I felt foolish and terrified. I had let my boys venture into the surf on boogie boards near the jetty at Bastendorf Beach. They had gone far enough out to catch some waves, but no matter how much they thrashed around they could not get back. They were fighting a current that would not let them paddle to where Teckla and I stood yelling over the roar of the surf. This is Oregon where the water is cold and the surf, rough. They did not have on wetsuits, so we feared the cold, current, and exhaustion would drown them.
In a panic, I jogged back to the dunes where some surfers were basking in the sun. I pointed to my boys and breathlessly asked a surfer, “Would you help my boys? They can’t make it back to shore.” I expected him to grab his board and rush into the water, but he just looked out at my boys. Then he said, “They are caught in a riptide. Tell them not to fight it. It will carry them south and spit them out on shore.” Sure enough, by the time I got back to surf’s edge they were wading through the waves to the beach.
Over the years, I have seen many believers caught in spiritual riptides. They are a pastor’s nightmare. No matter how hard they paddle, they don’t make any progress or move any closer to God. They exhaust themselves, and in their exhaustion, risk giving up and sinking beneath the waves. There are several kinds of spiritual riptides.
A common riptide is the cycle of trying harder and failing harder. We thrash around feeling guilty and ashamed, vowing to try harder and do better. But we never do, no matter how hard we paddle toward shore. I was saved at age nine but was stuck in this riptide until age sixteen. To be honest, I was not enjoying being a Christian no matter how many altar-calls I answered. Finally, I said, “God I can’t do this in my own strength, but I am going to follow Jesus without giving up. And if I fall, I will fall toward you.” At the time, I did not know I was doing this, but I began to trust God to keep me and give me strength. I also trusted in His unchanging love—love that did not disappear every time I sinned. I trusted in the current of His grace to save me. The result was joy—and growth.
Another riptide we can get caught in is fear and unbelief. This happened to Israel when God was ready to lead them into Canaan. Israel refused to listen to the good report of Caleb and Joshua and would not trust God to give them victory over the Canaanites. They were stuck wandering in the desert because of their unbelief and disobedience. Sometimes we are stuck because in one area of our life we have said no to God. We fail to grow spiritually anywhere because we have declared one area of our life off-limits to God. Only complete surrender to the current of God’s brings us safely to shore.
A third riptide is a transactional relationship with God. This where we follow God to the degree that He keeps His end of the bargain. We will follow God if he gives us good health, a successful career, a happy marriage, godly children, and pastors that never fall. This huge tangle of “IF’s” makes all obedience partial, contingent, and tentative. To our stupid surprise, this approach never brings us closer to God. We never grow and never have the father/child relationship our heart longs for. To our dismay, we discover God will not stop being God. Clinging to Jesus and surrendering to the love revealed in His life, death, and resurrection sets us free from this riptide. We need to be able to proclaim that if God did nothing more for us than what He has done in Jesus on the cross, it would be enough.
A fourth riptide is our individualism. There is growth God can and will give only in the context of the Body of Christ, the church, the family of God. Because evangelicals rightly emphasize a personal relationship and experience of God, we are often blind to how central community is to God’s heart and his purposes. All the gifts of the Holy Spirit in I Corinthians 12, 13, and 14 are given for building (edifying) the Body of Christ, not so that individuals can have a successful ministry. Even the offices of apostle, prophet, pastor, teacher, and the evangelist are for equipping the saints. When we seek in isolation what God will only give in community—we are stuck.
And as with real riptides, escape comes when we surrender. One of the paradoxes of faith is how hard we must work at resting in God and surrendering to His will. So much of our peace and growth comes from letting God undo much we thought we had to do to please Him. God will unravel our agenda, raising up values we ignored and bringing down castles we built on the sand of our pride.