September 2, 2025

Dear Friends,

After his mother, the last of eight siblings, died, Gordon MacDonald had a life-explaining conversation with one of his cousins, who pulled no punches in describing that whole group of siblings as “quitters.”  MacDonald described his response to that moment in this way: “The best way I could put it was this: I had a quitter’s gene in me. Forgive me if this is not a clinical statement that a psychologist might recognize. But it explains things to me, even if it is a harsh self-assessment . . . of my mother, of myself.” (Gordon MacDonald; A Resilient Life)

Fortunately, despite his “genetic’ predisposition, MacDonald encountered a man in high school, his track coach, who seemed to recognize that trait in him. Gordon was an immensely talented runner but he was prone to not “give his all.” He did enough to win but not to be his best. After winning many races, he decided that he was going to take it easy in his senior year, enjoy a more leisurely life, more dating, more fun, less training. Afraid to talk to his coach, he wrote him a letter, explaining his logic. MacDonald describes the return letter that arrived quite soon. In it, the coach systematically dismantled his arguments, exposing them for their shallowness and selfishness. MacDonald adds the last point of the coach’s argument: “’But most of all’ — and here he went straight at the jugular vein — ‘you will have inadvertently reinforced a dangerous character trait: specifically that whenever you are faced with a challenge you don’t like, or that seems too difficult, or that asks from you too great a sacrifice, you will find it easier and easier to walk away from it’ … in other words, to quit.” (Ibid)

Are you a quitter — at life development, at your Christian faith? Let me help you to evaluate yourself. A quitter attempts things but never completes them (usually for what he thinks is a good reason). A quitter has goals that are never attained (though it is almost never his fault). A quitter does enough to get by or to be better than those around him but seldom, if ever, actually does his best. Quitters do not often lack goals or plans; they lack follow-through.

I’m conscious that there are younger and older believers who are reading this. So, let me be even more specific. MacDonald would argue, and I would agree, that the first forty or fifty years of our lives involve us learning how not to be quitters. After that point, we get to learn to apply that knowledge and discipline because getting older is not for the faint of heart. Far too many people my age just give up and start to exist rather than live. All of the stuff of our early years — relationships, learning a profession, raising children, learning to be committed to a local body of believers, becoming a good person, suffering setbacks and failures — give us the opportunity to develop resilience. You see, it’s not quitting that is ultimately the problem. We all quit at some point. But those with resilience are the ones who don’t give up. They get back on the horse. They keep going, keep learning, keep repenting.  

So, let me ask you again, ‘Are you a quitter?’ More importantly, are you learning resilience? Are you becoming more resilient? If you are, Jesus is pleased! More practically, you will be continuing that ‘long obedience in the same direction’ that is discipleship.

Blessings!

Doug