Paddling Against the Currents
Everyone knows that it is always easier to paddle a kayak or canoe with the current. That is why, except for the most experienced adventurers, people choose to paddle going downstream. This is also true when navigating cultural currents. It is much easier to just let the current push you along.
But what if we follow the God who routinely calls us to go upstream rather than down? The God who says to love our enemies even when the culture justifies hating them? The God who says obey my Word even when the culture says each person has his/her own truth? The God who says, “Follow me,” when the culture says follow your own dreams, do what you want to do?
The cultural currents have always been strong in moving away from the Lord. Throughout the Old Testament, one can see the pull of practicing idolatry. In the New Testament, the cultural currents moved rapidly toward polytheism and paganism. In more modern times, these currents pulled in the direction of racism, sexual immorality, and greed, among many. Today, these currents are strong in leading us toward self-centeredness, isolation, and mistrust, again among many others. And sadly, like every other era, the body of Christ is getting swept along. The Israelites were swept along. Many in the early Church were as well. Throughout church history the evidence is ample that the cultural currents were stronger than the will of most people to seek God, to trust him, and to obey what he revealed to them through his Word. As Jesus described it, But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:14)
When I was a college student, many of my peers and I earnestly sought to answer this question, what is God’s will for my life? For many years of my ministry to students, that question still was asked. Books were written for teens and twenty-somethings about how to find the will of God. By the end of my ministry, that was a question seldom asked. In those latter years, students often would tell me of their plans after graduation. I often asked them, particularly if they sounded very determined to see their plans fulfilled, what if the Lord has something else in mind for you? Have you asked him? Typically, the students would look at me somewhat confused because God’s will for their life was not something for which they were searching. They had listened to the many cultural voices that had told them throughout their lives that they could do whatever they wanted to do. That sounds good, but if one claims Jesus as Lord, should he not consult him about what he might want?
Another strong current that is relevant right now is the political one. Believers are being told by both political parties (and many of their pastors and friends) that their faith demands of them to vote for their candidates. And many of those claiming to follow Jesus have believed that one party or the other will somehow save the nation from the abyss. The truth is our problems are not political; they are spiritual. I just concluded reading both Kings and Chronicles and if there is a clear lesson in them for us today, it is that pursuing political solutions to spiritual problems never works out well. Yes, I believe we should exercise our right to vote, but I believe even more we should exercise our privilege to pray to the God who promises to listen to us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) He is the only One who truly has the power to change our nation’s circumstances.
So how do we navigate the strong currents of our culture that threaten to lead us away from the Lord? We place our trust in him to keep hold of us and not lose his grip. We trust that he will give us his strength to make it to where he is leading us. We don’t have to give up and give way. We can swim against the currents knowing he is swimming with us and has hold of us.
© Jim Musser 2022 All Scripture references are from the New International Version, 2011.
