Victory Over or Struggling With?Â
Last night I was reading Wesley Hill’s book Washed and Waiting. I was struck by many thoughts, including his quote from Philip Yancey:
“Much of what I read on depression, on doubt, on suicide, on suffering, on homosexuality, seems written by people who begin with a Christian conclusion and who have never been through the anguished steps familiar to a person struggling with depression, doubt, suicide, suffering, or homosexuality. No resolution could be so matter-of-fact to a person who has actually survived such a journey.”
Hill concludes, “I hope in what follows to convey something of what it’s actually like to have survived—or, rather, to be surviving—the anguished journey of struggling with homosexuality.”
How We Communicate Our Struggles   
In Evangelical circles, in pastoral care, and in the biblical counseling world, it seems to me that we spend much more time preaching, teaching, and counseling about “victory over,” and much less time journeying with and pondering “struggling with,” “fighting with,” or even “victory in.” Do we perhaps sometimes mistakenly convey the impression that applying biblical principles eliminates the battle, the struggle?
I wonder if Yancey is onto something with his diagnosis. It’s one thing to write about overcoming—academically, dispassionately, as an observer. But what about writing and counseling out of our own souls, our own ongoing struggles.
Many of the leaders of modern Evangelicalism and of modern biblical counseling, like myself, are middle-class, “type A,” academically-inclined, white males. We write, teach, preach, care, and counsel out of this perspective.
Look again at some of the literature we produce. How often are we writing about our current struggles or our ongoing struggles with issues such as depression, anxiety, heterosexual lusts, homosexual lusts, envy, jealousy, anger, and the like? How often do we preach about our current and ongoing struggles?
Stop for a moment before you say, “Oh, I just talked about how last year I battled ____________.” That’s part of our problem. We write and preach about the battle after we have won it. We talk about the valley once we are back on the mountaintop.
What impact might it have on our fellow-strugglers if we talked about the battle during the battle—while we are still in the valley? How might it connect truth to life if we were honest enough to admit that we have some lifelong, ongoing battles that we struggle with rather than that we always have “victory” over?
A Personal Confession
I struggle with worry, fear, and anxiety. Given my level of “productivity,” that confession might surprise a lot of people.
For others, that confession might seem to disqualify me from being a biblical counselor. “If you don’t have victory over these struggles, then what right do you have to counsel others?”
I view it differently. The fact that I experience daily struggles with, the fact that I daily battle against worry, fear, and anxiety, and that I seek to do so in dependence upon the Word of God, the people of God, and the Spirit of God, may be exactly what qualifies me. Each day I seek God’s daily bread to empower me to have victory in the daily battle as I fight, in God’s power, against the effects of the fall in my life.
Not Recanting, but Re-emphasizing
But this isn’t really about me. It’s about us. It’s about being biblically accurate about Christian living.
Anyone who has read any of my writings, and perhaps especially Soul Physicians, knows that I emphasize being “more than conquerors.” I stress our new identity in Christ and our new nature in Christ—our regeneration.
I believe in the power of Christ’s resurrection (Ephesians 1:18-23; Ephesians 3:20; Philippians 3:10). That’s why I call my ministry RPM: Resurrection Power Multipliers.
I’m not recanting of any of that. Our daily struggles against suffering and sin is the very reason we must cling to Christ’s resurrection power.
I am wanting to emphasize other truths that I have taught but perhaps have not highlighted quite as well. We need to ponder the truth about and the implications of living in a fallen world in fallen bodies—the groanings that exist until our glorification (see Paul in Romans 8:19-27).
I understand that sometimes God works in miraculous and mysterious ways to give what seems like total, instantaneous, ongoing victory. It occurs at times for the person struggling with drinking. It occurs at times for the person struggling with homosexuality (or with heterosexual lusts). It occurs at times for the person struggling with anxiety. Some experience ongoing victory over.
Many more experience daily, lifelong struggles against. For many, every day is another day to maintain sobriety in the power of Christ. For many, every day is another day to fight against homosexual lusts or heterosexual lusts. For many, like myself, every day is another day to struggle with anxiety in and through the power of the cross. (The Bible clearly portrays these truths by all the imperatives about continually battling against and putting off…)
Soul-to-Soul Ministry
Like the Apostle Paul, we need to give people God’s Word and our own souls (1 Thessalonians 2:8). Like the Apostle Paul, we can pray fervently for the removal of a thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) or of excruciating suffering (2 Corinthians 1:8-11). But at the end of the day, many times God still says, “Not yet. I never promised to remove you from all suffering and temptation. I want you to cling to Me continually as you struggle with and fight for victory in your situation.”
