Spiritual Sticking Points

Spiritual "sticking points." These are things that cause people to get hung up in their path to a relationship with God, whether already on it or just starting. In the parable of the seed and the soils, Jesus speaks of four different kinds of people classified by how they react to an experience with the Word of God. It is found in Matthew 13:3-9...

And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, ⁶but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. ⁷Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹He who has ears, let him hear."

The third person is the one that interests me most. Here is a person who heard the word, was influenced by it, maybe even started to consider it as possibly Truth, but for one reason or another, let it go. The thorns of everyday concerns, worries, or whatever got in the way of what he knew could be true. Jesus explains further in verse 22: "As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful."

This concept of "thorns" is repeated elsewhere in Scripture. The Apostle Paul writes about what he calls a "thorn in [his] flesh" in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 - "⁷So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. ⁹But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

It is important to note that based on these two passages, both unbelievers and believers will experience these thorns that interfere (or try to) with a relationship with God. Trials and distractions may come prior to someone coming into a relationship with God, or they may come after, or more likely, both. Some will work past them, but some won't. So while both Jesus and Paul recognize that there can be thorns in the life of a believer, there is still a stark contrast to the third person in the parable and Paul himself. Jesus says the third person lets the thorns get in the way and that person falls away and rejects the Gospel. On the other hand, you have Paul who, still plagued with a thorn, did not let it hinder him and held fast to the Truth. Anybody who takes even a cursory look at the life of Paul would know that he is one of the greatest spiritual leaders in Church history.

There must then be something we can learn from Paul. Interestingly enough, Paul didn't ignore it and he didn't just accept it and move on. It's written that multiple times he prayed and begged God to take away the thorn. It's something that plagued him daily, but through the power of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God, he withstood it and overcame it.

God has been reminding me lately about trials and the concept of endurance. I learned about this in a class I took in college on the epistle of James. James 1:2-4 says, ^"2Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, ³knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

The Greek word for "endurance" is transliterated hupomone, which comes from the preposition hupo (under) and mone (remain/stay). The word endurance literally means, "stay under pressure." It's an image of standing under a great crushing weight and rather than trying to squeeze our way out from under it, we stay right there and just hold it as long as we can. This is so counter-instinctive; My knee jerk reaction is instead to try to get out of the situation. But James says we will be lacking unless we stay under pressure, and that can only come through trials.

Too often, we simply seek the fastest way OUT of a sticky situation. But maybe sometimes God will ask us to be stronger than that and to endure it so that we can grow. And like Paul, we can still be fruitful, even if the thorns grow up around us.