In our last post, I talked about how every one of us has a mission. God put you here for a purpose.
Our purpose as children of a good God is to build his kingdom and bring him glory. Yet we get off track and pursue things less worthwhile, building our own kingdom. What we pursue that is less than God’s best for us is what John Ortberg refers to as The Shadow Mission.
According to Jungian psychology, The Shadow is that part of ourselves that we hide, repress, and deny. While it seems like our dark side, we also put good parts of ourselves into our shadow.
As humans, we are capable of amazing things: kindness, creativity, love. But we don’t have to look far to see that we can do terrible things that cause great harm. For us to be fully integrated, we need to acknowledge both sides of ourselves.
It’s Hard To Acknowledge
By definition, the shadow is parts of ourselves that we cant see. It is hard to acknowledge and accept something that we don’t know about ourselves.
The reason we don’t see it is because our minds deny it. We want to consider ourselves better than we actually are.
These parts of us are buried deep in our subconscious. Similar to an iceberg, the majority of its mass is below the surface, where it is unseen. We only know a small portion of our true personality.
It is impossible to cut off parts of ourselves, and it only leads to more self-deception.
How to Integrate
Even though it is hard to see and come to terms with your shadow, remember you have the Holy Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit for light to see your shadow, and ask for courage to accept it.
Ask a trusted friend, what ways in which you can be self-centered? If you are married, you may have already been told! And if you work closely with a team, they would know also.
When you identify your shadow, it’s going to hurt a little. It is a blow to the ego.
Another way to do this is to observe what you are wrestling with right now. Look at the contradictions that show up. Things like I want to lose weight, but I would rather sit at home, watch TV and eat pizza.
I had to do this very thing this week. Let me walk you thought it.
In my sales role, there is a business owner that I have been avoiding reaching out to. We connected last year, the timing wasn’t right, and now it’s the New Year, I need to follow up.
But I’m not making the call. I would rather they be the ones reaching out to me. If they really wanted help, they would be calling. Why do I need to go beg for his business? He might blow me off again. Then I start making judgments, he is just sitting fat and happy, not interested in growing his company. I can get worse, but I think you get the point.
When I sit with the conflicting impulses, writing them down in two columns on a piece of paper, some insights start to materialize. It’s not that hard, have some fun with it. Do it and let the outcomes be what they are. The longer you wait, the resistance only gets stronger.
In this example, my shadow is have it all without the effort. So I made the call, and we had a nice chat. It didn’t result in an appointment, but I am in integrity with who I want to be, someone who does the work.
Knowing how deceptive achievement can be, Jung would ask people an interesting question that I often think about. I ask it of you:
Have you had any terrible successes this week?
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According to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ and a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Ephesians 1:9-10
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