Personality tests have been around for decades, but suddenly you can’t quite turn around in the evangelical world without finding books, podcasts, or conversations oriented to self-discovery.

What is my type? Who am I? What is my unique purpose in this life?

Before you roll your eyes or start arguing, let me be clear: you might not find anyone more enthusiastic about personality tests, spiritual gift discovery, and helping people to lean into God’s purpose for their lives than I am. I love all of it and I think it is God-honoring and kingdom-enhancing. In fact, for someone who thought I was an Enneagram 7 and discovered I am actually an Enneagram 8 (those are, ahem, different), these tools have been enormously helpful for both confessing my sin and discovering my inherent gifts from God. I believe these guides can be indispensable for Christians as they seek to discern their stories, gifting, and place in the church. God created each of us uniquely in our mothers’ wombs; he gives us individual spiritual gifts when we become his children; he planned specific good works for us before the world was created!

We should do all we can to discover and steward these gifts from God.

These self-discovery tools are not bad things—they are good things. But good things turn into bad things when we put too much stock, effort, and time into them. When we turn them into idols or use them to make ourselves the center of the universe. “Not me!,” we all protest. But take a quick inventory: how much do you know about the numbers of the enneagram or Myers-Briggs types other than your own?

Self-discovery? Yes.

Empathy for others? Um, maybe a little.

We live in a self-centered culture and we are all are fallen people with the inherent tendency to make everything about ourselves. We so often take all the great gifts God has given us and use them only for the enjoyment, advancement, and fulfillment of ourselves.

If this is my personality and these are my gifts, here is what I need to find my fulfillment in my career, my family, or even in my church.

We constantly reenact the first sin of the Fall, making ourselves into gods, wanting to make our own choices and decide what is good and bad for our lives.

But in Philippians 2, Paul reminds us to “look not only to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”

So, what does this attitude look like? Is it self-actualization? Is it finding acknowledgement and appreciation for what we bring to the table?

Not quite.

To emulate the attitude of Jesus is to make ourselves nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant, humbling ourselves and being obedient even unto death.

Here’s the thing, following Jesus is first and foremost about dying.

In order to truly find ourselves, we have to die to ourselves. Truly finding who God created us to be can only happen by following Jesus to places that can be hard and requires radical trust that He will provide what we cannot. Loving God with all that we are means stepping outsideour comfort zones. Loving others means “washing their feet,” and giving up all we think is rightfully ours for the benefit of other people. We have to step out of the center of our universe, and put Christ there where he belongs – trusting and obeying him.

It is in these moments – the broken, the difficult, the stretching moments – that we can truly find the life he has called us to in Christ. Whatever our individual stories, gifts, or personalities, this where our purpose is found: a life of love and service.

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Ephesians 5:1-2

Are you finding out more about yourself? Your motivations, your struggles, your strengths? Are you learning where you can best serve your local church and engage with God in deeper ways? That is so good; good and beautiful and important. As I mentioned, I am an Enneagram 8, and I have a deep desire to leave my mark on the world, to change it for the better. But, this mark? This mark should be in the shape of a cross. A mark of love and sacrifice that looks like the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of me.

My prayer is that my journey of self-discovery, and yours, is Christ-centered and other-focused. A journey that leads not to fulfillment of our own needs and desires, but to radical stewardship of all God has given us to be poured out for our King and other people. A journey of self-discovery that helps us die to ourselves and then be truly found in Christ.

“Mountaintop experiences,” are something of a marvel. We tend to hear about them connected to things like conferences, camps, and conflicts.

“I didn’t even want to go,” someone might say about a conference. Or, “I had to beg him to go to camp,” the mom says of her teenage son. Or, “it took my life falling apart during a hurricane…”

The Bible is filled with experiences like these – God meeting people where they are, giving them the strength or affirmation they need to carry on. But more important than the experiences are the reasons for them.

God takes us to the mountaintop for a purpose.

In one of the most memorable mountaintop experiences in history, the Bible gives us a front row seat to what these moments are for, and how to respond to them.

The story goes like this:

Jesus takes three of his followers, Peter, James, and John up a mountain to pray. It doesn’t seem like anything too extraordinary, right? I mean, no matter which account you’re reading (the story is recorded in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9), in the chapters leading up to this moment, Jesus has been asserting himself in the public’s eye. He’s been casting out demons, healing diseases, performing miracles, ticking off religious leaders, miraculously feeding thousands of people, walking on water, and telling stories that most people don’t understand.

That’s the crazy stuff. What’s so wild about a prayer meeting on a mountain?

Well, on that mountain, as Jesus is praying, something really crazy happens. He is suddenly transfigured!

The disciples look and they see Jesus, the same person they ventured up the mountain with. But now his facing is shining like the sun and he’s wearing “dazzling white” clothes. (I don’t know about you, but when I hear a grown man say “dazzling” I just assume things are getting serious.)

