Have you ever had an experience similar to this? You get to the end of a long day where you have spent yourself seeking to serve others and walk in obedience and godliness, only to lay your head on your pillow and be mostly aware of how you have fallen short.
For me, as a mom with a bunch of kids, there have been days where I have spent quite literally all my time and energy looking to serve and bless my family. But rather than rejoicing at that grace, I’ve been haunted by a vague guilt that I’m not doing enough. I begin to think that surely my weakness and sin must cancel out any good I’ve done. And what’s worse is that I then assume that is how God views me, too.
If you can relate at all to that experience, then you will benefit from reading Kevin DeYoung’s little book Impossible Christianity. The basic premise of the book is that ordinary Christians can be faithful, fruitful, and pleasing to God. In the Introduction he says, “reveling in God’s grace does not mean we should revel in being spiritual failures. He does not mean for us to feel bad all the time. . . . He does not mean for us to feel guilty all the time. God does not mean for Christianity to be impossible.” (page 6, emphasis mine)
I read that sentence and it felt like scales falling from my eyes! The truth that God can be genuinely pleased with my efforts to live a life pleasing to him washed over me again and again as I read through this book.
Here are a handful of quotes to give you the flavor of this book:
- “Too many Christians make the mistake of thinking that if they are to be seriously godly, they must denigrate everything they do as Christians” (page 37).
- Quoting Francis Turretin, he says, “We must distinguish between truly good and perfectly good” (page 37). DeYoung explains that Christians can never be perfectly good in this life, but we can be truly good.
- “The normal state of the Christian should not be one of low- to medium-level guilt. . . . Many Christians operate with the assumption that if they are truly spiritual, they will feel bad all the time. That wasn’t Paul’s approach” (page 98).
- “When the Bible wants to tell us what Christians are like, it gives us character traits, not a to-do list” (page 107). [Insert mind-blown emoji here!]
- “There is something powerful about the zeal and idealism of younger Christians. If that’s you, don’t let other believers rain on your parade. But realize that there is something wise about the plodding consistency and steady strength of older Christians” (page 118).
Of course, each of these quotes could be explained and put into their full context. But hopefully, this gives a feel for the tone and message of DeYoung’s book.
I will say that after reading Impossible Christianity, I now have nights where I lay my head on my pillow and reflect on my Heavenly Father’s pleasure over my work for that day. I can believe that he really does rejoice over me and sees my efforts as pleasing to him. And I promise that produces a much happier end to the day than a vague sense of guilt or the feeling of “never doing enough” that comes more naturally to me.
