Joshua Breland blogs at “A Return to Faith.”
Right now, there are jaded people among your church body. Some are laypeople, some are deacons, some are perhaps elders or pastors. But know this, there are Christians in your congregation who are hurting and struggling with their faith and their relationship to the church.
Merriam-Webster can help us understand what I mean by “jaded”:
jaded: made dull, apathetic, or cynical by experience
Merriam-Webster accurately describes where I am at in regards to the local church, Christian organizations, and theSouthern Baptist Convention. I do not admit this flippantly but with much fear and trembling. I am aware that the Christian life is not to be marked by jadedness, at least not for long. So, I want to offer some encouragement to the Body of Christ that will hopefully help the jaded church members among us.
We have not always been this way.
No follower of Christ is converted and falls directly into apathy and cynicism. Love, joy, peace, these mark the new Spirit-filled believer (Gal 5:22). But something happened to bring us down. Some significant event(s) or relationship has brought on the disillusionment of the jaded Christian. So, please know, we are not just a Debbie Downer or Pitiful Pete (I just made that one up). No, we have real experiences that are hurting our Christian life. We have not always been this way.
We do not want to stay this way.
The jaded Christian yearns to be in a better spiritual place. The Spirit of God is always at work in God’s people and is always leading us to faith and joy. Taking our eyes off Christ, we jaded Christians have been seduced by the lies of the devil and our own flesh. We do not want to stay in this spiritual rut, so know that deep down we are desperate for the help and ministry of our brothers and sisters in the church.
Our problem is your problem.
The redeemed of Christ, the church, are spoken of in Scripture as Christ’s body (1 Cor 12). We are all various body parts making up the body of Christ here on Earth. This means that the jaded brother or sister sitting next to you in the pew, or preaching from the pulpit, is very important to your collective well-being. To ignore us jaded Christians or to be content with us staying in this dangerous spiritual position just will not do. The Lord expects us to carry each other’s burdens (Gal 6:2) and the jaded Christian in the church has three bags full.
Help those hurting.
There are several ways to help us jaded Christians. One vital way is to have an intentional prayer life for us. If you know of someone who is jaded with the church or faith, add them to your prayer list and plead for their restoration on their behalf.
Another way to help is to tell your elders or church leadership about your hurting brother or sister. It is not always easy to admit you are jaded, especially if you are someone who works in the church or is on a path to lead in the church (seminary students). By letting your church leadership know of the issue, you will help them bring effective ministry to your fellow church member.
A final way to help is to offer sound counsel to the jaded among you. Counseling a fellow believer with biblical truth will not fail (Isa 55:11). The Word of God is powerful and necessary for God’s people. It is likely that the jaded Christian is struggling with Bible intake and receiving biblical truths. Your speaking God’s truths into their life will bless you and them.
Joshua,
Great post. I have been there before and know certain symptoms of jadedness because I expressed them and no one picked up on them. I took a somewhat different approach using the David and Goliath story. First, there was a stalemate in the fighting due to circumstances that seemed out of proportion to Israel and their desire to move forward. Second, it is usually the unlikely person who identifies the problem and offers a solution. “Is there not a cause!” Third, the problem is usually solved through the most unorthodox method no one was thinking about. Then, everyone is revitalized and things begin to move forward with a different vitality. Believe me, if there is one jaded Christian in the church, they are infecting everyone else and the whole church needs that revitalization. Our leaders would be wise to seek a cause (not political) to move people into action. Even the jaded Christian will be affected as all move forward.
I’m fairly positive that a solid dose of church discipline will put them in a better spiritual place…right? Right? And if not, then removing them from the membership roll will absolve us of any further responsibility…
After all, if we deny they are members, then when they hurt, we don’t have to hurt with them.
That is a heartless thing to say. Think about what you just said for a moment. Discipline? Deny they are members? No, that’s going to turn off any Christian from remaining in the congregation itself, and possibly lead them to become an unbeliever. That is not what God wants, at least according to the Bible. This is coming from a jaded person, your’s truly. Think about what you say before you completely make the jaded community worse than it already is. Experiencing it on my end and seeing all of your comments makes me sick. Stop talking about what you should do and actually do something in their lives to know that people aren’t all talk and no action. If there is anything that makes me sick, it’s people of no loving action but always talk about it as if they already act on it.
