Grit is trending these days. Have you heard of it? There was a viral TED talk by Angela Duckworth in 2013 and then she published a book of the same title in 2018 ― Grit: The Power Of Passion And Perseverance. In a nutshell, “grit” is mental toughness, the ability to persevere and keep at it in order to achieve a long- term goal. Like calculating what it is going to take to build that big tower and then keeping after it, no matter that a storm knocked it down or that the permit got delayed or that thieves stole the materials, just keep calculating and working until it stands tall for all to see and admire.

Is this calculated Christianity, this determined discipleship, about grit? Is Jesus telling us to be gritty followers?

There is a big part of me that wants this to be the case because, well…