In western evangelicalism, I’ve noticed a growing tendency to avoid calling things—painful things in particular—like they are.
We use veiled references for what’s happening in our lives and the world followed by a rushed, “But it’s in God’s hands, so it will all be okay, right?” or, “Yes, I saw that on the news. I’ll be praying! Anyway…”
Or, we may entirely avoid mentioning (or even thinking about) what we see happening in the world around us.
These responses to painful realities suggest we believe that naming the brokenness we see means God is incapable of showing up.
It’s as though we think naming political injustice, the marginalization of people God loves, or others’ suffering implies a lack of confidence that God will be present in such brokenness.
I’m not suggesting we dwell or hyper-fixate on what feels hard, but we can’t declare God’s in control of a reality we refuse to acknowledge.
God never asks us to deny reality. We’re never called to spiritually bypass our lives, pretending to be unaffected by that which God wants to be with us in.
Naming hard things for what they are doesn’t demonstrate a lack of faith. After all, we can’t be people of radical love who fight injustice in Jesus’ name if we refuse to call out the injustice we witness.
Acknowledging painful reality and trusting God are not mutually exclusive. In fact, one requires the other. We cannot trust God with a reality we refuse to admit.
Throughout scripture, we see examples of people lamenting—accurately describing pain and brokenness and injustice—and inviting God to enter into that ache.
Jesus himself cried out to God in Gethsemane, begging for deliverance from his imminent crucifixion—and he trusted that his father was powerful enough to show up, to be present in his agonizing reality.
May we be people who name our pain, who give voice to others’ suffering, who speak out against injustice in Jesus’ name—all while inviting God to be present and active in the midst of it.
June Book Recommendation
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality explores how it’s impossible to become spiritually mature without also becoming emotionally mature. With practical wisdom for things like how to avoid spiritual bypassing, readers will discover how to cultivate emotionally healthy spiritual relationships—both with God and the people around them.
June Blog Preview:
As a follow-up to today’s post, the June blog will explore practical ways to acknowledge and engage with painful realities without spiritual bypassing. To receive the post straight to your inbox, you can subscribe here.