What if, this year, we decided not to chase after the Joneses? What if we decide to open ourselves up to being transformed? How would that change the way we think about resolutions in the new year? It is going to drive us back toward discipleship because as we learn to live under the authority of Christ, we position ourselves to experience the work of the One who is able to do abundantly more than we could ever ask or think (Eph 3:20).
What Are We Doing When We Make Our Resolutions: Trueing Ourselves to Reality?
Most of us probably don’t use “true” as a verb. We tend to think of something as being true—it is a state rather than an action. However, “true” can also refer to the process of brining something into alignment with a reference or a desired condition. “Trueing” something involves aligning and adjusting it so that it conforms to an established pattern.
When we think about trueing ourselves to reality, particularly the reality of God, we seek to root all we are and have in the patterns of life drawn from the scriptures. This pursuit is made more difficult because the patterns of life drawn from the scriptures are in competition with other patterns of life. Consider the following:
- Life the “good life”- To some degree, living the “good life” (apart from God) involves trueing oneself to a self-determined notion of the good life. There is no version of the “good life” that can true itself fully to reality because the Triune God is denied. As such, one’s loves cannot be rightly ordered. Even if one’s pursuit of the good life isn’t particularly immoral, the lack of alignment to reality will keep one from trueing themselves to the reality of God.
- Be a “good citizen”- George Will, a political commentator, suggests, “statecraft is, inevitably, soulcraft” because the state shapes “men and women” into “ladies and gentlemen…social artifacts, works of political art” who “carry the culture that is sustained by wise laws and traditions of civility.” While Christians are to respect governing authorities, they are not forged by the state but conformed to the image of Christ. Again, being shaped into “good citizens” by the state doesn’t true us to the reality of God.
- Find success- Money, fame, and stability are often wrapped up with success, yet money and fame are fickle masters, and stability is an illusion. It may provide some level of comfort, but, as the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31) illustrates, success in this life doesn’t always draw us closer to reality. Instead, it distorts our view of reality.
These are not the only patterns that compete with those drawn from the scriptures. If we are seeking to true ourselves to reality via the patterns found in scripture, we need to resist being formed by other patterns. We also need to have an increasingly clear vision of the pattern to which we are seeking true ourselves. So, what does that pattern look like, and how do we live according to it?
What Are Biblical Patterns, and How Do We Apply Them to Our Lives?
Summarizing all the biblical patterns isn’t possible in a relatively short article. As such, I’ve chosen a few that seem to be fairly prominent in the Old and New Testaments. If you’d like to explore additional patterns, I would encourage you to download my free resource titled “Making Everyday Decisions for God’s Glory.”
1. Extending and Enhancing the Glorification of the Triune God.
This pattern emerges from an understanding of human purpose. The man and woman were put in the garden, which was a special, particular place within God’s broader creation. The world, in other words, was not just the garden. The man and woman were to expand the boundaries of the garden as they reproduced—both biologically and spiritually—in order to fill the earth (Gen 1:28).
We see something similar in the mission of Israel. Israel was to live faithfully in God’s presence by obeying the law and through their interactions at the tabernacle and temple. Israel’s obedience was to be their “wisdom” and “understanding in the sight of the peoples” so that the “peoples” recognize the presence of the Lord in the midst of Israel (Deut 4:6-7). Israel was to be a destination for the nations who would see all God was doing and seek to learn the ways of the Lord (Isa 2:2-3).
Finally, we see this pattern repeated in the New Testament through the Great Commission (Matt 28:16-20). Going out to the nations to make disciples through baptism and teaching are the means the church uses to prompt others to recognize the authority of Christ. Having been united with Christ, individual believers receive the Holy Spirit so that their body becomes the Spirit’s temple (1 Cor 6:19-20). As we make disciples, we expand and enhance the glorification of God by adding to the number of those committed to living under the authority of Christ.
2. Depending on the Lord/Obeying the Lord.
Humans were created with constraints. Some of those constraints are limiting, while others are empowering. For instance, humans can’t breathe underwater without the help of technology. We were designed to live on land. That’s a limiting constraint. When we think of an empowering constraint, we might think about language. If I want you to understand what I’m writing, I have to follow certain rules of grammar and syntax. Those grammatical and syntactical constraints allow me to communicate. They are constraints—they are limiting—but they are constraints that allow us to communicate.
