Is there a 'silver bullet' for the Christian life?

Dan Steel | Comment

Date posted: 3 Sep 2026

Is there a 'silver bullet' for the Christian life?

Photo by the-lightwriter on i-stock

Friends, I have some bad news and some good news for you.

The bad news first: there are no silver bullets when it comes to the Christian life, or Christian ministry. No shortcuts. No secret wisdom. No hidden tip or technique. No one conference, book, strategy, leadership tactic, staffing structure, app, discipleship pathway, or productivity system that will suddenly make everything easy.

If you’re looking for "that" thing – "that" thing that will reduce all the friction, solve your stubborn problems, fix your ministry, solve your mediocrity and finally make Christian service feel smooth – then I’m afraid I’m going to have to disappoint you. "That" thing doesn’t exist.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

But of course, that is also very good news.

Because it means that, in the gospel of Jesus Christ, we already have all that we need. The Good News is good news. Our hearts may love novelty, but we don’t need to go hunting for something extra. There is no missing ingredient. We just need to keep receiving, trusting, enjoying, and depending on the Christ we already have.

That is not particularly glamorous, but it is wonderfully freeing. We can stop looking.

The Colossian Christians

The letter to the Colossians is dealing with something similar. The Colossian Christians wanted maturity. And that is a wonderful desire. Who doesn’t want to grow? Who doesn’t want to be wiser, more fruitful, more resilient and more useful to the Lord?! The problem, of course, was not that they wanted maturity. The problem was that they were being drawn away to look for it somewhere other than Christ.

For them, it seemed to come dressed up in impressive clothes: special wisdom, spiritual experiences, food regulations, fasting, festivals, visions, religious intensity. It all sounded deep. It probably sounded more advanced than the "shallow" idea of simply trusting Jesus.

But Paul’s response is wonderfully blunt. They had been duped.

Because if the answer leads you away from Jesus, that answer is not the answer.

'Stuck'?

And that is still true. Maybe sometimes we feel stuck in our Christian life. Maybe ministry feels tired, ordinary, underwhelming, or just paaaainfully slow? Maybe the church is not flourishing as we hoped? Maybe people are not changing as quickly as we prayed? Maybe we are not changing as quickly as we prayed? Maybe this was not your plan?! And in those moments, there will always be other answers vying for our attention, our hearts and our wallets.

I’ve sadly been around long enough to see them (often) more than once: The bestseller lists. The conferences. The coaching programmes. The tips, techniques, frameworks, and strategies. Some of them will be genuinely helpful. We should not be proudly anti-learning. There is good wisdom to be gained from others, skills to develop and mistakes to try and avoid. There are practical tools that can genuinely serve us well and we should seek them out.

But none of them are Jesus.

And if they subtly move our confidence away from Christ – if they make us think the real power lies in the method – then however impressive they look, they are not the answer.

Listen to how Paul puts it (Col 2v6-7):

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

Just as you received Him, continue in Him.

That is the Christian life.

That is Christian ministry.

Just as you received Him, continue in Him. deeper into all that we have in Him. Not moving on from the gospel, but being rooted and built up in it. Not finding a seemingly impressive silver bullet, but finding again that Christ is enough.