488 The Spiritual Man
many trials and troubles. When face to face with the Lord he senses
intense holiness and victory, but when he emerges to perform his
daily tasks he finds himself as defeated and defiled as before. What
he wants is to escape his duties: he hopes that by lingering lengthily
before the Lord he can remain holy and victorious the longer. He
views these matters of duty as earthy and unworthy of occupying the
attention of so pure and triumphant a person as he. Since he cares so
much about finding time and place to commune with the Lord and
hates so deeply those works which are his duties, he naturally
neglects the need and welfare of those around him. Parents and
servants who think like this do not, respectively, take good care of
their children nor serve their masters faithfully because they judge
these duties as worldly, therefore of negligible worth. They believe
they must seek something more spiritual. The reason for this
unbalanced approach is the believer’s failure to walk by faith; he
continues to look for self-support. He has not yet been united fully
with God. Hence he needs special time and special place to
commune with God. He has not learned to discern the Lord in all
matters and to cooperate accordingly with Him. He does not know
how to be united with the Lord in the daily details of living. His
experience of God is but in his feeling; and so he loves to erect a tent
on the mountain and dwell there permanently with the Lord but hates
to descend to the plain to cast the demon away.
The loftiest Christian experience is never contradictory to the
duties of one’s pathway. In reading the letters to the Romans,
Colossians and Ephesians we can plainly see how perfectly a
Christian must perform his duty as a man. His highest life does not
necessitate special hour and situation in order to be manifested; it can
be thoroughly expressed at any time or place. To the Lord there is no
dichotomy between household work and preaching or praying. The
life of Christ can be exhibited through all sorts of activity.
As a consequence to living an emotional life we become
dissatisfied with our present position and are loathe to perform the