Is great performance always a grand thing? Certainly, trying to achieve our greatest God-given potential is a healthy desire. A little further down, I will show an example of how striving to do well can backfire when proper motives and core beliefs are not in tact.
First, a little background
Often in my articles, I discuss the link between “fruits” (actions, results, outcomes) and the “roots” (driving thoughts and core belief systems). Healthy roots produce healthy fruits. Unhealthy fruit is caused by unhealthy substances somewhere in the plant. Our human body and mental health work on a similar principle. Univerally true is the idea that thoughts lead to feelings, and thing and feeling leads to action. Actions then lead to results (T>F>A=R). When hurt and offense are part of a person’s experience, a negative cycle can develop, whereby the pain is magnified, rehearsed, and molded into defeatist thinking patterns. This lie-based “Cycle of Defeat” is unpacked in greater detail in the appendix of my book PACE to Peace: Finding Inner Rest in a World of Unrest.
Unhealthy Ups and Downs
One form of negative outcome is entrapment in a roller-coaster ride of performance peaks and valleys. This can develop by a person trying to perform his or her way out of severe disappointment, bitterness, or resentment. It may be self-induced (perfectionism) or caused by mistreatment from others. Nonetheless, the bad roots create the bad fruit. The underlying emotional pain from not being able to meet peoples’ high expectations, drives harder work and commitment to the cause. The “pats on the back” so to speak, maintains an unawareness of the emptiness inside. Activity levels grow beyond sustainability, so a crash or burnout occurs. The pain of failed expectations sets in again, and the cycle repeats. This can happen in employment, volunteerism, entrepreneurship, leadership, sports, or any activity involving competition.
Working for God
A person committed to doing the “Lord’s work” can be vulnerable to the same negative cycle. In fact, it is especially common among God-fearing people. After all, what better “cause” is there to give your life for, than to burn out for Jesus, or so goes the rationale, for some.
Although good works might make a good impression on fellow Christians, good deeds are useless (for salvation) in the sight of God. From God’s perspective, a person’s good deeds are like a “filthy garment” (Isaiah 64:6). Our identity in Christ is not established by works (performance), but good works flow out of a solid belief in the work Christ already accomplished. Jesus said, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (John 6:29).
God accepts us for who we are (who he has made us to be), not for what we do. The more we can accept that as Truth, the less pressure we will feel to try to perform at a level beyond unhealthy expectations.
Christians may sometimes fall into a cycle known as “performance orientation” (as named by the Sandfords who founded the Elijah House prayer counseling ministry). It is characterized by seeking acceptance or maintaining identity based primarily on activity level. They discuss this in Chapter Three of their book called Transformation of the Inner Man.
The cycle develops like this: A person keeps overly busy serving in the church and receives much affirmation, confirmation, and acceptance for his or her work. He begins to tire, or becomes disappointed by someone’s critical opinion of his performance. The person’s spirit begins to ask, “Is this really working?” The person becomes disillusioned and his performance begins to wane. His work fails to earn the love he craves and once knew. He spirals into a black hole of depression, self-doubt, self-condemnation, and self-rejection. He thinks if he engages and does more activity, his painful symptoms will go away. As his performance improves and the praise from others puts him at the top of the world, he once again burns out and repeats the cycle all over again.
Let God Be God
To some degree each person reading this must admit that he is vulnerable to believing the lie that he must earn the right to be loved, which causes him to work harder and harder to perform. This performance may be rewarded in countless ways: the job promotion, the higher pay, the status, the compliments, the financial independence, the greater number people helped, or the sense of well-being that comes with approval and acceptance. It may all seem so right, but if God’s glory is not being manifested in the activity, His presence is not breathing life into it. It becomes a dead work (1 Corinthians 3:11-13), fueled only by self-willed passions and desires.
Escaping the entrapment of the performance orientation cycle often involves forgiving the people who caused the hurt. The work of forgiving another person requires not merely mentally assenting to a need for change, but also motivationally responding with a will to pursue the change. A heart of brokenness is the fertile soil for the seeds of forgiveness. This theme is reiterated several times in the book of Isaiah which says: “‘Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?’ declares the LORD. ‘This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word’” (Isaiah 66:2). God’s Word is the ultimate authority in the Christian’s life. A heart of forgiveness is produced by a heart accepting its need for the Word of its Creator (John 14:23).
Receiving God’s forgiveness requires a realization of the truth of our need and inadequacy. But it must always be remembered that God required nothing of Adam and Eve before He initiated the reconciliation process. He came looking for them and questioned them about their fig-leaf covering before they ever acknowledged their sin and shame (Genisis 3:6-11). God does the same for each person. Accepting the Gift of Jesus to cleanse from sins requires not only honesty of an unclean condition, but the humility to receive the help to become clean.
A cleansed heart (by receiving God’s forgiveness for our sins), is what empowers us to extend that forgiveness to others. We must release our claims to be Judge. Forgiving is not about what we do, but it is foremost about what God has done. Forgiveness is surrendering to God the sole right to judge a person’s performance (including your own). Surrendering to God is the true path to living free of a performance-based life.
Some Questions for Reflection
Can you think of a time/ example in your life when you battled the urge to overly “perform” your way to success?
What made/ makes it difficult to surrender the outcome(s) to God? What judgmentalism might be involved?
Am I willing to commit to allowing God to make the change(s) in my heart, necessary to be at greater peace with God as the ultimate Judge?