Resilience

 Resilience

Sunday, October 3, 2021

“Resilience” is a word that can be found in almost every issue of “Psychology Today” for the last couple of years. It is not, however, found in my King James Bible, nor in NASB, or ESV.

I would have thought that resilience is just another word for some perfectly good Bible words, like endurance, or perseverance. Those Bible words speak of keeping on in the midst of difficulty. One’s faith persists in the face of opposition; one’s commitment remains true, though tested. Like Jesus, who is the same, yesterday, today, and forever; so is our faith, even as we mature and grow.

But resilience is not defined that way. Key features of current usage of this term are adaptability and flexibility. Is that something we missed when we thought about endurance or perseverance? That we were supposed to adapt and be flexible? When Paul faced persecution or prison, did he then adapt and flex? It seems that there is a key difference here. Paul endured. That is, he stayed the same, true to his faith and commitment, rather than adapt and flex.

Some might say that the person who refuses to be adaptable or flexible is simply stubborn. He is stuck in the mud and imprisoned by the past. I’m not trying to argue for stubbornness or being old-fashioned. But if today’s resilience has something to do with adapting and flexing so as to be fashionable and attractive to a culture that is in rebellion against God, as if by such methods we could win them over - I think that is wrong-headed, and worse, unBiblical.

I have always been intrigued by Jonathan Edwards own testimony concerning the Great Awakening that began with his ministry in Northampton. He said that he preached as he had always preached, when, in God’s timing, the Spirit was poured out on his congregation and the surrounding communities, and the “light shown in the darkness.” Many people who were unmoved by similar ministry in former days were now converted to Christ. Their lives were changed, and so were their towns. Why? Because Christians prayed and preachers preached and Christ was honored by individuals and families. How? Through the endurance and persistence of their faith. By persevering in the face of the ups and downs of life.

The world elevates old words in new ways, like resilience. What they may mean by them is often different from what the Bible teaches.