Going higher

This stairwell in my friend’s home makes one stop and think!

            At first, I was reminded of  Jacob’s dream of angels on a ladder or stairwell to heaven (Genesis 28). Then I recalled Paul’s testimony in Philippians 3:14: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

            And then, I thought of a hymn inspired by that particular verse, “Higher Ground.”  It begins: “I’m pressing on the upward way, New heights I’m gaining every day; Still praying as I onward bound, ‘Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.’”

The lyrics, published in 1898, were written by Johnson Oatman (1856-1922), who, although ordained through the Methodist Episcopal Church, worked in retail and later insurance all his life. In his spare time he wrote an estimated 3,000-5,000 hymn lyrics, meaning he completed them at a rate of about four a week. A few have survived to this century, including this one, “Count Your Blessings,” “No, Not One!” and “I’m Living on the Hallelujah Side.”

Most of Oatman’s lyrics focused on Christian growth and personal victory,  expressing how it isn’t enough to just “know” Christ (through accepting His death for one’s sins) but also to “know” Him better and deeper. Thus this hymn, whose chorus goes:  “Lord, lift me up and let me stand/By faith on heaven’s tableland./A higher plain than I have found:/Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”

            That “higher ground” includes growing in the traits expressed on my friend’s stairwell.  I don’t perform 100% on any of them, but that’s the essence of growing as a Christian –or, as Oatman wrote, aspiring to higher ground. Many of those traits are found in three “Christian living lists” of the New Testament.

            One is the so-called “love chapter” of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. It comes after Paul’s rebuke of flashy (and shallow) spirituality in that ancient church, taking them back to the basics of Christian love:  patience, kindness, refusing to envy or boast, and eleven more.   Another list is the “fruit of the Spirit” beginning in Galatians 5:22.  Again, Paul had defined what “not to do” by describing X-rated acts of the sinful. In contrast, the spirit-empowered person grows in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

            The third list, which I think best illustrates a spiritual stairwell, is in 2 Peter 1:3-7.  This portion of scripture discusses making one’s calling and “election” sure—in other words, giving true evidence that you are a growing believer.

Peter precedes his list with a command: “Make every effort to add to your faith” (1:3). We can’t ascend a stairwell without lifting a foot, and we can’t grow spiritually by expecting some outside force to zap us with the right attitudes and actions.  It takes deliberate changing of habits with dependence on the Holy Spirit to add to each of these:  goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love.

Peter adds: “For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 8).

            There’s the word “know” again (in “knowledge”)--for to truly know Him is to aspire to the truly satisfying “Highest ground,” of eternity with Him.

 

Slow but Steady

Because the trail was so rocky, I was looking down while hiking in nearby hills one day. That’s when I spotted a huge black beetle on its own rocky “hike,” moving so fast that I wondered if it would be a blur on my photo.

As I later looked at this photo, I thought how it also pictures the Christian life. Becoming a Christian doesn’t guarantee that all life’s roads will be smooth and free of conflict. The very difficulties we resist, like a tough work or school environment, or living with a contrary or whiny person, may be part of God’s greater plan to shape our character.
In thinking about suffering, I’ve often returned to this quote: “If God’s net purpose in saving an individual is just to get him to heaven, He would probably take him to glory immediately. But God wants to prepare him for rulership in an infinite universe that demands character. Progress in sanctification, in the development of Godlike character and agape love, is impossible without tribulation and chastisement.”(1)
Yes, the Highway to Heaven is strewn with boulders, but we’re not to give up. One who knew that well was the apostle Peter. He saw the end result of getting through life’s rocks: “a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:9). Salvation is both a moment (of accepting Christ) and a process (of developing Christ-like character). It’s not absorbed like osmosis. It’s done by “giving all diligence” (v. 3), which comes from the Greek word spoude, suggesting earnestness, zeal, even haste. And what a list of Christ-like qualities Peter gives as a standard of excellence! From several Bible translations, here are deeper shades of meaning for his list in vv. 5-7:
*Virtue: excellence, resolution, Christian energy, good character.

*Knowledge: intelligence, spiritual understanding.

*Temperance: self-control, alert discipline.

*Patience: steadfastness, endurance, passionate patience.

*Godliness: piety, reverent wonder.

*Brotherly kindness: affection to one another, warm friendliness.

*Charity: Christ-like love--genuine, generous, and sacrificial.
I don’t know about you, but I’m still in process on all of these. I know that God loves me, but He also loves me too much to leave me in my old ways. Every unpleasant or difficult experience is a schoolroom for growing in these qualities. Like that beetle on a rocky trail, we’ll face unknown “rocks” that seem bigger than we can handle. But unlike the insect kingdom, we have the loving care and help of the Lord Jesus, who sees where we can go with Him—if we persist.

Next time you see a beetle, think about that. And thank God for lessons from His creation, even the creepy-crawly type.

(1) Paul Billheimer, Don’t Waste Your Sorrows (Fort Washington, Penn.: Christian Literature Crusade, and Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1977), p. 44.