I’m not a get-in-the-water type of person. I’d rather walk along the shoreline, getting my feet wet instead of swimming out into the open. Better yet, let me sit on a beach chair on the dampened sand with a novel in my hand and a fizzy water by my side.
But when we headed out to Lake Huron with my sister and her kids this past summer, it was a question of getting fully submerged, or melting in the 90-degree heat. The cousins rushed in, splashing around and looking for Petoskey stones. I waded in the cool water and floated in a lounge chair contraption that let me relax and stare up at the sky.
I let the chilly water cool my sun-drenched skin and let my thoughts wander as I floated out into the open. I could hear the kids playing on the shoreline, and I could smell my coconut-sunscreen. Several minutes passed, and when I raised my head, I realized that the lake’s gentle current had pushed me quite a ways away from where my family was parked.
I guess this is what happens when you don’t give a thought to your surroundings. If you stay idle and go with the flow, you’ll end up somewhere you didn’t expect.
The Subtle Pull of Cultural Christianity
I hopped off my floating lounge chair and walked it over to where I wanted to be. I walked in chest-deep water against the slow current, and resumed my floating—this time keeping an eye on the shoreline and proactively paddling here and there to say where I wanted to be.
I find that a similar attention is needed as a Christian in America. The easiest thing in the world is to float along in the current of cultural Christianity, never questioning where you are in relation to Jesus, or giving thought to where you want to go. When you grow up in these waters, the current seems so gentle as to not be there at all.
But then something happens that makes you look up and around.
Maybe you move away from home after high school, encountering new ideas and different ways to worship Jesus. Maybe you experience a life-altering catastrophe, throwing into question what you thought you knew about God. Maybe you are hurt by trusted church leaders who lied to you. Maybe you simply grow uncomfortable in your church pew, wondering if it’s everyone else that has lost their way or just you?
Suddenly, you wake up to what’s happening: you’ve confused cultural Christianity with following Jesus; you’ve conflated “biblical” with Christ-like; you’ve mistaken God for a white man or simply tried to “subsist on inadequate ideas of God.”1 It’s time to course-correct, but it can be quite difficult to swim against the current, especially if it feels like your entire faith community is happily drifting along.
The Work of Theology: Paying Attention to What You Believe
This process of course-correcting is necessary if you are going to own your faith and deepen your relationship with God. It takes a certain attention to examine your beliefs, and intention to know God more intimately, choosing to follow the ways of Jesus.
This is the work of theology—the study of God—and it’s critical for everyone to engage in their faith as a theologian. What you believe to be true about God ripples out into every area of your life, impacting your choices, your family, your church, your relationships, your workplace, your community, and the world at large.
The Psalmist says: “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you.” (Psalm 9:10 NLT)
If you’re anything like me, sometimes the biggest obstacle to seeking to know God more by engaging in the work of theology, is believing that you already know God. Although we are saved by grace, it takes effort to root our faith in our own intimate knowledge of God.
Putting in this effort not only deepens our trust in God (better equipping us to handle life’s uncertainties and hardships), it positions us to join in God’s kingdom-building work, and strengthens us to make a difference in the lives of others.
Trusting God as You Paddle Forward
I don’t know where you are in your faith journey today. Maybe you’re floating along contentedly; maybe you’re just noticing something seems off; maybe you’re on your third course-correction; or maybe you’re treading water with intention as you keep your eyes on following Jesus.
Wherever you are, I hope you know that you are not alone in the water. God is near, and the Spirit is always ready to guide you as you paddle forward with purpose.
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- As Carolyn Custis James writes in her book When Life and Beliefs Collide ↩︎
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Sarah K. Butterfield 