‘I want a mountain experience‘ is what I hear regularly, or very similar words to that effect. And why not – church as I know it, as I have grown up in it, does seem to elevate the feel good factor over and above everything else.

I can think of plenty of churches where if everything is not happy then there must be something wrong with your relationship with God. In such places it is easy to feel guilty for actually having a hassle and not wanting to take part or do anything. In such places there can be formed a desire that basically denies the realities of our humanity and so we search for a way out – the mountain top experience can be the spiritual excuse.

A journey, a relationship, if it is to be authentic, necessarily has its ups and downs, its roughs and its smooths, it’s times of joy and it’s times of pain. If it did not it would not be far removed from reality. The reality is that in real life crap happens. If we genuinely decide to deal with that it means sometimes we feel crappy. Of course we can avid it and pretend everything is ok … and not feel crappy until much later!

As I look to Jesus the man I do not see a Jesus who avoids the crap.
I see a Jesus that engages with pain in humility, in compassion and with tears.
As I look to Jesus on the cross I do not see a Jesus who smiles while in agony and pretends everything is ok.
I see a Jesus who questions, who cries out to God in mental and physical agony asking why he has been forgotten.
That must have been pretty crappy!

Mountain top experiences are cool (its high up there!), they zap energy(there’s very little oxygen up there), they leave you hungry (there’s no vegetation/food up there) and they restrict you if you stay too long (nothing grows up there). They are great for a while, but we quickly need to come down if we want to get warm, eat and be able to breathe comfortably.

So … crave the experience on top of the mountain – but don’t rely on it, don’t stay there too long and sufficate …. we ain’t called to mountain tops, we are called to engage with humanity on the ground.