What Pokémon Can Teach Us About Abiding in Christ
Most of us start ministry full of idealistic enthusiasm mingled with a few misconceptions. Although we might not say it this way, many of us pursue ministry as though we “want to be the very best, like no one ever was.”
We heard God whisper to us that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few (Matt. 9:37-38). We knew it would be messy and there would be plenty of dying to self, but still we pictured ourselves frolicking through fields with the Lord of the harvest, a throng of changed lives behind us. Yet nothing prepares us for the stress.
No matter the context—in the church, marketplace, even at home—the stress of ministry can be so heavy. Usually, if it feels too heavy, we are shouldering weight that isn’t ours to carry.
One of my favorite parts of walking with Jesus is how he breathes new life into familiar truths. The other day, I was feeling the weight of my own overwhelming to-do list and the brokenness in the lives around me. I was juggling several tasks at once while trying to act interested as my nine-year-old son offered yet another ultra-detailed description of Incineroar, his current favorite Pokémon.
Suddenly, staring at the kitchen counter, covered with Pokémon cards, the Holy Spirit struck my mind like a thunderbolt. As I was gazing at my Pokémon-laden counter, I saw the familiar truth of John 15. When Jesus calls us to abide—to stay or remain in him—the Spirit of God weakens our resistance, captures our hearts, and challenges us to grow. In many ways, he is calling us to live like Pokémon.
I realize that might not make sense to you, so let me offer you a crash course in Pokémon.
CAUGHT IN BATTLE
Basically, there are hundreds of creatures, all different types—such as fire, water, grass. Pokémon trainers go out looking for them in the wild. Once caught, they can be tamed and taught to help their trainer win battles. From then on, they dwell in a snug Pokéball clipped to the trainer’s belt, awaiting their turn to engage in his or her fight.
So, the life of a Pokémon consists of being cared for by the trainer, being called on to join the trainer’s battle, and resting at the trainer’s side. More importantly, here is what Pokémon don’t do: they don’t fret over strategy, worry about details, or over-analyze possible outcomes. In sum, they don’t stress.
Neither do believers have to stress about their next move. We simply need to listen to and obey God’s voice as we engage in ministry and minister to the lost. As rescued children of God, we are not only being trained in his way, we get to be passionate about his fight. For he has battled sin and death and claimed triumph (1 Cor. 15:55–57). He is taking the weak and making them strong. He is going to the far corners of the world and claiming the lost. And he has welcomed those of us in Christ into this good fight (1 Tim. 6:12).
“Like a Pokémon attempting to do the work of its trainer, we get our moves mixed up with the Holy Spirit’s work.”
Yet sometimes our zeal for the Great Commission blurs our vision. We can, at times, put too much emphasis on our own ability. Like a Pokémon attempting to do the work of its trainer, we get our moves mixed up with the Holy Spirit’s work. Clearly, the shoes of the Almighty are too big for any of us to fill. He is capturing hearts and saving souls. He is conforming his children into the image of Jesus (Rom. 8:29; 12:2). He is working all things for his glory.
None of that is up to us. None. Our work is to abide in Christ (John 15; 1 John 4:12–15). When we do, he will direct and empower us to take our place at his side.
FOLLOWING COMMANDS
The concept of abiding in Christ has been beautiful to me since the day I underlined it with a sparkly gel pen in my middle school Bible. Over the years, though, this truth had become faded and flat. I saw it as another box to check on my quest to bear fruit. But abiding in Christ is not something we check off once during the day. Rather—for those who believe—it is a state of being. Our lives are hidden in Christ, who is our life (Col. 3:4). We have a minute-by-minute choice to trust the one with a strategy.
Working for Jesus is stressful. Due to our limitations, we can never fully meet the needs around us. Working with Jesus, on the other hand, is restful. He has no limitations and is already at work in every situation. Not only that, but he has also guaranteed that the result of abiding in him will be fruitfulness (John 15:8).
“Working for Jesus is stressful. . . . Working with Jesus, on the other hand, is restful.”
Again, we can take some cues from Pokémon. Once captured, Pokémon remain in the ball. And when the time is right, they are called out to follow their trainer’s commands. We too can rest at Jesus’ side and trust he will guide us as he sees fit. We are not the mastermind behind the plan. It is not our power that brings victory, nor our performance that bears fruit. It’s all him!
In John 15, Jesus gently points out the futility of trying to do his work without him. “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me” (John 15:4). And because he knew our propensity to depend on ourselves, he immediately explains, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
Ten times in ten verses, Jesus uses the word abide. Then he gives us an explicit reason for the repetition: “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).
CAPTURED BY JOY
Our level of stress is in direct proportion to our level of self-dependence. So, what’s the rule of thumb to know if we are abiding in him? Just pause to notice how you are going about our day.
For me, I’m either wearing a perpetual frown and chewing on my lip, or my forehead is relaxed and I’m filled with praise. If I’m scurrying about with low-grade anxiety trying to figure out how to fit everything in just twenty-four hours, I’m rejecting his invitation to abide, to stay, to remain in him.
When you boil it down, abiding in him is simply living in and being filled with his presence. And in his presence is fullness of joy (Ps. 16:11)! And where there is fullness of joy, there is no room for overwhelming stress. Stress cannot hold us hostage. Instead, we are captured by joy.
“If I’m scurrying about with low-grade anxiety trying to figure out how to fit everything in just twenty-four hours, I’m rejecting his invitation to abide, to stay, to remain in him.”
But what about when we catch ourselves stuck in a stressful, performance-based mindset? How do we switch back to the rest and joy of abiding? All it takes is a quick moment of repentance. We acknowledge that we have agreed with the lie that God is passive and that we must independently carry out his work for him. And then he takes our stress and welcomes us back to his side.
Just to be clear, “don’t stress” is different than “don’t feel.” The more we abide in Christ, the more one with him we become. He feels deeply. So will we. The Apostle Paul was often moved to tears when he considered the plight of the unsaved, as well as his longing for the growth of young believers (Phil. 3:18; Acts 20:31).
Abiding in Christ doesn’t preclude us from the heartache of life in a fallen world. Instead, it permeates sorrow with joy. We get to enjoy the presence of our Lord as we work with him to carry out his rescue mission in the lives around us.
REST IN OUR TRAINER
The beauty of ministry is that we are simply participants in the battle our Lord is already fighting. For his glory and our joy, he has prepared ways for us to join him daily in his work (Eph. 2:8–10).
We can go about it fueled by his Spirit and at rest in him. We can keep in step with him (Gal. 5:25) and leave the details and results to him (1 Cor. 3:5–7).
Let’s live more like Pokémon. Let’s—instead of stressing—joyfully join the fight and rest at the side of our good and commanding trainer.
Stacie van de Weghe wears many hats––wife, mom of boys, youth leader, teacher, homemaker––but her identity is a beloved daughter of the king. She loves to read, run, hike, write, and drink good coffee. But not all at the same time.