by David Dixon
Picture yourself in a canoe moving down the river.
It begins as a smooth journey and the destination is clear. As the river carries you forward, you begin to notice that it is moving a bit faster, but it doesn’t seem like anything to worry about. You still feel confident in your direction. You keep your head up and eyes forward until something catches your eyes on the bank of the river. It is a village. You see people of the village yelling and shouting about something. They are pointing upriver, but when you try to steer your canoe closer to hear them you realize that now the water is moving too fast for you to cut toward the shore.
As the river bends, you see what the people were shouting about: rapids. The rough waters make it difficult to see where you are going, and your hands start to shake a bit. You begin to doubt whether the journey is worth the destination. As the water makes its way over the edge of the canoe, fear settles in and you begin to wonder how you are going to get out of this situation. You try and try to paddle, push, or even redirect the boat toward calmer waters, but it seems hopeless as you are caught up in the energy and direction of the river. What will you do? How will you respond?
Perhaps this story captures how you feel about the culture and circumstances of our day. When you watch the news or see the comments on social media, do you feel discouraged? Like being caught in rapids? Do you feel powerless to bring about some change in the world around you? Like you will never be able to make it to your destination? Do you feel exhausted from trying harder? Like no matter how fast you paddle, you don’t seem to go anywhere?
If you feel any of this, you are not alone. There is so much to process going on around us that it is overwhelming to our brains. From the parenting difficulties at home to the conversations about politics to the fallout of racial issues in America to that fight you had with your spouse to the conversation about Jesus that you had with your co-worker. It all comes at us so fast. How can we make sense of it all? Is it possible to navigate the waters of culture as a follower of Christ?
In his words to the Corinthians, Paul writes, “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.” (1 Cor. 2:12-13 ESV)
As a Christian, someone who has been transformed by Jesus, we have received the beautiful gift of the Holy Spirit. Through the gift of the Spirit, God gives us wisdom and understanding so that we might discern and interpret the spiritual truths of the world around us. God transforms our thinking so that when we look at the issues of our day, we see them with a different perspective: A Gospel perspective.
This Gospel perspective is a blessing to us as it allows us to see through the rapids, through the limitations of human understanding, and to approach life armed with the hope and peace of Jesus. When we catch a news story, struggle with a family member, grapple with a cultural issue, or have a difficult conversation with a church member and we feel like the river is picking up steam and the rapids get a bit faster, we don’t have to come up with all the answers. We can draw near to the Spirit of God and ask him to give us understanding. We can trust that the Spirit will help us to sift through what is human understanding and what is godly understanding.
With this gift it doesn’t mean that we will necessarily gain instantaneous enlightenment, but it does mean that we don’t have to have all the answers on our own and that we don’t have to figure out a way to conjure up the power to change these things in our own. In Christ, we have been given a transformed mind to see the world differently and the power to live in the freedom of Christ.
If you felt like the rider of the canoe earlier, trying hard to make sense of it all, struggling to affect change, or feeling a bit hopeless, then I would encourage you to lift up your eyes today and ask the Spirit for wisdom to see your world through a Gospel perspective. As you do this, keep an open mind to how the Spirit might want to change your thinking or your perspective. He is wanting to give you this good gift.
As the Spirit gives you that spiritual understanding it may not change the size of the rapids or take away the problems around you and in you, but you can trust that the Lord who gives wisdom is also faithful to use that Gospel perspective to bring about transformation in your life that leads to greater freedom and joy in Him. With Jesus, we can navigate the waters of our culture.
Grab your paddle with me and let’s keep our eyes focused on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
Our district’s proclamation track, the Gospel and Culture is launching next week. If you have any interest in joining us for the almost year long journey of learning more about the Gospel and how to discern culture, please reach out to David today at david.dixon@epdalliance.org.