What is Gritty Faith?
Toughest Faith
I can only imagine what Daniel was doing in the lions’ den, or what Paul was thinking as stones rained down on him. What was Job feeling as he scraped his sores? What was Mary feeling as she faced public humiliation for being an unwed mother?
Did they do anything wrong? No, not in God’s eyes. But their faith had to rise to the occasion.
They had what I call gritty faith.
It's a tougher-than-average faith that is determined to battle for a lifelong personal relationship with Christ.
There was a day when, out of sheer frustration, I was on the verge of giving up. Quitting felt very real.
I shared that frustration with a friend, and he recommended a book called Grit by Angela Duckworth. At first, I had no interest in reading it. I found out she was a psychologist and that the book was based on her research into grit. Honestly, that sounded boring. But eventually, curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to give it a chance.
I’m glad I did.
Her research suggested that a person’s level of grit could predict, with some certainty, whether they would succeed. That made me wonder: could the same idea apply to faith and to a person’s future as a follower of Jesus?
That question took me down a road I did not even know existed.
You and I will never truly thrive as followers of Jesus until we fully embrace the faith He gives us. I believe this is one reason so many people are deconstructing their faith. They have been living with something that left them empty.
Duckworth defines grit as passion and perseverance for long-term goals. (1)
The depth of my passion and my determination to persevere were deeply biblical qualities. They mattered in my walk with Christ. But I quickly realized that while I loved Jesus and was committed to worshiping Him with my life, I lacked the grit to finish what He was doing in and through me.
I was quitting on myself.
I am not saying you do not have faith. But your future and your fruitfulness as a follower of Christ may require a level of faith you have not yet experienced.
The days of simply knowing more about Jesus are over.
So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7 (NLT)
I was called into ministry at the age of 15. Serving is all I have ever known. I attended Bible college with dreams of going into the world and leading people to Jesus, helping them discover and experience the gospel for themselves. I assumed everyone else in ministry shared that same vision.
I was wrong.
In short, my wife and I were treated as a means to an end. We were not there to serve; we were there to perform. Sing well. Draw crowds. Keep people happy. Design beautiful buildings. Build great sound systems. Keep the church van fueled. Do it all for meager wages and under barely tolerable living conditions.
We made it work, but barely.
At one point, my wife and I were on the verge of divorce. I was grinding my teeth at night, and she was waking up screaming from night terrors. I was working seven days, 80 hours a week.
If I was going to survive, I needed grit.
So I prayed, “God, I’m listening.” Then I got quiet, and for the next few minutes, He told me exactly what to do.
What is interesting is that His instructions were not about ministry. They were about saving my marriage.
That was my first lesson about gritty faith: Be gritty about what God is gritty about.
Nothing was going to keep me from getting fired. But our marriage was moving in the right direction, and once that happened, so were we. By God’s hand, a church took a risk and hired me as a youth pastor, and we moved on.
Did life get any easier? No.
We lived in a converted Airstream trailer under high-voltage power lines near the local nuclear power plant. We were paid poorly, but by the grace of God, we made it. Once again, we worked hard, but this time our focus was on discipling teenagers and leading people in worship. The church doubled in size. It was overflowing. The finances were stronger than ever. For a while, we were the hottest thing in town.
Then one day, while I was praying in my office, God spoke to me and said, “In 30 days, you will be a senior pastor.”
I nearly passed out.
I asked Him several times to confirm what He said, but He only repeated the same sentence.
So my wife and I started preparing. We polished our resumes and got ready to move on. Then it happened.
One Sunday morning, the pastor called. His marriage was in serious trouble. He was taking a 30-day sabbatical.
Just like that, I was the senior pastor.
Honestly, I would rather have been punched in the gut by Mike Tyson than walk up to that congregation that morning. But what choice did I have? Run? To where?
That was where I learned my second lesson about gritty faith: Faithfulness is more important than success.
The reason God brought me to that church was for those 30 days. The church did not split. It did not fall apart. But I could already see the handwriting on the wall. The pastors lack of faithfulness was going to destroy everything.
Not long after that, I left and took a senior pastorate in South Florida. But that did not start well either.
They hired me, and then moved the church to another city without telling me. We went from a strip shopping center to a ten-story building. From a permanent sanctuary to a temporary one. We could not grow the first year because one of the deacons kept approaching guests with his multi-level marketing business. The treasurer was stealing money from the offerings. Problems, offenses, and sin surfaced constantly.
After a year of struggle, the people who had been controlling the church left one by one—some quietly, some violently.
That was where I learned my third lesson: Listen and trust.
I had to make so many hard decisions that the only thing I could do was pray, listen, and obey. I had some people I could turn to for wisdom, but the advice was always mixed. In the middle of all of my nightmares, I learned to trust God’s voice.
My next pastorate came at the invitation of the fellowship I belonged to. A church was in serious trouble, and they asked my wife and me to come and do our best.
We showed up to the first meeting, and people were so angry they were throwing hymnals at the leadership, screaming at the top of their lungs, and slamming doors. Someone handed me the keys and said, “Good luck.”
On our first Sunday, there were six people in attendance. That included my wife, me, and two friends I brought with us. I had to change the locks because so many items people had donated to the church had disappeared, including the plants in the front yard.
And from there, it got even harder.
This is where I learned many lessons about gritty faith, because I have now been here 30 years. But one lesson rises above the others:
Talent only got me so far. Wisdom is getting me the rest of the way.
There is nothing wrong with talent. It reflects the gifts and skills God has given you to serve others. But if you rely on talent alone to make you successful, you are trusting the wrong thing.
“Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment.” Proverbs 4:7 (NLT)
Some people make faith look like a performance. It is not.
Faith is the expression of our love and gratitude to God as we follow His commands and honor Him with our lives. Some call that worship. And they are right. Worship is more than a song. Worship is gritty faith in action.
When your faith stands up against the evil that would destroy you—your marriage, your family, your children, your grandchildren, your church, your ministry, your business, your friendships, and everything else God has entrusted to you—that is Gritty faith.
And here is the last lesson I learned: When people watch you walk through hard times with Jesus, they begin to expect Jesus to do something great through you.
- Duckworth, A. (2016). Grit: The power of passion and perseverance. Scribner.