 March-April '09
God’s ‘frozen’ people
Last year it was a mini-earthquake! This year it is snow! I’m currently at the annual Ministers’ Conference in Swanwick, Derbyshire. I thought we’d already said goodbye to all this wintry weather but, as I write, yet more flakes are dusting the pavement outside. The large lake across the road, which is bigger than a football pitch, is totally frozen over. There are some small footprints criss-crossing the lake’s surface. I doubt they are human but I don’t intend getting close enough to them to satisfy my curiosity.
The image of the frozen lake made me think about those times when we become frozen in our Christian faith. If Jesus had been living today I can well imagine that he may have looked at a frozen lake and used it in a parable to illustrate an aspect of his teaching.
No Christian is immune to occasional seasons of frozenness. We can become frozen in different ways. We become frozen in our faith if we cease to behave in a Christ-like manner. We become frozen in our faith if our hearts are cold towards others. We become frozen in our faith if we try to do things in our own strength without the Spirit’s empowering. We become frozen in our faith if we are fixed and stuck and immobilized by fear of what someone might say if they discover we are a follower of Jesus. We become frozen in our faith if we hold a judgemental attitude to others and give them a ‘frosty’ reception or ‘icy’ stare whenever we see them. We become frozen in our faith if we turn our freedom in Christ into a new set of rigid rules and regulations. We become frozen in our faith if we are still crippled by feelings of guilt or regret or shame.
Perhaps as you read this you are feeling frozen because you are currently disillusioned with Christians or church. Dare I say, perhaps you are feeling sick and tired of trying to squeeze your fragile faith into an increasingly busy lifestyle. Coming to church services has become a chore, an extra burden. Meeting with other believers for prayer and worship just doesn’t excite or appeal to you. You freeze up when you try to pray to God because you haven’t got the motivation or the words. The freshness and vitality of your faith has congealed into a cold and hard crust.
The brutal fact is that being a Christian is never an easy option to take. It requires sheer determination and rigorous discipline in order to overcome those times when we feel frozen in our relationship with God and others. The easiest and most tempting option in frozen times is simply to merge back into the dominant culture around us. All around us we see rabid consumerism. Every day we are bombarded with countless enticing offers of ways to improve every aspect of our lives: a better home, better image, better career, better sex, better holiday destination. We are constantly told the most important thing in life is self-improvement and self-satisfaction. And if you are not satisfied in your thrill-seeking, just give it up and try the next product, programme or technique.
It doesn’t take long to realise that living a life of one thrill after another is actually a fantasy world. The danger is that when we experience times of frozenness, this consumeristic attitude soon seeps into our faith. “I didn’t get much out of the worship today… Church isn’t meeting my needs… It’s not a good use of my time… I’ve got more pressing demands… I can spend time with God on my own without needing to regularly meet with others”.
The best way to overcome those times of frozenness is to humbly admit the situation to God and ask for the Holy Spirit to melt those aspects that need the fire of God’s love again. The words of this hymn say it so well:
Come, Holy Spirit, come,
With energy divine,
And on this poor, benighted soul
With beams of mercy shine.
O melt this frozen heart;
This stubborn will subdue;
Each evil passion overcome,
And form me all anew!
The profit will be mine,
But Thine shall be the praise;
And unto Thee will I devote
The remnant of my days.
(Benjamin Beddome: 1717-1795)
Following Jesus is not something that can happen in isolation from others. There can be no such thing as a privatised faith or lone-ranger Christian. We are a fellowship of believers, and we need to support each other practically and prayerfully – especially when the frozen times come.
God bless,
Andy
[Our Minister]
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