In “other” Words: The View from the Mountain Top

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The Sphere of Exultation

from “My Utmost For His Highest”

by Oswald Chambers

We have all had times on the mount, when we have seen things from God’s standpoint and have wanted to stay there; but God will never allow us to stay there. The test of our spiritual life is the power to descend; if we have power to rise only, something is wrong. It is a great thing to be on the mount with God, but a man only gets there in order that afterwards he may get down among the devil-possessed and lift them up. We are not built for the mountains and the dawns and aesthetic affinities, those are for moments of inspiration, that is all. We are built for the valley, for the ordinary stuff we are in, and that is where we have to prove our mettle. Spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mount. We feel we could talk like angels and live like angels, if only we could stay on the mount. The times of exaltation are exceptional, they have their meaning in our life with God, but we must beware lest our spiritual selfishness wants to make them the only time.

We are apt to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching, it is to be turned into something better than teaching, viz., into character. The mount is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something. There is a great snare in asking - What is the use of it? In spiritual matters we can never calculate on that line. The moments on the mountain tops are rare moments, and they are meant for something in God’s purpose.

It is not often that I totally disagree with the quote selected for this writing exercise. But this is one of those times.

We are built for mountains, dawns and aesthetic affinities because we are created in the image of the Divine Creator. So to say that we are not meant to reflect that beauty on a consistent basis is wrong and offensive to the one who made us — and reflects totally outdated thinking. The above quote was, after all, written in 1918 and reflects the kind of narrow, black-and-white, negative world view that was characteristic of that time period.

We are born pure and capable of being in spiritual conversation with the Divine in a most profound way, but then we grow and go out into the world — and become corrupted by its nature.

I don’t find anything remotely selfish or self-centered about striving throughout one’s life to recover that initial spirit of purity and openness. In fact, in my view of Christianity, that is what we should all ascribe to each and every day.

I do not believe that the Divine desires for us to leave the mountain top at all. Rather, I think that those moments of sheer elation, joy, and rejoicing are not the way we live every moment of every day because we are existing in a broken world. The author would have us believe that the Divine pushes us off the mountain when, in fact, I believe that we slide back down the hillside because we are, like this world, imperfect and unable to sustain our spiritual connection at that level of intensity. The Divine would rather that we remain in that type of communion on a constant basis, but it is impossible because of our flawed natures. It breaks the Divine’s heart and that heartbreak led to the ultimate sacrifice that was made in order that we will reach a point in time when we will live in perfect harmony with the Divine.

The most effective way to witness to others is to simply model the beliefs we espouse and reveal the joy that we feel when we wake up each morning to realize that we are at the beginning of another day truly made by the Divine Creator. You can preach to others from now until — literally — the end of time without changing their mind about spirituality or convincing them to believe. We utterly lack any ability to convert others. Only through the intervention of the Spirit can a nonbeliever come to know and love the Divine.

Mark 9:2-13 describes the Transfiguration of Jesus, witnessed by Peter, James and John. Surely that experience was meant to teach the disciples that Jesus was truly the Son of the Divine, as evidenced by their being enveloped in a cloud and hearing a voice declare “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” Following that event, Jesus told them not to speak of what they had seen until after they had seen the Son of Man risen from the dead. They were confused, of course, and followed his direction, but talked among themselves, trying to comprehend what he had told them.

To say that “mountain top” experience of the Disciples was not a teaching moment is to miss the point. Jesus was illustrating for them what he would look like after his resurrection and made them privy to his communications with Elijah and Moses in order to teach them what eternity will be like.

It is true that we toil here in a valley — coping with the mundane, ordinary aspects of our lives while seeking to fulfill our dreams, discern the Spirit’s whispering to us in those “still, small moments,” and understand the goals the Divine has crafted for our lives here in preparation for the next. Those are the milestones by which I evaluate the quality of my life. Those markers are the real test of my “mettle” because they reflect the fact that I am a unique and loved child of the Divine Creator, and bring honor and glory to the one who assured that I will spend eternity on top of a beautiful, flawless mountain top.