One of my favorite authors these days is Bill Johnson. He is extremely practical and believes that Jesus is coming back for a glorious church rather than a church hiding in the shadows of persecution and apostasy. He believes in a kingdom of power rather than resignation. He believes in a triumphant church rather than a church winding down its influence in the last days. I like that.
One of the thoughts he has challenged me with is that believers should limit their self-examination and introspection. That thought immediately flies in the face of Paul’s admonitions in his letter to the church at Corinth form believers to examine themselves (1 Cor.11: 28) and to judge ourselves (1 Cor.11: 31). Many of us have been taught that the true way to holiness and spiritual maturity is to identify every sin and shortcoming in our lives so that we might live a life of confession and repentance, bathing all those failings in the blood of Christ. I am an introvert by nature so all that introspection is something I am wired for anyway.
However, I believe the Holy Spirit has confirmed in my own heart the truth of what Bill Johnson has said. I’ll quote from him. “I struggled for many years with self-evaluation. The main problem was that I never found anything good in me. It always led to discouragement which led to doubt, and eventually took me to unbelief. Somehow I had developed the notion that this was how I would become holy – by showing tremendous concern for my own motives.”
He goes on to point out that a preoccupation with our weaknesses and failings keeps the focus on “Me” rather than on Christ. It keeps the focus on the failings of the natural man rather than the glory of the spiritual man who has been clothed with Christ. It tends to deny the things that God says are true about me – that I am a son in the house of God, holy, forgiven, beyond condemnation, seated with Christ in the heavenly places, representing the courts of heaven on the earth, walking with the power that raised Christ from the dead within me, and so forth.
Its not that we never deal with sin and weakness, we just let the Holy Spirit point out the things he wants to deal with rather than us always being the judge and setting the agenda. Paul had just pointed out specific issues in the church at Corinth that had ben revealed by the Spirit. Once revealed by the Spirit, they were to acknowledge the issues within them and deal with them. Part of the ministry of the Spirit is to convict us of sin and to lead us into truth. Our role is to listen and be led by the Spirit, not to dissect ourselves on the table each day until we are overcome with remorse and condemnation.
Our own constant introspection becomes a kind of work where we are trying to establish our own holiness through our own efforts. God’s process for making us holy is to constantly remind us if who we are in Christ rather than reminding us of all the ways we are not like him. I have come to agree, that we should take the same tact – spend more time reflecting on who we are because of Jesus rather than the ways in which we don’t yet measure up.
So, if you are a prone to introspection, self – criticism, and condemnation think about it. Satan is the accuser of the brethren. The Holy Spirit is the encourager! Perhaps, you should park your introspection and simply listen to the Spirit to see what he is concerned about in your life. See what God shows you. It might be a better, more biblical path to spiritual maturity.
