Stagnant and Moving Upward)

For much of my life I was a Christian whose faith to any outside observer would have appeared to have plateaued. I came to church each Sunday, fulfilled all of my basic duties, testified of the importance of Christ, occasionally looked for ways to be helpful, and generally treated everyone with politeness and respect.

I was a good citizen, but I never felt particularly good. I felt stung by Jesus’s words when he declared, “And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.” (Luke 6:33).

There is a fundamental idea here that basic decent behavior is, well, basic. The path of the true Christian must transcend that into the truly extraordinary. The path of the true Christian requires denying the natural self and demands real sacrifice.

In the years since, I have had moments where I did make some more significant sacrifices, times where I stopped living on the basically good plateau and ascended to a higher form of living.

What Makes the Difference)

So, what was it that took me from resting on the plateau to climbing the mountain? As I look at my story the answer is crystal clear. It was passing through a truly redemptive experience. What immediately preceded my initial changes was that I gained a true conviction of my sin, felt the reality of hell before me, and then felt the reality of being saved. When those things became real, not just theoretical, I didn’t have to have anyone telling me to start living differently. Making changes was simply the most natural thing for me to do.

People that are living on the plateau have to constantly be coaxed or manipulated into works of self-betterment. External motivation might get them to move a little up the mountain, but it isn’t natural, and once the motivation disappears, they’ll most likely slide back to their comfort zone. To such a person, the idea of eternal self-improvement is a terrible burden of perfectionism.

When one has had a truly redemptive experience, though, that same idea of eternal self-improvement now feels like a privilege and an opportunity. It is only a burden if you are already at your paradise. It is an opportunity if you want to go to God’s.