Thick Christianity, The Shape of Your Words, Giving Yourself a Chance at Success
The Disciple-Leader Newsletter #65
Discipleship
“My beloved brothers and sisters, I testify that the most important day in the history of mankind was the day when Jesus Christ, the living Son of God, won the victory over death and sin for all of God’s children. And the most important day in your life and mine is the day when we learn to “behold the man”; when we see Him for who He truly is; when we partake with all our heart and mind of His atoning power; when with renewed enthusiasm and strength, we commit to follow Him. May that be a day that recurs over and over again throughout our lives.”1
Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Writer Jonathan Rauch (an atheist) recently published a book titled “Cross Purposes”.2 In it, he argues not only for why American democracy needs strong Christianity but argues that American democracy, stripped of Thick Christianity, is in danger.3
Thick Christianity? What’s that? In his book, Rauch identifies three different types of Christianity in what he calls Thin Christianity, Sharp Christianity, and Thick Christianity.
Thin Christianity: “Thin Christianity is my term for when Christianity becomes secularized and it becomes a consumer good, a commodity — people just shop for churches and they like what they hear and they’re not really challenged in church. And the problem with that is that a lot of the benefits of belief to the soul and to the Republic come from taking it seriously and participating — joining with a community, giving of yourself to others — not just treating it as a consumer good … Because it turns out when religion, especially Christianity, when that becomes thin, people go elsewhere for their faith and for their sense of meaning in life. They go to politics. And those are terrible sources of values. They don’t sustain the Republic. They undermine it.”4
To summarize, Thin Christianity is so diluted that it blends in with the surrounding culture, becoming unrecognizable.
Sharp Christianity: “This is a kind of Christianity that perceives itself increasingly as being at war with the culture around it. This is the Christianity that’s afraid that it’s losing its predominant cultural role in American society and the next election is the one that will end Christianity as we know it. And so it becomes smaller, and more and more paranoid and frightened about its future. And as it does those things, it also becomes more political.”5
To summarize, this is an “us vs. the world” mentality of Christianity. It’s coming from a place of scarcity. And while the scriptures do teach about the sins of the world and the need to protect ourselves against evil influences, making this your core paradigm through which you see the world and not Christ’s greatest teachings to love God and love your neighbor as yourself, sharpens your Christianity to a point that it’s unrecognizable from Christ’s actual teachings.
Thick Christianity: This is a kind of Christianity that clings tightly to the teachings of Jesus Christ and embodies them. Thick Christianity is a disciple who admires, adores, and emulates the Savior. Their faith is embedded into their DNA. It permeates around them and is the filter through which everything they do passes through. How they view the world, politics, people, everything, is seen through the eyes of faith in Jesus Christ and a commitment to Him. Thick Christianity is “(seeing) Him for who He truly is … (partaking) with all our heart and mind of His atoning power … (and) with renewed enthusiasm and strength, (committing) to follow Him.”6
Where is your Christianity at these days? If you are able to recognize that it is feeling a little thin or a little sharp, change. The not-so-secret key to thickening your Christianity is simple: dive more into the teachings of Jesus.
Leadership
“There is someone out there with a wound in the exact shape of your words.”7
James Clear
Scripture is clear on the power of your words:
Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.8
But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.9
The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.10
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.11
The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.12
Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.13
The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.14
If there’s anything to take away from these verses, it’s that the Lord has given you a gift. The gift of words, the gift of communication, and with that gift, immense power. Power to lift. Power to heal. Power to help. Power to change the course of someone’s life. What a tragedy to be given that gift only to take it for granted, use it unrighteously, or not use it at all. I hope you will use the incredible gift of words that God has blessed you with in the way that He intended for you to use it. To say what He would say if He were in your shoes.
Mental Performance
“Civilization isn’t built by pessimists."15
Naval Ravikant
Nothing, in fact, is built by pessimists. Elite minds and high-performers are not pessimists. Optimism is the barrier to entry into high performance. In Dr. Bob Rotella’s book “How Champions Think”, he wrote that optimism is the “first essential quality” of elite thinking.
In his opening chapter on optimism, he had an incredible insight: “While the correlation between optimism and success is imperfect, there is an almost perfect correlation between negative thinking and failure.”16
At least give yourself a chance to succeed at what you do. That chance hinges upon your optimism.
Behold the Man! Talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Cross Purposes. Book by Jonathan Rauch.
The remarkable message a Brookings senior fellow gave to BYU students about the civic theology America needs. Article by Tad Walch for Deseret News.
America is divided. Can religion provide a better way? Article by Jonathan Rauch for Deseret News.
What if Our Democracy Can’t Survive Without Christianity? The New York Times. Discussion between David French and Johnathan Rauch.
What if Our Democracy Can’t Survive Without Christianity? The New York Times. Discussion between David French and Johnathan Rauch.
Behold the Man! Talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Proverbs 16:24 (NIV)
Matthew 12:36-37 (NIV)
Proverbs 15:4 (NIV)
Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)
Proverbs 12:18 (NIV)
James 3:5-12 (NIV)(Proverbs 18:21)
Proverbs 18:21 (NIV)
How Champions Think. Book by Bob Rotella.