But, on top of all that, it’s not only Jesus standing there.

Jesus (probably with a grin) says something like, “Oh guys I’m glad you’ve joined us. Peter, James, John, this is Moses and Elijah.”

The disciples are likely thoroughly shocked and confused. I mean these guys are their legends. They’ve been dead for hundreds of years and yet are standing right in front of them. Crazy!

But… Why?

Why are Moses and Elijah there on the mountain? Why are any of them up there? And why did Matthew, Mark, and Luke record it for us?

The Bible doesn’t ever really spell it out for us, but all signs point to them being there as witnesses to Jesus’ glory. During Jesus’ day, the whole of Scripture was often referred to as “the Law and the Prophets.”

So, is it a coincidence that God sends two of the most prominent figures (Moses representing the Law and Elijah representing the Prophets) to bear witness about the Messiah to some of the very people who would later have to go and bear witness about him in the world? These five men are some of the greatest the Bible ever introduces us to, and they all pale in comparison to a glimpse – merely a sliver – of Jesus’ true glory revealed.

“And Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified,” (Mark 9:5-6).

It’s such an incredible, unbelievable, shocking sight that Peter suggests they do… something… anything! He wants to commemorate this moment.

But that’s not what this is about.

“As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!’ And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone,” (Luke 9:34-36a).

The sky goes back to a normal blue. The glowing figures have gone. The booming voice has ceased. And there is nothing but a gentle breeze blowing at the top of the mountain. Jesus stands alone, his eyes toward the sky. Slowly he lowers his head until his focus lies once again on his followers. A smile flashes onto his face as if to say, “I told you, you wouldn’t want to miss this.”

Still amazed, and perhaps frozen in shock, I’m willing to bet the disciples wanted to stay up there and ask Jesus a lot of questions. And Jesus could have sat back and taken in their admiration and then let them run off and tell everyone what had just happened.

Instead, they descended down the mountain, and were immediately met by a large crowd amongst who was a demon-possessed boy.

Jesus took his disciples and went right back to work.

It was as if he looked into his disciples eyes – the same eyes that had just had the glory and majesty of their leader revealed to them – and said, “Come friends, there is still work to be done.”

There are times in our own lives where we have some big questions about Jesus or his purpose for us. We have doubts. Maybe our faith wavers and we wonder if we even still believe. We’re in a valley.

But then God invites us to come up the mountain with him, and we have no idea what that means or what’s in store for us. “Why don’t you go this conference?” or “go to this camp,” or “talk to this person,” or “join this small group,” or “just go to church this week.”

We say “yes,” we go, we hear great teaching, or are moved by a song, or have a meaningful conversation. It’s clear that God is giving us exactly what we need whether or not we knew we needed it. Suddenly we find ourselves at the peak. We’re standing on top of this mountain and we feel so incredibly close to God.

We look out around us and we can see down into the dark valleys we came out of and many more mountain peaks and valleys ahead. We get a sliver of perspective on all of life’s craziness. And we are filled with the hope and peace that everything is going to be alright in the grand scheme of it all. Jesus is who he says he is and there is a glorious destination that awaits us somewhere beyond the horizon.

On our mountaintop we feel safe and comfortable, hopeful and excited, joyful and alive.

And we want to stay up there.

But, just like it was with Jesus and his disciples, there are tasks that await us down the mountain – life to be lived. This glimpse of glory was never meant to be the end of the journey.

If Jesus and the disciples stayed on the mountaintop, then the little boy doesn’t get healed and the disciples don’t go on to help carry Christianity, in its infancy, to the world.

Jesus came down from the mountain that day knowing that one day he would climb another mountain called Calvary. And he knew that when he died to save all of mankind, his disciples would be scared. He knew that when he asked them to go forward, carrying the good news of salvation to the nations, they would be wading into the darkness. He needed them to know exactly what it was they would be giving their lives for.

There are dark days still to come – maybe some of yours are here now.

But God is with us.

He doesn’t bring us up the mountain just to send us on our merry way and hope everything works out. He brings us up the mountain to engage us, encourage us, and reveal his glory to us, so that when we find ourselves in the darkest valley, we can be reminded that he is exactly who he said he is, and that all he has promised will one day come to pass.

Come friends, there is work to be done.

It’s January and there’s excitement and hope in the air. Excitement for a fresh start, but also hope that this next 365 days will be better than the last 365. And while many people want 2020 to be the year where they grow financially, relationally, or physically, there are others who simply want to grow closer to God.

Maybe that’s you? Maybe you would say to yourself, Enough is enough. I’m tired of keeping God at arm’s length. I sense the emptiness and aimlessness that comes with not walking with him daily. I want that to change. I want to get stronger spiritually.

But before you start working through all the different read-the-Bible-in-a-year plans, making your kids recite the Apostles’ Creed before they can eat dinner, and attending church services eight days a week, let me give you a caution:

Trying to get stronger can actually make you weaker.

