I have come to believe that the most important work in your life is to become more substantial. The world needs you to be more, not less. You need to be more present, more connected, and more motivated. Taking the long view, we are eternal beings who will not retire into heaven but instead will take our place in the great Kingdom that is yet to come. Our most important work here and now is to become stable, helpful, and open participants in every interaction, so that we may become capable inhabitants of the Kingdom yet to come.

We tend to be surprised that substance is God’s chief desire for us. In The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis writes of a man getting off a bus between heaven and hell. The primary characteristic of the people he encounters as he heads toward heaven is the depth of their being. They are more solid. They carry more weight. They have greater depth.

Because they were bright I saw them while they were still very distant, and at first I did not know that they were people at all. Mile after mile they drew nearer. The earth shook under their tread as their strong feet sank into the wet turf. A tiny haze and a sweet smell went up where they had crushed the grass and scattered the dew. – C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

When these people of great substance move, their presence is made known, by vibration and by a refreshing smell. Those who were headed away from heaven are thin and hollow, anxious and disturbed, unaware of their own impression. The people of substance repel them, though that is in no way their intent. The novel is a striking statement on heaven’s need for us to become more substantial, as we enter into a Kingdom that is substantial already.

So, how does one become more substantial?

You do not become more substantial by the invitation of others.

Others can make room for you. Others can draw you out, but the invitation itself does nothing for you. At some point, fairly early in your development, you need to know you belong, whether others signal your value or not. Your value is an awareness of your personality, or your strengths and weaknesses, of the truth that the room is better simply because you are in it.

There are two problems with waiting for an invitation. One is that for every person who invites you, there will be two people challenging you, likely due to their own lack of substance. Two is that your own lack of substance will work against you, and honestly, this is the more serious problem. I have developed a fairly firm substance, and still, it is easy for me to experience exactly this. I often feel relegated to a lower position when I am around people of substance.

The point of the Gospel is twofold. There is an announcement that in this tribal, hierarchical world in which we live, there is One who can lead us who will not become corrupt or be tempted to enslave those below Him. He is pure substance. There is a second announcement that those who were previously enslaved will be freed and grow into substantial members of His Kingdom. We often forget the second announcement and slinkily accept the first with a false sense of humility.

You do not become more substantial by working on yourself.

We live in a world where the most mature thing you can do is “work on yourself.” This saddens me because I believe those making this announcement are sincere and recognize that they need a deeper substance. They believe that a period of disengagement will strengthen them. And indeed I believe that we are all in need of times of rest and that we should be people with a rhythm of work and rest, though mostly work. The Biblical ratio is 6:1.

You need to know that you being in the room is better than you not being in the room. There is a voice in our heads that often makes us feel conspicuous. The room begins to spin, and we imagine each person wondering why we were invited into this meeting. Woody Allen captured this feeling perfectly when he jokingly said, “I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member.” We are repelled by substance.

A high sense of value is not equated to arrogance. True confidence does not believe that others must be less for you to be awesome. Through trial and error, through encouragement from others, we slowly begin to lean into our greatness. We know what we bring to the table that will elevate the experience. We flex this muscle and become more substantial by being present in the room, not by exiting it.

You become more substantial by knowing your worth in anxious moments.

A great presence is stable and open. It is not afraid of circumstances or ideas. A great presence welcomes other voices and even makes room for other voices, particularly those in dissent. These voices are not shouted down by our internal voices that fear the acceptance of others may mean the rejection of me. Instead, others feel truly heard, and that is often the goal of the substantial person above all else.

A great presence speaks not only their own thoughts but incorporates the voices of others. This person often becomes the anchor point of the discussion, as many others begin their thoughts by saying, “Like [the substantial person] said…” The great presence leads the group forward and carries many forward as it goes. This presence provides safety for even heated conversations. A great presence is grateful for the kind truth.

Jesus had a great presence. He always spoke the truth, and the crowds were grateful for it. He elevated the lowest and humbled the highest. He expressed love, compassion, and consternation. He elevated the disciples without lowering himself. His words became the foundation for others to build upon.

Final Thoughts

We might think the most important work is for us to become less sinful, and certainly it should be a goal, but the secret is we become less sinful as we become more substantial. As we grow deep, sin has less of a hold, less of an allure. We are not meant to be less, but more. We mature our genius and begin to see what was once rough become smooth and helpful.

Jesus was not invited to be substantial, nor did he separate Himself from others to become more substantial. He simply was and is substantial. And let me surprise you by saying, your nature is to be substantial as well. You lean toward being substantial.

His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love. – Ephesians 4:16 (The Message)

You are to become robust. The nature of the Kingdom is not hierarchical, though that is hard for many to release. Like James and John, many of us want to be first in the Kingdom, while others of us honestly hope to be last in the Kingdom. It takes the pressure off. Instead, your life becomes less about position and more about substance. The room is better with you in it because you bring something none of the rest of us have.

Take a balcony view the next time you feel put in a lower position. Learn to stand as tall as you can and fight against your own fragility. Every day, become a person of richer substance. See what you bring to the relationship and ignore what you do not. This is the most important work you can possibly do.