My son Dylan recently said to me, “Dad, I want you to finish strong.” His senior pastor, who was retiring, had preached a sermon on the importance of ending one’s life full of faith. Dylan was right to be worried. The last few years have shaken all the dust out of my faith. Teckla and I have faced cancer and the death of our son Peter. We now face Teckla’s worsening dementia.
We have seen spiritual leaders fall and leave behind all kinds of spiritual and emotional wreckage. Our faith has also faced the wear and tear of watching pastor after pastor cast visions that evaporate in this spiritual desert. We have seen spiritual fads come and go with little impact on church growth or spiritual vitality. It is easy to be cynical and difficult to have a vision (or trust anyone else’s).
It has gotten harder to say with Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.” Sometimes I am weary with grief and loss, besieged with doubts and fears. Some days I have “no fight” left. As I look around at believers my age, I see that I am not alone in my struggle to keep the faith and fight the good fight. Too many seem to be stumbling right before the finish line.
I propose Faith Keepers, a mutual aid society for weary Christians who need help finishing strong. It would help those wounded by religious abuse. It would extend a hand to those stuck in a swamp of disappointments and unanswered prayers. It would walk with those seeking a way through a labyrinth of questions and doubts.
Faith Keepers Will
- Hold onto a battered faith in the goodness of God. We will not doubt the goodness of God because of the messes people make. We will call one another to return again and again to Jesus, our first love.
- Open ourselves to spiritual growth. We will refuse the lie that we have seen it all and done it all. We will be teachable and tenderhearted. We will be mature enough to be childlike, but never childish. We learn from one another, the old and the young.
- Let our grief and disappointments gentle us and deepen our compassion. We will not withdraw, harden our hearts, or let bitterness take root. We will weep with those who weep, rejoice with those who rejoice.
- Seek first the kingdom of God even in retirement. We will not let our last years be all about us. We challenge one another to sow good seed, even if others will rejoice in the harvest. We will live the poured-out life to the end.
- Fight for the salvation and blessing of friends and family. We will be faithful to pray, give, and serve to the end. We will put the full armor of God on our aching bones. Together we will stand and fight.
- Speak hope to this generation. We will not speak despair and betray this generation of God’s children (Psalm 73:15). We will remind one another of the faithfulness and steadfast loving-kindness of God.
- Rejoice even through our tears. Our hearts will rejoice in the unchanging and unstoppable love of God and the victory of Jesus over Satan, sin, and death. Together we will rejoice in every ray of light that pierces the darkness.
Yes, I know Faith Keepers will never fill stadiums like Promise Keepers did in the 90’s. Too many of us have bad knees and enlarged prostrates. And about the time we got some leadership in place, they would start dying off. But maybe we could have breakfast at Perkins.
