by Ramesh Richard
Slogans of spiritual surrender remind us to “let go and let God,” to “sit loose to things,” to “not hold things too tightly because when God pries open our fists, it hurts.” These powerful phrases address critical heart issues about our proneness to worry, our acquisitive greed, and our desire to control our lives. Most take-control, can-do, self-sufficient people need such pastoral correction.
However, a simple turn of the catchphrases could endanger spiritually lazy believers who do not take responsibility for their role in interacting with the initiatives of God’s Spirit and directives of God’s Word. They sit, rest, and wait when they should stand, act, and obey. In short, there’s both a “sit loosely” and “sit tightly” aspect to Christian life and ministry.
Forged from Scripture, theology, and experience, you may benefit from this listing of what I must “sit loose to” as well as “sit tight to.” Note that the “sit loose to” entries are not bad in themselves; they just are not best by themselves. They can obstruct “sit tight to” vitality.
| Sit Loose To | Sit Tight To |
| Possessions | Generosity |
| What you desire (and what you think you deserve) | What God has already done and to what God can do |
| The need to control things | Pursuing order in everything |
| Demanding clarity and certainty of life direction | Obedience—to increase clarity and certainty of conviction as you obey |
| Tasks, to-do lists, and tactics | Relationships, people’s needs, and objectives |
| Existential definitions of happiness—well feeling | Biblical definitions of joy—well-being |
| Short-term, temporal perspectives | The long view of success |
| Size and numbers | Weight and influence as indices to effectiveness |
| Results as your mission | Your purpose as mission |
| Public image | A godly reputation |
| The need for recognition | The privilege of inclusion in any aspect of God’s plan |
| Ministry projects and methods | Biblical and personal mandates |
| Strategic plans, especially if they seem to predict the future | Strategic frameworks built on God’s gifts, calling, and history as a prism for planning |
| Past successes and setbacks | Gratitude, faithfulness, and hidden initiatives in all these situations |
| Human beings as sources of provision | God as the source, with humans as mere means, of His provision |
| Your understanding of your best usefulness to God | God’s leading through Scripture, history, counsel, and circumstance for next steps |
| Personal rights | Personal responsibilities |
| Selfish ambition—running fast and independently without consulting God | Godly ambition—seeking God first in all things |
| Doing God’s work in man’s way | Doing God’s work in God’s way—often relating to matters of manner and motive |
We must hold to many of these good things loosely, that is, not tightly. But we don’t hold any of them lightly. “Nothing lightly” means we are responsible agents in life and ministry. An enhanced spiritual life slogan would read, “Everything loosely, nothing lightly.” Perhaps the list above practically applies Paul’s injunction to set our minds on the things above and not on the things of the earth (Col 3:2). We can then sit loose to the earth and sit tight to the Eternal.
