and sisters in Christ, then that is not possible because God the Spirit is within all believers and since He knows thoughts, He will open our brothers and sister’s eyes to each other’s trials. James writes, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is one cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing with oil in the name of the Lord” (James 5:13-14). When we are in distress we should go to our elders and our brothers and sisters so that they lift us up in prayer. We are one body, and each body part has a role so we should not isolate ourselves. Fingers without hands are useless. When we become sick, our entire body responds to get rid of the foreign substance that caused us to become sick. 

In 2 Corinthians, Paul describes the thorn in his flesh that was sent to stop him from being conceited. When he prayed, the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (12:9). There is nothing wrong with looking on the bright side, but the pain that we experience in life is very real. In some cases, it is for a season and sometimes is for our life. Yet, it does not go away by pretending it does not exist. Most of the psalms were laments that expressed deep sorry, grief, and regret. Psalms 42 and 43 describe some of the deepest anguish of all of the psalms. 

                     “Why, my soul, are you downcast? 

                                 Why so disturbed within me?

                     Put your hope in God

                                 For I will yet praise him,

                                 My Savior and my God

                     My Soul is downcast within me; 

                                 Therefore I will remember you” (Psalms 42:6-8). 

Despite this feeling of anguish, the writer said, I will yet praise Him. He did not say that he will forget his pain and pretend that it does not exist. He even said, “My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’” (Psalms 42:3). In Psalms 43, he asked why God had rejected him, but in the same breath, he referred to God his stronghold (43:2). The authors did not pretend that he did not feel pain. He brought it to God. He ask the Lord for comfort. Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). 

Jesus, the Son of the Living God, and Savior to the world expressed deep grief in the Garden of Gethsemane after Judas left to betray Him and before His disciple’s scattered and left Him alone. Jesus did not hide His emotions. He said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me” (Matthew 26:38). Jesus did not sin by expressing His grief and sorrow. It does not make someone an unbeliever to acknowledge to God that they are in grief, agony, and pain. He already knows what we are thinking. He wants us to bring our burdens to Him. He wants us to draw closer to Him and we can’t do that if we are pretending to lie to ourselves and Him. He does not expect us to grin and bear it. 

I’m aware that I went a little bit off topic at the end, but I wanted to add this point because it affects our temperament.

In the upcoming blogs, God willing, I would like to describe faith, justification, sanctification, and discipline