Up the Down Escalator
There is resistance to life, isn’t there? There is a constant drip of difficulty that makes things hard on the best days and unbearable on the worst ones.
Each day we wake up we are presented with decisions. One of those is simply, “How am I going to live today?” Another question is, “How can I get to where I want to be, when it seems so far away?” For a lot of us, if we are honest, we want an easier path so we ask, “How can I figure out a way to make life easier, more comfortable, and get all of the benefits anyway?”
If we use this illustration to imagine our lives, we can see the parallel to how we often live. There are three options that I see on the escalator.
I see a pile up at the bottom, where all the people who complain find themselves. They could get back on the escalator, but they choose not to, expecting others to do it for them or searching for a way to get to the top without the effort.
There are those who are seemingly near the top who are joyful, laughing, and are reaping the rewards of a life of obedience.
And then there are those who are somewhere in the middle, plodding hard, trying to do their best to make gains every day: It’s decisions to wake up earlier, to pray, to love their neighbor, to model Christ in their homes. It’s the decision to include people in the journey with them and invite people to labor at this thing together, and for the friendships that emerge through this stance. But there are days that don’t feel great too. Days of pursuing comfort and ease by sleeping in, with a lack of discipline and even laziness. Those all erode the gains of faithfully pushing through the resistance of life. Those eroding days are useful to show us that life is about constant pursuit, about community, and about pressing on toward the goal.
In Philippians 1:27 Paul writes: “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel.”
It’s easy for us to imagine the person that Paul is describing here. We don’t often think of the person he is describing as us, do we? We think he is talking about someone who is doing better than us, someone who is a perfect Christian, that we can only aspire to be. The reality is Paul is letting the Philippians know that when he hears about them or comes to visit, he just wants to see them climbing the escalator together, firm in their identity, working together, and striving toward faith in the gospel.
This is what Paul is inviting us into and it is good news! We get to choose to get on the escalator surrounded by our brothers and sisters and pursue Jesus as he journeys with us to the top, preparing us for a prize worthy of the life of holy striving for the gospel!
Where do you see yourself on the escalator (the bottom, the middle, or nearing the top)? Note that at every stage you are surrounded by other people. Who are the people that are alongside you? Would you say that you are “striving together as one for the faith of the gospel”? What would it look like for your team/squad to have this vision together?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tim Shuck came to Novo through being activated by the Spiritual Authority Cohorts back in 2017. He is on full time staff as the Director of Cohorts and loves seeing God do amazing things through everyday obedience.
