There’s no such thing as ‘Christ-maxxing’
‘So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.’ — 2 Corinthians 3:18
‘Only a sight of his glory, and nothing else, will truly satisfy God’s people… By beholding the glory of Christ by faith we shall find rest to our souls.’ — John Owen
Hey Subscriber First Name,
If you’ve spent any amount of time on social media recently, you’ve probably stumbled into the internet’s latest craze: ‘maxxing’.
‘Maxxing’—according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary—‘describes the practice of optimizing a specific aspect of one's life, often to an extreme degree.’
There’s ‘looks-maxxing’. ‘Fibre-maxxing’. ‘Sleep-maxxing’. ‘Skin-maxxing’. ‘Personality-maxxing.’
The list goes on, and on, and on. There’s no end to the ways we can self-improve, bio-hack and ‘maxx’ our way to become the best version of ourselves.
Unsurprisingly, the most vocal proponents of ‘maxxing’ are often beautiful people with perfect bodies living seemingly perfect lives, which they share through their perfectly curated social media feeds.
How do they do it?
For mere mortals like you and I, the ‘maxx’-life can feel as attractive as it is unattainable—especially if you don’t have a lucrative sponsorship deal with a skincare brand.
But I think our ‘maxxing’ obsession points to a much deeper, more fundamental issue at the heart of our culture (it always does, doesn’t it?)—one that has even shaped and infected the way we think about life with Jesus.
The cult of self-improvement
Self-improvement—and the self-help industry that has been created around it—is the cultural air we breathe.
Whether it’s listening to the High Performance Podcast or watching Steven Bartlett or reading Atomic Habits or following ‘maxxing’ influencers—we are obsessed by the idea that, through habits and hacks, we can achieve the perfect version of ourselves.
I could talk at length about how ‘self-help’ and ‘self-improvement’ have wrestled their way into the great pantheon of Western culture’s idols—how the veneration of ‘self’ flows from humanity’s most fundamental and original sin: pride.
But that’s not what I want to write about here.
What I’m interested in is how the cult of self-improvement—the cult of ‘maxxing’—has entwined itself in our thinking about discipleship and spiritual formation.
Because, so often, we talk about life with Christ in much the same way a self-help book might talk about personal growth.
Start these five habits. Take these ten steps. Eliminate this. Pick up that.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve found a lot of value in books and sermons about the spiritual disciplines, and I think this can be an authentic and valuable expression of life with Jesus.
The problem is when we put the means before the end—the proverbial cart before the horse.
When we focus on becoming a better Christian rather than beholding Christ. When we focus on doing before we focus on being.
We can treat the Christian life more like a project to be completed—as just another pathway to help us become a better, more fulfilled, more whole person—rather than what it was always meant to be: life with Christ Himself.
This is a tendency that Theo wrote about beautifully last week: the pressure we feel to ‘do more’ so that we can become ‘good enough’ for Jesus.
This kind of thinking is exhausting—and it’s anti-gospel.
Consider the verse that opened this email:
‘So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.’ — 2 Corinthians 3:18
What, says Paul, is at the heart of transformation?
It isn’t, first and foremost, a matter of doing something.
It’s a matter of beholding Someone.
‘Behold-maxxing’
The goal of the Christian life, says Paul, isn’t to make ourselves a better version of ourselves.
It isn’t to ‘maxx’ our way to holiness through disciplines and habits.
In time, we will become better, more-Christ-like versions of ourselves—but that’s not the starting point.
The goal of the Christian life, first and foremost, is to know and enjoy God in union with Christ.
It’s as we behold the glory of the Father, by looking to the Son, that we are transformed into His image by the power of the Spirit.
That means the starting point of the Christian life isn’t about jumping into the habits and disciplines—it’s about abiding in Jesus (why not read John 15—and Theo’s email from last week).
It’s about recognising that, in our sin, we are utterly powerless to make ourselves better.
It’s about surrendering ourselves wholly to Christ—letting go of our best efforts to sort ourselves out, and falling instead into the depths of His love and kindness.
This is the dynamic of the Christian life. We look to Jesus. We behold the glory of God. We see our sin, and we receive His mercy. And by His Spirit, we are renewed and changed into His glorious image.
That is what the Christian life is about.
It’s as we behold Him in His glory, as we abide in Him, that we are compelled to go and tell the world about Him.
It’s as we enjoy communion with our Triune God—as we are drawn up by the Spirit, in union with the Son, into communion with the Father—that we begin to reflect His attributes, His goodness, His character.
It’s as the Father’s love is poured into our hearts by the Spirit that we become people who look and love like the Son.
Of course, beholding God does involve doing something. We need to pick up our Bibles and pray and worship with His people and carve out time to be with Him.
But those disciplines are not the purpose of the Christian life. Nor is the purpose to be a ‘better Christian’.
The purpose is to behold and be with God, and as we do so, to become like Him.
If, today, you feel exhausted and disappointed in your efforts to be a more disciplined, more productive, more effective Christian, maybe it’s because you’ve confused the means for the end.
God loves you. He wants to be with you. He sent His Son to die for you. He has done all it takes for you to know and enjoy Him.
All you need to do is accept His invitation to come and behold Him, and experience the freedom of life in His Spirit:
‘For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom’ — 2 Corinthians 3:17
With love,
Mike