As we provide pastoral care and biblical counseling, we need to minister out of the anguish of our own ongoing struggle with suffering and against sin. We need to connect soul-to-struggling-soul. As we write and preach, we have to stop implying that the resolution to any battle is easy and matter-of-fact. As congregations, we need to invite one another to join together as we struggle in the anguished journeys we face as we live in a fallen world. We are all, as Paul Tripp reminds us, people in need of change helping people in need of change.
Join the Conversation
What is your testimony of daily struggling with suffering and against sin?
How would our pastoral care, counseling, preaching, and teaching change if we ministered out of our anguished souls?
Great, insightful article. What better way to show the compassion of Christ than to come along side someone as a fellow sinner who struggles daily with a particular sin.
I have found it is all about the journey. That people want to know how to walk through something, that they are tired of just hearing about overcoming, but want to know that they are not alone, that they are not the only one on the path.
Great Post!
Pastor Duke Taber
One of the things that impresses me most about you is your constant commitment to Semper Reformanda in your own life. Not always changing, but always re-forming. Thanks for this post. You know full well that this concept stirs deep in my soul. It is so encouraging to hear one of my mentors preaching it. I don’t often get explicit publicly (though privately, at times, I do) but I have sought, in more general terms, to affirm my own ongoing weakness and struggle with the sheep God has given me, even from the pulpit. I have found that the more I reveal my weakness appropriately, the more they love and trust me. Some will refuse to follow, others are more than happy to walk along side. There’s a scene in Shadowlands that I think captures this. Lewis says to one of his students “what do people want from me?” And his student responds “You know, that’s the first question I’ve ever heard you ask that sounded like you didn’t have the answer.” To which Lewis counters “Is that what you want? Uncertainty?” Or something to that effect. I would say that maybe a little bit of uncertainty is exactly what people want. Not total, but maybe… personal? Personal uncertainty, but Christ certainty! That sounds about the way I picture you putting it. 🙂 Maybe we could all start showing up at church and saying “Hi. I’m so and so, and I’m a recovering idolater!” Thanks for pursuing Christ in, through and beyond the struggles. His power really IS made perfect IN weakness, therefore let us boast all the more gladly about ours!
Exactly…His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Paul said to the Corinthians (not exactly the greatest bunch of encouragers!), “I don’t want you to be ignorant of the trials we suffered…We felt the sentence of death, and despaired of life.” In other places he also candidly expressed his current battles/struggles. He’s a pretty good model to follow! Of course, our Perfect Model, Christ, candidly expressed His experience in the Garden…
We as the Church often lose our since of balance. The Word says to bare one another’s burdens, but instead we invalidate them, and we blame the victim. Itead of affirming, supporting and helping restore, we tear down. Other times we are guilty of holding onto a victim mentality. It’s just our humanity that isn’t listening to or reliant on God. It isn’t loving, and it needs to change!
Christy. I agree. We move to extremes. Either instant victory or hopeless victim. Struggling in and battling with and victory in–these are all ways of communicating the center, the “balance” if you will. Bob
Too often we in leadership tend to act as if we had no problems and had it all under control, if you will, and I think that that attitude actually repulses people who are in need of help and even makes them think that they never will be able to be as “perfect” as we appear to be. Some where I read where we in the church tend to pretend that we are all okay, when in fact we are getting worse. And I believe that is true and very discouraging to those that are struggling because they tend to do the same to “fit in.” But as we identify with those that we are leading and helping I believe that real growth will begin to happen, much like Paul Tripp said we are people in need of help helping people in need of help, and as such anything that helps anyone is from God anyway. Yes He may and often does use us, but we dare not be glory robbers and claim any of the credit for being used by Him! That would be like the surgeon’s gloves claiming to have done all the work during surgery! Thank you for your being more transparent than most of us are willing to be, so that the glory of Christ may be seen through you as He uses you.
