{"id":39438,"date":"2024-11-11T14:18:17","date_gmt":"2024-11-11T22:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=39438"},"modified":"2024-11-11T14:20:19","modified_gmt":"2024-11-11T22:20:19","slug":"39438-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/39438-2\/","title":{"rendered":"How’s your Grit for God?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reading Angela Duckworth\u2019s book Grit: The Power and Passion and Perseverance<\/em> reminded me of a bike ride I took this past summer.[1]<\/a>\u00a0 It was a two-day 132-mile ride on a 71-mile crushed gravel trail in West Virginia that parallels U.S. Route 50. This was a trail that my wife and I began several years ago but did not finish.\u00a0 It had been a goal of mine to go back and complete the ride. I was alone, pulling a bike trailer with food and camping gear.\u00a0 Unfortunately, due to road construction where the\"\"<\/a> trail went under U.S. 50, I was unable to complete the trail.\u00a0 I rode a total of ninety-three miles that day, leaving thirty-nine miles for the second day.\u00a0 After a sleepless night, due to a broken air mattress, and with twenty-four miles to go, I experienced a flat tire. While I had a spare tube, I discovered it did not fit the bike I had recently purchased; the hole in the wheel was not drilled to fit a Schrader valve, only a narrower Presta valve.\u00a0 For the final twenty-four miles I had to stop every mile or two and use my small hand pump to re-inflate my tire.\u00a0 This was exhausting and part of me wanted to quit. I remember telling myself that this was a good lesson in enduring difficult circumstances that needed perseverance to finish thinking that it might represent the final two years of the doctoral program. I did not realize that I was exhibiting grit.\u00a0 What is grit? Grit, Duckworth explains, is a \u201ccombination of passion and perseverance.\u201d[2]<\/a>\u00a0 For me I found it to be the missing piece to Carol Dweck\u2019s Mindset<\/em> book, as I felt a person\u2019s mindset alone did not explain everything.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

In discussing the various components of grit Duckworth discusses purpose which is the focus of this post.\u00a0 She writes that \u201cmost gritty people see their ultimate aims as deeply connected to the world beyond themselves.\u201d[4]<\/a> Duckworth talks about a person\u2019s work being their calling versus a job or career.\u00a0 Those who see their work as a calling tend to be grittier people.\u00a0 Our calling might even be what James Smith refers to as our telos, which is \u201cwhat we want,<\/em> what we long for, what we crave.[5]<\/a>\u00a0 As Christians our calling or telos is \u201cto make God\u2019s kingdom \u2018come\u2019 so that it may be \u2018on earth as it is in heaven\u2019\u201d[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

When I think of some of the grittiest people, I think of the stories of people in the Bible, each one had a calling from God, which gave them purpose. In their book Living Vocationally: The Journey of the Called life <\/em>Paul Wadell and Charles Pinches discus the calling of four people from the Bible, Jeremiah, Moses, Isaiah, and Paul[7]<\/a>\u00a0 Think about what each of these individuals endured to fulfill their calling, consider how much grit they possessed and whether you possess that much grit.\u00a0 I am going to expand on Jeremiah and Paul.<\/p>\n

The introduction to the book of Jeremiah in the Life Application Bible says this about Jeremiah \u201cHe was thrown into prison (chapter 37) and into a cistern (chapter 38) and he was taken to Egypt against his will (chapter 43). He was rejected by his neighbors (11:19-21), his family (12:6), the false priests and prophets (20:1, 2; 28:1-17), friends (20:10), his audience (26:8), and the kings (36:23)\u201d[8]<\/a>\u00a0 Despite all of this, Jeremiah fulfilled his calling for 40 years.<\/p>\n

In the book of II Corinthians, Paul delivers his grit resume.\u00a0 Paul speaking about himself wrote:<\/p>\n

\"Unknown<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cFive times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.\u00a0 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.\u00a0 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.\u201d[9]<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite all of this, Paul continues to preach the gospel or makes arrangements for it to be carried out.<\/p>\n

Reading about these and others in the Bible, makes the inconvenience of a flat bike tire seem like a walk in the park. What provided these individuals the grit necessary to fulfill their calling? I believe it was hope. Duckworth writes \u201cOne kind of hope is the expectation that tomorrow will be better than today.[10]<\/a>\u00a0 The author of Hebrews begins Chapter 11 by saying \u201cNow faith is confidence in what we hope for\u00a0and assurance about what we do not see.\u00a0This is what the ancients were commended for.\u201d[11]<\/a>\u00a0 Those listed in Hebrews 11 and many others possessed grit that enabled them to fulfill their calling; not just because they cared about their audiences but because they truly had hope, hope that God would deliver his people.\u00a0 As a Chirstian leader do you possess a calling that gives you purpose and the hope that God will make things better?\u00a0 Do you have the grit necessary to fulfill your calling?<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Angela Duckworth, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance<\/em>, (New York, NY, Scribner,2018)<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Duckworth, 8.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Carol Dweck, Mindset: Changing the Way You Think to Fulfil Your Potential<\/em>, (Great Britian: Robinson, 2017); No surprise, Duckworth summarizes Dweck\u2019s growth mindset in her chapter on Hope. Like mindset, the concept of grit is one that you cannot unsee.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Duckworth, 148.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> James. K. A. Smith, You are What You Love<\/em>, (Ada, MI: Brazos, 2016).<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> N. T. Wright, & Michael Bird,\u00a0 Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies<\/em>, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2024), 151.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Paul J. Wadell and Charles R. Pinches, Living Vocationally: The Journey of the Called life, <\/em>Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2021.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Bruce Barton (editor), Life Application Bible: New International Version<\/em>, (Wheaton, IL, Tyndale, 1991), 1283)<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> 2 Corinthian 12;\u00a0 Image is from an Unknown English Artist,\u00a0St. Paul and the Viper, c1180,<\/em> mural, The Visual Commentary on Scripture, https:\/\/thevcs.org\/paul-malta.<\/a><\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Duckworth, 169.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Hebrews 11:1-2 (NIV).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Angela Duckworth\u2019s book Grit: The Power and Passion and Perseverance reminded me of a bike ride I took this past summer.[1]\u00a0 It was a two-day 132-mile ride on a 71-mile crushed gravel trail in West Virginia that parallels U.S. Route 50. This was a trail that my wife and I began several years ago […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":200,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3324,2967],"class_list":["post-39438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-duckworth","tag-dlgp03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/200"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39438"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39444,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39438\/revisions\/39444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}