0310343372 (CNTY) by Nate Pyle

Author:Nate Pyle [Pyle, Nate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2015-09-28T21:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

THE FALL OF A MAN

Failure isn’t fatal, but failure to change might be.

John Wooden

Mountain climbers know that the most important part of the journey is the descent. The climb provides the adrenaline rush. Everyone looks forward to the climb, because standing on the top of the world, smiling for pictures after conquering the mountain, brings the glory.

Ascending makes you feel like a hero. Descending keeps you alive.

Ascent is the way of the world. Climb the corporate ladder. Get the bigger house. Increase your portfolio. Gain prestige and recognition. Build the Tower of Babel so we can reach the heavens on our own. Men are accustomed to this world. Climb, climb, climb. Ascending in the world is the way in which men prove themselves. But the world doesn’t just need men who stand on the tops of mountains; it needs men who have been in the valleys and understand the important, life-saving reasons to pay attention to and value the descent.

Something profound happens when we come face-to-face with the limitations of our abilities, the vainness of our dreams, or the consequences of our sin. These experiences lay bare everything we have been trying to hide or prove. We are left naked, exposed, in need of grace. Descent is a form of death, a stripping away of all that is not true to the man God intends us to be. There, in that vulnerable place, in the valley, we find grace.

And we find we are enough.

This is the journey of descent.

The idea of descent is all over the Bible. Most obvious is Jesus’ descent into the grave, but we can add Jonah’s into the huge fish, Job’s into misery, Saul’s into blindness, David’s into adultery, King Saul’s into fear, Adam and Eve’s from the garden, and on and on. Often painful, these experiences of descent are some of the most important formational moments in the lives of men and women. Our willingness to descend will determine whether the journey shapes us into a bitter person or into a person keenly aware of their humble dependence on Christ. The key, then, is not to try to avoid descending into the valleys of life, but to see these descents as essential to the human experience, trusting that even though we walk through the darkest valleys, we will not fear any evil, for our Lord, the great Shepherd, is with us.1

A Story of Ascent

Titles used to be important to me. Not just titles, but any position that caused people to take notice of me. The title, position, or award necessitated a recognition of my uniqueness and affirmed what I felt about myself: I am somebody. My aspirations for becoming a doctor were likely motivated by this desire — and by money.

During high school I was convinced I was going to be in the medical field, but I wasn’t always sure I wanted to be a doctor. In fact, I started my college career thinking I would pursue physical therapy. As a freshman, I job-shadowed a physical therapist for a couple of months.

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