When faith feels far away, keep walking 

Last week, I shared how a bishop once told my seminary class that whenever a pastor lost their calling through failure, he would ask them, “Who are your friends?”—and the answer was always the same: “I don’t have any.”

You don’t have to be a pastor for that warning to hit home. Whether you’re flying in a jet or simply trying to walk with Christ, the truth is the same: you are not meant to go it alone.

I also began sharing a list of wisdom from Fred Craddock—originally for preachers, but fitting for anyone today. Here is the second half of Craddock’s advice:

8. Choose when and where to speak. You are not obliged to be everywhere or say everything. Leave some things unsaid and some meetings unattended. Let your words proceed out of silence, and your presence proceed out of absence.

9. Know what will truly test you. Much of your preparation may have been to handle crises. But it will not be the crises—it will be the daily routine—that will truly test your mettle.

10. Let major tasks give you strength. Major tasks do not merely consume energy; they generate it. Put both your hands to a significant task, and you will find you have even two more to take care of other duties.

11. Be serious without being sour. Seriousness of purpose does not require heaviness of manner. Staying light on your feet does not betray your work; it honors it. Cheerfulness and good humor are sure signs of grace.

12. Respect every listener. When speaking about your faith, remember: you are not simply giving information about God; the speaking itself must be Christlike. Every listener must be treated as a center of value and decision—and must be given the freedom to say “no” as well as “yes.”

13. Know that duty and desire will not always match. There will be times when what you want to do and what you must do exactly coincide. Thank God for these occasions. They will be rare. Most of the time, the distance between want and must will test your heart.

14. Don’t panic during a lapse of faith. You will experience lapses of faith. Do not panic. In the interim between the lapse and the return of faith, let the church believe for you, and live as you know you ought: better true than false, better brave than cowardly, better generous than selfish, better kind than cruel.

This life of faith was never meant to be lived alone. We need each other.

Who are your friends? Who’s your wingman? And whose wingman are you?

Rev. Tom Carruth is the Senior Pastor of Perry Methodist Church.