Walk Worthy of Your Victorious Savior
Have you ever been caught in a riptide at the beach? It is a powerful current that forms under the surface of the water. People swimming near the shore can get caught in one and quickly dragged out to sea. They sometimes ending up far out into the ocean. It is a dangerous and scary condition that causes a number of deaths every year. Yet, the current itself does not harm anyone. It is just water. It is the reaction of the person that gets them in trouble.
What would you do if you felt yourself being pulled away from the beach far out in the ocean? Most people react instinctively and fight against the current. They swim their hardest against the pull to try to get back where they felt safe. It makes sense. It feels right. Yet, it is exactly the wrong thing to do. They are fighting against an ocean tide, literally. They are not going to win that battle. Their efforts get them in more trouble eventually tiring them out and causing the actual drowning. What seems like the right thing to do to their mind is actually the most dangerous.
It is the same idea with your walk with Jesus. There are so many tides that try to grab onto you in life. There are sins, social causes, political movements, and more sins. There are actions that seem religious and holy. Your flesh tells you to engage with them with all your might and power – whether for good or ill. It seems to make sense to use will power, self discipline, and your strength to do the things that seem just and right. Yet, this gets you in just as much trouble as the swimmer struggling against the tide. You are wearing yourself out fighting against yourself. Using the flesh to fight the flesh never results in something holy.
It is only when you stop fighting and submit to the One who already won the battle that true holiness is possible in your life. It is not about your actions, it is about your Savior.
I have been cautioning leaders in my church for years about depending on politics to advance religious tenants. Because politics can work for us and the next election work against us. Paul urged us to pray for the government – even when Nero was the Caesar. The model of the first century church was to pray and serve. So many people in our congregations have resorted to politics in lieu of prayer groups, outreach, and benevolence. But God is about changing us, changing the voters, changing political leadership – in that order – not the reverse.
Politics and other opinion based issues are challenging for us because there are many things we are actually right about. There are evil things happening and things are getting worse. Our desire is to set things right.
Meanwhile, that is Jesus’ job that He says He will do when He returns. Ours is to preach the Gospel and praise Him until then.
I agree with you – the church is a one person at a time type of change organization. We upended the Roman empire. We can change any society – if God wills.
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