In the book “Pilgrim’s Progress,” the most influential Christian work after the Bible, we are told the story of the pilgrim Christian. Christian is shown by a man named Evangelist the sinfulness of his own society. He then desires a better life, away from the darkness and hopelessness of his hometown, The City of Destruction. He is warned that his quest will be difficult and a mysterious burden on his back, which he is unable to remove, makes it even more strenuous.
Christian must keep his eyes on the Celestial City and follow the path upward. However, when the journey becomes too demanding, or distractions pull him away, he leaves the path, always to his detriment. He turns to the wrong people for help — from Worldly Wiseman to a man named Ignorance. Eventually, he finds himself in the dungeon of the giant Despair, losing hope that he shall ever return to the road or have his burden removed. Thanks to his friend, Hopeful, and prayer, he miraculously escapes and returns to the right road. Though beset by misadventures, Christian ultimately learns the necessity of hardships for his progress: “It is always hard to see the purpose in wilderness wanderings until after they are over.”
As we approach another year, so many of us have burdens we want to dislodge and hills we hope to climb. Even though we have much to be grateful for, we want things to be better. This longing for improvement is the origin of the infamous New Year’s Resolution. These resolutions can spark journeys of progress, and like Christians’s resolve to reach the Celestial City, they may aid us in our eternal quest.
I have always struggled with consistency. But ironically, I consistently fail at keeping my New Year’s resolutions. Despite this, each year I make new goals. Perhaps my failure results from the post-holiday state of indulgence and lethargy. Starting new goals in March seems to yield better results. Yet, if only to set an example of determination for my children, I plan new goals each New Year.
Many mock or criticize New Year’s resolutions, arguing they are too self-critical or futile. But we all want a better life, and waiting for our path to become easier, or for the world to change, is unlikely to bear fruit. Improvement begins with us.
Christ’s directive to, “Go and sin no more,” suggests that progression involves stopping harmful actions and moving upward in virtue. Like Pilgrim’s journey, our quest for self-improvement is fraught with challenges. Expert advice on how to succeed in our goals can help, but only when grounded in more transcendent truths. Self-help should never replace God or we may fall into the errors of Worldly Wiseman.
Dr. Jordan B. Peterson offers blunt advice for achieving goals: “Aim small. You don’t want to shoulder too much to begin with, given your limited talents, tendency to deceive, burden of resentment, and ability to shirk responsibility. Thus, you set the following goal: By the end of the day, I want things in my life to be a tiny bit better than they were this morning … You have to negotiate with yourself and not tyrannize yourself..”
One year I wanted to start making exercise a priority in my life. I decided, so as not to disrupt my day, to wake up at 5 every morning and work out. Though I managed it for weeks, I was miserable. As a lifelong sleeper, 5 a.m. pushed me beyond my capacity. So I failed. I had to admit that this goal required too much of a transformation for me. So I negotiated with myself and pushed back the workout to 8 a.m., or whenever I could fit it in. I can now say I have been successful in making exercise a part of my life.
As C.S. Lewis reminds us, “No amount of falls will really undo us if we keep on picking ourselves up each time. We shall of course be very muddy and tattered children by the time we reach home. But the bathrooms are all ready, the towels put out, and the clean clothes are in the airing cupboard. The only fatal thing is to lose one’s temper and give it up.”
Having built my workout habit, I may one day make progress on becoming an early riser. Perhaps not. Ultimately, neither my success in life nor entry to the Celestial City depends on my wake-up time or workout schedule — however, the ability to humbly seek improvement is central for any disciple of Christ.
When considering what journey of progression we want to undergo, our outlook should resemble George MacDonald’s description of God’s nature: “Easy to please, yet hard to satisfy.” Each small progress should be celebrated — but no accomplishment should be seen as the end of our progress.
But most importantly- we should seek the progress that truly matters. I remember sitting in a Sunday school class where the women discussed the verse that commands us to “be ye therefore perfect.” The conversation turned into confessions about untidy houses and rowdy children. These inadequacies were shown by women as evidence of how far they were from perfection.
But a perfectly tidy house is not the form of perfection Christ is desiring for us. What He desires is perfect obedience to His will - with His will invariably leading us to become a much different self than the one we imagine — and one who may, or may not, have time to keep a perfectly tidy house.
But as George MacDonald declared, “I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of; for to have been thought about, born in God’s thought, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest and most precious thing in all thinking.”
So as we decide our New Year’s resolutions, let’s include God in their refinement. If we see signs that Christian’s old advisers, Ignorance and Despair, are impeding us, or that Worldly Wisemen are influencing our priorities, let’s reach even deeper for spiritual strength and guidance.
When Christian languished in the Dungeon of Despair, he realized faith was the key to his escape — and it had been with him all along. If you find feelings of doubt and cynicism creeping in around February 1st, you too might find Ralph Waldo Emerson’s version of “Go and sin no more” encouraging, “Finish every day and be done with it. … You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; … begin it well and serenely … It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the rotten yesterdays.”
God does not condemn us for our weakness and will aid us as we attempt to improve ourselves. Like Christian, we are all on a journey, as symbolized in the allegory of Pilgrim’s Progress.
“This hill, though high, I covet to ascend;
The difficulty will not me offend.
For I perceive the way to life lies here.
Come, pluck up, heart; let’s neither faint nor fear.
Better, though difficult, the right way to go,
Than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe.”
Bunyan wrote his masterpiece while imprisoned in Bedford Jail. He learned in those long 12 years the limitations of his own effort. And I know my own — I can’t seem to wake up early, I always cave when mint brownies are present, and much more urgent moral failings confound me. Christian refers often to the horrible burden on his back — repressing him throughout his journey, and it is the same one we carry — be it addiction, guilt, trauma, or sin. But despite his burden, Christain got on the right road, stayed on it, or returned to it — and relied on Christ for the rest. Ultimately it is Christ that removes the burden off of Christian, and He can for us as well.
This New Year’s there is no need to shun New Year’s resolutions — progress towards the Celestial City will require better habits — but while goals will be helpful — Christ’s grace is essential. As we learn in Acts 4, “There is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” With determination, hope, and reliance on Christ, this year we can progress towards the Celestial City.