Bob….. Thank you for being REAL and above all vulneralbe in sharing what so many others struggle with as well. May the heavenly Father touch you in a very special and personal way today, showing you His favor.
This is a great article. I also struggle with anxiety to a great degree. It is a struggle for me, and even in the past few days I’ve been praying for deliverance from it as opposed to being able to struggle well, daily depending on God. This victory mindset has obviously creeped into my own mind.
My 2 thoughts are this: 1) Churches promote this victory theme through the people they select for testimonies. I’ve yet to hear a testimony in a church of someone who is struggling well in the midst of a sin habit or other struggle. Ministries like Celebrate Recovery have been an enormous help, but it seems as if that environment of grace is often contained to those meetings and hasn’t yet permeated the church at large. 2) There’s a price to be paid. Any church staffer who opens up about a struggle in the midst of it, especially from the pulpit, is going to ruffle some feathers. I don’t think this is a bad thing at all. However, we need to teach our congregations a theology of struggling to guard against Pharisaical attitudes. It’s a difficult undertaking, but one that is worth it if we want spiritually and emotionally healthy churches.
“Thorn in the flesh” talk is great. But maybe I live in a different Christian Church world than you, I find most of my contemporaries using the thorn as an excuse to continue living defeated. Well you know, God just made men to always lust….or God is in control, what can I do…or my personally favorite if God wanted it changed he would change it…All this said I agree with 99% of what you said, really 100%…its just that vene though will choose to leave us with thorns that we may never overcome, it is not our decision on what those thorns may be…it is His, and if we “encourage” people to live a defeatist attitude towards their victory we have just played God. deciding for Him which struggles he may or may not alleviate. I propose we preach real victory over everything, not the false victory of Joseph Prince, but the real victory of Christ. And let people know that maybe there will be some things they don’t completely control, but it does not mean they don’t have the victory. And for heaven’s sake (literally) they don’t get to choose!
William, I appreciate and respect your push-back. I’m with you–if people are using “the thorn in the flesh” or “struggling with” as an excuse not to struggle, then it is a misuse. I also agree that we preach Christ’s victory over. It is the “already/not yet” that we all teach: we have the victory in Christ by grace through faith. Yet, until heaven we are not perfected, not glorified, we groan for that day (Romans 8).
Great thoughts. But where does the hope come in? I struggle with homosexual lusts and have counseled others with that same problem, but I think I am no better than those that I counsel because I continue to struggle with it. I understand that it keeps me humble and give glory to God, but I have wanted to present to others a life that has victory over this sin. How can I do that if I continue struggle with it myself?
The hope comes now that we can live abundant lives, that now we can be more like Christ every day, that now we have grace when we remain imperfect, that now we struggle for victory in community, and eternally that one day our groaning against sin will end.
Thank you. This was very edifying and challenging.
Joyce Meyer once remarked something like, “I am not tempted to rob the Zippy Mart when I drive by it.” The point to me is that some things are very easy for some of us and not so easy for others. I too am not tempted by potential robberies. Others are. I agree that we often don’t want to talk about current struggles. I’m certainly not telling you what’s wrong with me right now 🙂
Thank you for such an excellent and timely post!
I agree with Todd’s comment above that the church at large has not embraced the wonderfully scandalous message of grace. Because of His grace, we are free to lay down our pervasive masks and step into the light authentically without hiding.
I work with men who struggle with sex and pornography addiction (Route1520) and so many who come to our groups believe whole-heartedly that they are the only man struggling and are trying desperately to overcome sexual sin on their own in secret. This only perpetuates the shame that drives the addiction and enforces the belief that change in the Christian life is done through human willpower and discipline instead of surrender to Christ.
Thank you raising awareness on this issue!
Traylor Lovvorn
Route1520.com
In Jerry Bridges’ book “The Pursuit of Holiness”, he suggests that we, in evangelicalism, quit using words such as *victory* and *failure* and begin using the words *obedient* and *disobedient*. I agree with him.
Friends, Thank you for all the comments and sharing. Several more people left very candid comments. Since I was unclear whether people wanted those posted for public view, or just for me, I have them where I can read them, but not open to the public. I want you to know that I am praying for you. If you wanted to interact further about your struggles, feel free to email me at rpm.ministries@gmail.com. Thank you for your courage. Bob