This is part of my year-long series exploring human-centered alternatives to the spiritual promises in Oswald Chambers’ classic devotional My Utmost for His Highest. Today’s entry, “The Gateway to the Kingdom”, promises that believers who become “poor in spirit” and recognize their “total futility” will discover that Jesus can “put the disposition that ruled his own life into any life,” claiming that spiritual poverty leads to supernatural character transformation where Christ makes believers capable of living by his teachings.
Here’s what focusing on spiritual poverty and waiting for divine character transformation actually delivered:
“You need to recognize your total futility,” her pastor explained earnestly. “The Sermon on the Mount should produce despair until you’re truly poor in spirit. Only then can Jesus put his disposition into your life and make you what he teaches. Stop trying to be good and start recognizing your moral bankruptcy.”
Jennifer struggled with anger management and moral failures despite years of trying to follow Jesus’s teachings. The promise of supernatural character transformation through spiritual poverty seemed like the answer to her repeated behavioral failures and mounting self-frustration.
Jennifer embraced this teaching about spiritual poverty completely. Instead of working on practical anger management techniques or seeking professional help, she focused on recognizing her complete inability to follow Christ’s standards. She believed that accepting her moral futility would lead to supernatural transformation where Jesus would make her capable of living by his teachings.
For months, Jennifer dwelt in spiritual despair, convinced this was the necessary pathway to divine transformation. When she snapped at her children or lost her temper with coworkers, she interpreted it as evidence of the total futility that would eventually bring miraculous change.
But the promised spiritual transformation was psychological self-destruction disguised as spiritual growth.
Jennifer’s focus on moral bankruptcy created deeper shame and self-hatred without producing the supernatural character change she’d been promised. Her anger problems continued while her self-concept deteriorated through constant emphasis on spiritual poverty and futility. The divine disposition that was supposed to replace her natural tendencies never materialized.
Meanwhile, Jennifer’s friend Carlos approached his own behavioral struggles with zero expectation of supernatural character transformation. When Carlos recognized his tendency toward road rage and workplace conflicts, he didn’t seek spiritual poverty but professional anger management counseling.
Carlos learned practical techniques for recognizing triggers, managing stress, communicating more effectively. He didn’t wait for Jesus to put divine disposition into his life but developed actual skills through cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness practice, conflict resolution training.
When Jennifer finally sought similar professional help, she discovered that lasting behavioral change required practical strategies and sustained effort, not spiritual poverty leading to divine disposition implantation.
Where was the supernatural transformation that recognizing total futility was supposed to produce? Where was Jesus putting his disposition into her life to make her what he taught?
The transformation that actually worked came through learning emotional regulation skills rather than waiting for divine character change. Carlos’s improvement came through evidence-based techniques and professional guidance, not through spiritual despair and moral bankruptcy focus.
The silence where divine disposition was supposed to be implanted revealed the truth: there was no supernatural character transformation available through spiritual poverty. Only practical skills and professional guidance that actually changed behavior when consistently applied.
Reflection Question: When has learning practical life skills been more effective than focusing on spiritual poverty and waiting for divine character transformation?
This story is part of my upcoming book “The Undevoted: Daily Departures from Divine Dependence,” which offers 365 human-centered alternatives to the spiritual certainties in Chambers’ devotional. Each day explores how reason, community, and human resilience can address life’s challenges without requiring divine intervention.
God or Delusion? 