Hi JOSHUA,
Your description sounds a lot like what my Church calls ‘acedia’, which is a very difficult and painful problem for those who fall into it . . . and yes, they very much need compassionate care during their suffering.
Christiane:
I hadn’t encountered that word before. I think it describes the tail end of the faith crisis that all Christians experience at some point in time and to the extent that “jadedness” is limited to “acedia”, I would agree that both border on sin. But I’ve dealt with enough “jadedness” in my lifetime (not to mention my own life) that was brought on by sin in the body that I’m not quite willing to ascribe it to sin in all cases.
there are many definitions of ‘acedia’, but it does impact a person’s ability to ‘care’ . . . it is a kind of spiritual despair, but the person has said a ‘yes’ to despair as a matter of choice, and therein lies the problem . . . people can fall into it for many reasons, often being in over their head in work that is draining and unending and strangely, often unselfish . . . it leads to a kind of ‘isolation’, of ‘not caring’ almost in order to survive one’s situation . . . one enters into a spiritual desert where despair seems ‘reasonable’ and is embraced willingly.
People with ‘acedia’ need to reconnect with their Christian community and begin to be ‘with others’ again. This is not easy for people suffering from acedia, and they need the help and support of their community when they are afflicted. The community can redirect them to the ‘better way’, and the Holy Spirit can help them to overcome despair and find peace again in Christ.
just one more important point: people suffering from acedia (and they ARE suffering) should not be judged, instead they need encouragement, kindness, patience, the loaned strength of others . . . they can benefit from being ‘with’ others who respond to their need with the fruit of the Holy Spirit
a spiritual problem needs a spiritual response . . . there is no stronger response a faith community can show a suffering person than to nurture them through the fruit of the Holy Spirit by treating them with patience and kindness.
The jaded Christian finds their satisfaction in something other than Christ at the moment. That something is failing them.
Job’s friends said the same thing: there must have been something Job did to attract God’s wrath.
What’s the chance that jadedness isn’t caused by dissatisfaction with God but a sense that things are spinning out of control and God is silent?
“What’s the chance that jadedness isn’t caused by dissatisfaction with God but a sense that things are spinning out of control and God is silent?”
Isn’t that at its core a dissatisfaction with God?
Greg, that’s not what I said, bro.
“What’s the chance that jadedness isn’t caused by dissatisfaction with God but a sense that things are spinning out of control and God is silent?”
Interesting distinction. What’s the possibility that God is using someone’s jadedness as an opportunity for others in the Body of Christ to exercise their gifts to heal and restore? The way a church handles its flaws is at least as important as how it demonstrates its strengths.
If we find our satisfaction in Christ and the Body of Christ isn’t obedient to the “one anothers” that we are called for, it’s easy to get jaded. Finding satisfaction in Christ outside of the activities of the Body of Christ is the non-Biblical ideology that pervades much of Western culture. When we most need Christ, his people are supposed to be there. When someone becomes jaded as a result of the failure of the Body of Christ to obey our Head, then it is as much the fault of the church as it is the one who is jaded.
Jim,
That’s an interesting perspective. I’m not disagreeing, but thinking about Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Paul wrote of his joy even though not many in the church stood with him. The Philippian church also was not always able to tend to Paul in a timely manner. Yet, Paul was completely satisfied in Christ.
It is possible that the church is acting as it should, as the Body of Christ, to someone. Yet, they are still jaded.
Absolutely, Mark. There is more than one cause of jaded people. I would also say that even if the Body of Christ was at fault the one who is jaded is still culpable for a lack of faith in some respect. However, we can’t just turn up our nose at a jaded brother or sister and refuse to bear their sin in the Body lest we share in their sin rather than bear it.
Job was arguably jaded. Where is his sin exactly?
Job also arguably expressed quite a bit of dissatisfaction with God.
Dear Jaded One:
Thanks for your brutal honesty. So rare.
I too deal with cynicism – I am jaded concerning our SBC denomination. In particular the pragmatic, phony godliness. And the rampant cronyism when it comes to positions of power & influence. Were it not for the faithful missionaries, I would bolt.
Great article Joshua and good advice.