The Insidious Impact Of Insecurity Creating this type of culture poses a spiritual challenge for everyone.
Since
Christians can be deceived and think they are immune to the insidious impact
of insecurity, but the Bible teaches something different.
When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.”
Psalm 30:6 NIV
Change has as much to do with unlearning as learning.
Unlearning insecure relationship building and leadership at home, work or
school is among the most difficult and important changes one can make. It has
been and continues to be my most persistent challenge.
My hope in writing is to convince you to join our team at Deep Spirituality on
a journey to understand and quiet what my college friends and I used to refer
to as our “raging insecurities.”
In my experience, most of our avoidable life and relationship problems stem
from issues of insecurity. We don’t know who we are, why we are here, and
are uncertain whether anyone can love us.
Christians can be deceived and think they are immune to the insidious impact
of insecurity, but I Corinthians 8:1 teaches something different. When we are
insecure, we limit the scriptures to the intellectual and often, with distancing
intentionality, build emotionally superficial rather than deep relationships.
Now regarding your question about food that has been offered to idols. Yes,
we know that “we all have knowledge” about this issue. But while knowledge
makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church.
1 Corinthians 8:1 NLT
We become satisfied with, perhaps even prefer, emotionally disconnected or
what I call “religious relationships” – those focused more on people than God,
behavior than heart, and appearances than attachments. Dangerously, over
time, these religious relationships become more of an Academy Award-
winning performance than an intimate friendship with God and people.
Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship
blessed my house,
Job 29:4 NIV
Whether we are religious or not, insecurity has an emotionally dulling or
inhibiting effect on everything we do and, especially, everyone we know. As I
Corinthians 8:1 implies, our pursuit of importance in the eyes of people is a
decision that undermines our capacity to love them, and this choice weakens
both the individual and his or her church.
Communities like this bite and devour; they destroy each other, because of an
unwillingness to look below the surface and deal with the deep existential
threat of insecurity. This destructive superficiality erodes the health of any
organization, especially the church, as the relationships first decline
spiritually, then emotionally, which usually leads them to become
intellectually contentious.
Galatians 5:13-15 (NIV) describes this downward spiral of relationship decay,
which ends with the physical decline of division where the dogmatic split
churches, the disillusioned leave them, and the unbelieving avoid them.
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your
freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For
the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor
as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be
destroyed by each other.
Galatians 5:13–15 NIV
At this point, the negative impact of insecurity on both the individual and
organization should be obvious. The inescapable truth we must all face is that
the long term viability and success of every human entity will be determined
by their capacity to build a healthy relationship culture, one with intimate
rather than insecure attachments.
most of us begin life building insecure relationships, there must at some point
be a transformation from insecure to intimate relationship building. For this to
occur, each of us must turn to God to answer those existential questions – who
are we, why are we here, and are we worthy of being loved?
Explore me, O God, and know the real me. Dig deeply and discover who I am.
Put me to the test and watch how I handle the strain.
Psalm 139:23 Voice
When we discover who we are, we find our identity. When we discover why
we are here, we find our purpose. When we discover we are worthy of being
loved, we experience intimacy.
Discoveries of identity and purpose come from God, as well as the experience
of the unmatched unconditional love, of which only He is capable. These
anchor us in good times as well as bad, when the unpredictable and
uncontrollable storms of life arrive, always allowing us to say and sing with
the Psalmist in Psalm 30:6, “When I felt secure, I said, ‘I will never be
shaken.’”
Sing the praises of the LORD, you his faithful people; praise his holy name.
[5] For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping
may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. [6] When I felt
secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.” [7] LORD, when you favored me, you
made my royal mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was
dismayed.
Psalm 30:4-7 NIV
For Christians all of this should sound reasonable if not exciting. For those
who consider themselves spiritual but not church-going, the fundamental
question is, “How do we inspire security and closeness in a secular or non-
church organization?” The answer is quite simple: we must consider, perhaps
for the first time in our lives, that there is a purpose and necessity for society
to have healthy and inspiring churches, those that build the right way, because
only God can help us grow from insecure to secure relationships builders.
My own life began on a secular course and, even after becoming a Christian,
insecurity was a spiritual topic about which I learned little in my first decade
of consistently attending church. There was extensive teaching on a variety of
Biblical subjects from an intellectual and doctrinal perspective, but rarely was
there the level of transparency necessary to address subjects of emotional
depth and importance like insecurity.
While some will consider this a critique, it is in my view the healthy spiritual
perspective that comes from walking with God through failure and success, as
well as heartache and happiness. This is the spiritual journey necessary to
know God better and help us move beyond the past to become who and what
we need to be for the future of God’s Kingdom. It is a vision which, if
fulfilled, will help the insecure non-believer find security in God.
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may
give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him
better.
Ephesians 1:17 NIV
I am more explorer than expert, learning and discovering along with our team
at Deep Spirituality in the hope that we can provide articles, podcasts, and
studies to encourage you in your personal journey to know God.
In this series on insecurity, if we can help you avoid some of the painful
lessons we have had to endure because of our dysfunctional insecurities, and
you are able to build spiritual relationships of great depth and intimacy, then
we will have fulfilled our mission to inspire people to walk with God. So find
a friend or convince your house church to tackle this vital area of spiritual
health, making use of the coming resources, so that together we can transform
our lives and change the world.