In the name of Jesus we muddle through

It used to be said of the Trade Union movement that it's main function was to achieve glorious defeats. They didn't win many cases for their workers, but they did bring their membership together in solidarity against a shared sense of injustice.

I'm not sure whether the unions are more successful these days, but I wonder whether Christians have become enamoured of glorious defeats? Have we lost sight of the spiritual victory? Have we become used to being in the minority and either facing apathy or defending ourselves against hostility, and too used to feeling overwhelmed or defeated. Moreover, we can be rather good at enjoying a shared secret knowledge that we are nonetheless on the winning side, all the while cowering in corners, keeping an increasingly low profile in order to avoid the spotlight.

There is an old (1970s?) chorus I remember from my early years as a Christian:

In the name of Jesus,
In the name of Jesus
We have the victory.
In the name of Jesus,
In the name of Jesus
Demons will have to flee
Who can tell what God can do?
Who can tell of his love for you?
In the name of Jesus, Jesus
We have the victory.

I remember being very encouraged that we were on the victory side! Of course, I still know in my head that this is true, but I realised recently that my felt sense of this victory had become rather distant and neglected.

Moreover, in my mind the simplicity of that chorus has been replaced with a good deal of complexity, shades of grey, and qualified understandings. Not actual doubt, but a difficulty with taking the words of that song with simple gladness and confidence. Is this a growing maturity or is it a clouding of spiritual sight?

And alongside my personal journey (read: 'ageing'), the church in the UK seems to have lost much of its confidence and is also more subdued.

Of course, the Bible doesn't equate 'victory' with worldly ideas of success (see my blog:In praise of failure). The persecutions of the saints throughout the ages makes that clear, as does Jesus' own crucifixion, of course. But herein lies another problem: we may be so familiar with the truth that we will be persecuted as Christians, that we forget to expect to share in God's triumphant victories, except in the most distant of ways - in heaven. But in so thinking, have our faith muscles have become feeble through lack of use?

We live in a spiritual battle - but if we're not fighting, is it any wonder that we end up trampled? And if we aren't even aware that the battle is spiritual, we won't even know what has hit us (see: Impotent Christians in a material world)!

So, for the present, in the name of Jesus we muddle through.