DOOLEY NOTED: Beware of the slow drift

Early this month, four scuba divers off the coast of Flores, Indonesia experienced a frightening reminder of how easily we can lose our way. During an underwater excursion, powerful currents swept the divers farther and farther from their intended location. Despite their extensive training and experience, the swimmers soon found themselves miles from safety.

Thankfully, rescuers found all four of them after hours of uncertainty. The frightening ordeal illustrates how easily we can end up where we never intended to be. Choosing the wrong direction is certainly possible, but more common is the slow drift that unknowingly redirects our path. The same principle is true spiritually. 

Most people who abandon their faith do not wake up one day determined to jettison everything they once believed. Instead, unseen currents gradually pull our hearts away from God through a series of small, seemingly insignificant compromises. Through the first of five warnings in the book of Hebrews, the Bible reminds us to pay careful attention to what we believe, lest we drift away from it over time (Heb. 2:1).

Much like the lost divers in Asia, the biblical imagery of drifting pictures a ship that slips past its harbor or breaks loose from its anchor. Apart from continued diligence, a vessel can move out of safe waters without passengers even realizing what happened. Spiritual drifting works the same way. Hidden currents constantly influence our lives in directions that are not immediately recognizable. 

Perhaps the current of familiarity poses the greatest danger for longtime churchgoers.  When the extraordinary truths of Christianity become ordinary to us, we are in grave danger of losing our faith. We can sing about the cross without contemplating Christ’s sacrifice.  We can read Scripture with no expectation that God desires to change our lives. 

Similarly, the current of busyness can also push us away from our Savior. Our schedules can become so crowded that we neglect the very relationship that gives our lives meaning. Between work and family responsibilities, along with countless distractions and recreational activities, we often give the Lord whatever time we have left. When salvation seems common to us or God is crowded out, we are already drifting.

Most threatening of all, though, is the unseen current of political correctness and compromise that plagues our society. Because the whole world lies under the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19), we can be easily taken captive by the foolishness of worldly wisdom (1 Cor. 3:19) rather than our devotion to Christ (Col. 2:8). The deadly philosophies of our fallen creation slowly erode longstanding Christian norms and doctrines, often without our realizing it.

Think I’m exaggerating? Take, for example, the strategic pressure to celebrate sexual relationships that the Bible plainly reserves for marriage between a man and a woman (Heb. 13:4). Pay attention to the nonsensical denial of biological sex as the determining factor of one’s gender despite God’s clear design (Gen. 1:27). Note the sleight of hand that redefines love as unconditional affirmation rather than speaking truth with compassion for others (Eph. 4:15). 

Consider the ecumenical pressure to deny the exclusivity of Christ for the notion that all roads lead to heaven (John 14:6). Recognize the constant encouragement to measure our success by the number of our possessions instead of our faithfulness to God (Luke 12:15). Or what about the common applause for self-expression and personal fulfillment that so frequently replaces the gospel call to deny ourselves by taking up our cross and following Jesus (Luke 9:23-24)? 

The danger today is not merely that our culture increasingly rejects biblical truth, but that Christians often gradually embrace what Scripture plainly condemns. Many people incrementally abandon biblical Christianity without ever making a conscious decision to reject Christ. Given enough time, seemingly insignificant compromises can lead to indifference about the gospel first, followed by an open denial of it. Tragically, many have so redefined orthodoxy that they boast of a faith that is completely foreign to the Bible. 

A warning like this ought to prompt our honest reflection. Have you lost your enthusiasm for God's Word? Has prayer become an afterthought? Are you increasingly comfortable with attitudes and behaviors that Scripture condemns? Does the wisdom of man or the wisdom of God shape your convictions? Do you still treasure Jesus Christ above everything else?

The great danger of drifting is that we rarely notice how far we have moved until the distance becomes unmistakable. Those divers near Indonesia needed rescuers to bring them safely home. The same is true for us. Staying faithful requires more than a renewed determination to do better. Only the Savior who died and rose again to rescue sinners can see us safely home. 

Let’s cling to Him with our whole heart. Let’s remain true to His Word no matter how much the world accosts us. Let’s remember that the temporary distractions of this world do not eclipse the eternal realities of our faith. Pay attention to your soul. The current is stronger than you think.

Dr. Adam B. Dooley is pastor of Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, TN, and author of Hope When Life Unravels. Contact him at adamdooley.org. Follow him on Instagram @DrAdamDooley.