One of the more basic challenges in scripture concerns humanity’s inability to distinguish between these two types of constraints, particularly in relation to human dependence on God. For example, God’s law is constraining—it establishes boundaries that humans are not to cross. We could say the same about Christ himself. As “the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6), Jesus is a “limiting factor” in the sense that, for instance, there is no other “way.” Yet, that “way” affords us opportunities that no expanded set of options ever could. The point is that obeying God is a constraint, but we should embrace it rather than seek to overcome it.
We are created to depend on the Lord. Our limitations are not a mistake. When we recognize that our dependence isn’t a hindrance but a way to enable us to flourish, we will begin to understand the underlying dynamics of the Christian life.
3. Testing by Trusting.
While challenging the Lord by going against his commands or questioning his wisdom is not a good idea, testing God by trusting God is essential. In Malachi 3:10, God tells the Israelites to test him by trusting him. He calls the Israelites, who have been withholding their tithes and offerings as a means of mitigating a food shortage (Mal 3:8), to bring their tithes to the temple (3:10). He encourages them to test him by being faithful to him—he will remove the restraints keeping the Israelites from flourishing (3:10-11).
This text does not offer support for the “prosperity gospel.” It does not bind God to give us one hundred dollars when we have given ten. Instead, Malachi 3:10 underscores an underlying dynamic of the Christian life: we are to trust God even when trusting God doesn’t seem to make sense. We don’t “run the numbers” and decide whether we have enough to honor God. We honor God and trust that he will provide all we need.
This list of patterns is not exhaustive. My hope is that it prompts you to think differently about the Christian life and, by extension, how we might go about making resolutions in the new year.
How Should Christians Make Resolutions?
I would suggest that, as you think about making New Year’s resolutions, you turn the patterns above into questions.
1. What is hindering me from pointing to and glorifying the Triune God?
This question is intended to help you focus on the “core mission” you are seeking to accomplish—extending and enhancing the glorification of God. In the context of New Year’s resolutions, this question would certainly allow for some “standard” resolutions like getting in better shape or improving your finances. However, the question also re-shapes these resolutions. For instance, you might consider whether not looking like that fitness influencer on Instagram is really hindering you from glorifying God. Could it be that discontentment or covetousness is the problem rather than fitness? There are certainly times when your physical fitness can hinder you from pointing to and glorifying God. The point is not to suggest that physical fitness is superfluous but to encourage you to check your motivations.
We could say something similar about money. Good fiscal habits are certainly appropriate, but if you are really just trying to amass wealth for your own security or reputation, you may want to rethink your resolution. Having more money (or toys) doesn’t necessarily mean you are pointing to and glorifying God.
2. Am I pursuing my resolutions so that I can be more independent from the Lord?
This question can be difficult to answer because it requires us to consider our motivations. Understanding why we are resolving to change some aspect of our lives can be relatively straightforward—managing pain, promoting our own health or fitness, becoming better stewards of what God has given us—but our reasons can also be more subtle.
We need to be careful to distinguish between resolutions motivated by a desire to glorify God and those motivated by covetousness—an unwillingness to accept that what God has given us is all we need. Particularly as we see glimpses of other people’s lives on the internet and social media (whether those lives are real or fake), we have plenty of opportunity to decide that God has given others what he should have given us. We need to avoid that mentality by learning contentment. Contentment isn’t complacency—it shouldn’t keep us from making changes in our lives that will true us to reality. Instead, it should remind us that pursuing the world’s standards (or our own!) is different than pursuing God’s standards. Our goal in making resolutions should be to pursue the latter.
3. Are my resolutions testing God by trusting God?
This final question can focus your resolutions on obedience in a way that the others don’t. Ask yourself whether your resolutions “make logical sense” or “theological sense.” Are you, like the Israelites, trying to solve a near-term problem by dishonoring God or withholding aspects of your life from him? Are you trying to make a change—to manage some form of disorder—without sitting under the authority of Christ? Think about the current state of your discipleship and consider that drawing closer to the Lord will open you up to opportunities to glorify Go beyond anything you could ask or think.
Resolutions can allow you "to better” yourself. That isn’t a bad thing but there are many things that aren’t bad that won’t draw us closer to the Lord. Use your resolutions as an impetus to learn to live under the authority of Christ this year. You may not achieve your every ambition but perhaps God will replace them with ambitions more trued to reality, particularly the reality of the Triune God.
Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/ Tim Mossholder