It’s true. I believe you can read the Bible more than you’ve ever read it, pray more than you’ve ever prayed, and consistently attend services at Clear Creek and still end up stagnant, or in even worse shape spiritually than before you started trying.

How’s that? Let me explain. This month, more people will go to the gym than any other time of the year.

Many of them will burst through the gym doors, blow past the welcome desk, and start hitting as many different pieces of equipment as possible – benching as much weight as they can muster, lifting the heaviest dumbbells they can find, and slinging around other weights in whatever motion feels best, all the while thinking, If I just do more I’ll get stronger.

Some of you who know about weight training are cringing because you understand how this approach to lifting has the potential for great injury. You know that when it comes to exercising, technique matters. For example, people are seen in gyms all the time with crooked shoulders because of slightly deformed muscles which is partly due to bad technique. The muscles adapted to incorrect movements and grew accordingly. Experts tell us using incorrect techniques can pull, rip, or wrench any muscle in the human body. It can tear delicate connective tissues in a matter of seconds. That’s the irony bad technique brings. You can hit the gym every day, work harder than anybody else, and actually wind up weaker instead of stronger.

That’s why there is a maxim in weight training: How you do it is as important as what you do.

Technique matters in spiritual training as well. How we do it is as important as what we do.

And if your spiritual strategy for 2020 is to do more (e.g., services, prayer, Bible reading), you should know that simply doing more isn’t good enough.

In Jesus’ day there were a group of religious people called the Pharisees. They did more than everyone around them. They had more Bible knowledge than anyone else. They prayed in public so everyone would see. They were religious elites, spiritual gym-rats who lifted as much as they could as often as they could.

Yet, there wasn’t a group Jesus called out more than them. He called them hypocrites, (Matthew 23:25), the blind leading the blind, (Matthew 15:14), serpents and a brood of vipers. (Matthew 23:31-33), and white-washed tombs who were pretty on the outside but full of dead people’s bones on the inside. He told them in Matthew 23:15, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte [i.e. conversion], and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.”

Why such strong words? Because their “Do More” strategy actually made them judgmental, legalistic, and spiritually oppressive. It didn’t make them stronger, but weaker.

If we want to get spiritually stronger in 2020 then we need to learn the how, not only the what.

We don’t only need to know about different spiritual exercises but also some guidance on how best to do those exercises – to work on proper technique.

In John 14:15 Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

Our obedience reveals our love. But, Jesus is also telling us how to be obedient – that keeping his commands should flow from our love for him.In other words, if you want to strengthen your faith in God, you must first strengthen your love for God.

Again, think of the gym.Generally speaking, those who stay in shape all year are those who love to exercise. That doesn’t mean they don’t have days they don’t want to do it, but for the most part, working out has moved from duty to delight. It’s the masses, who feel like working out is either a chore or bore, that drop out by February. But if you love something, you don’t do it because you have to, but because you want to. And, because of that, you will keep doing it.

That’s why, if you want to get spiritually stronger in 2020, the first thing you need to examine isn’t your schedule, or how much you know about the Bible. It’s your heart.

Look at the size of your love for God. If our love is small and we implement a “Do More” plan of spirituality, one of two things usually happens. We’ll either get really proud and self-righteous about all the stuff we’re doing (like the Pharisees), or we’ll eventually quit doing anything spiritual because we’re not as fired up as we used to be. Either way leaves us weaker.

It’s why churches, like fitness centers, have big attendance in January and shrinking numbers in the months that follow.

Our hearts need something that can start, sustain, and grow our love for God. We need something that overwhelms our affections, stirs us in our depths, and moves us like nothing else. And God gives us exactly that. What is it?

It’s the gospel of grace!

It’s the good news that God sent Jesus to do for us what we cannot do. By his death at the cross and resurrection from the grave, we can be loved, forgiven, adopted, and secured in Christ.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

When we intentionally focus our hearts and minds upon the grace of God, the Spirit will grow our affection for God.

But how?

This is the exercise. To get stronger, you have to go to the gym. At the spiritual gym we read the Bible, pray, attend services, join a small group, and serve our community, but not from the attitude of doing more, but rather with a heart that aches with love for God and the incredible gift of grace that he has freely given.  This is the proper technique to keep us from tearing or deforming our spiritual muscles with the wrong approach.

When you continuously orient your heart around the grace of God in the gospel, the more you’ll grow in love for God, the more you’ll want to obey God, the more you’ll want to grow in God, and the more strength you’ll see in yourself – all because your effort isn’t originating from duty, but delight. You are living out the truth of Nehemiah 8:10, “…the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

When your happiness is found in Christ your holiness is sure to follow.

“For it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace…” (Hebrews 13:9b)

May 2020 be a year where we do the right things in the right ways and move our duties into delights; where we grow in our love and affection for God, and we grow stronger as a result.

It’s time to hit the gym!