What's the Current Doing? (Part II)

In the newsletter a month ago, I explored the phrase “cultural current” by thinking about what the current of a river really does to those people or things that enter it. In that article, I focused mostly on the image of our culture as a current that is slow but persistent.
Obviously enough, though, change in our world is often fast, radical, and treacherous. It’s more like navigating through rapids with occasional waterfalls than like going down the Illinois near Tahlequah.
Anyone who is going to boat on a river needs both a way to judge how swift the current is and to determine how swift it will become and what obstacles it will present in the miles ahead. Currents do present dangers as well as opportunities.
We saw a stretch of the Yellowstone River in Yellowstone National Park that made this point so clear to me. In one section, the river was fairly broad, deep and calm, with the current’s speed looking deceptively slow.
Not far downstream, there was a sharp bend in the river flanked by tall rock outcroppings on either side. In that narrow pass, the abundance of boulders, along with the speed and shallowness of the water, made the section look impassible even by professional kayakers. Another long stretch of river in the park seemed gentle and easy enough to navigate, only to lead to a massive waterfall.
In short, anyone planning on boating on a river in a mountainous area must find some way to learn about the current’s dangers prior to starting his or her trip. One way is to leave the boat on the shore and hike the full length of the river that will be traveled that day. Another is to have scouts on foot ahead of the boaters—though they will find it difficult to travel as fast as a canoe or kayak on a swiftly flowing river. I could imagine the early explorers of the Lewis and Clarke expedition doing just that.
The more common approach now, though, is to consult a river outfitter who is deeply familiar with the stretch of river you want to enjoy. They can tell you the difficulty rating of that part of the river, which may help you decide whether or not to attempt the trip or whether inspection from land of some of the more difficult passages may be in order. The classification system, with six major divisions, can give anyone with some familiarity with it and with their own ability level the information they need to make a safe decision. These outfitters can also describe the more treacherous sections of the river, suggest ways to navigate through them, and even provide guides.
It is easy enough for us to realize that if we are going to get on a river we want to know where the current will be taking us and what challenges we will face along the way. It would just be foolish to get on a mountain river with no knowledge of what is ahead and assume that we can handle anything the river throws at us.
The current of our culture is not always slow, gentle, and easy to navigate. Positively, that makes for an exciting ride. Negatively, it means that we often make costly mistakes when we try to navigate our way through life without seeking help from some kind of guide.
The church is a community of kayakers that is unafraid to get into the sometimes chaotic waters of life and culture. But these kayakers are not “Lone Rangers” who do everything on their own. Instead, we are a body of people who constantly seek out words of wisdom from one another and keep our eyes peeled for others who may have gotten in trouble on the river. We are quick to report to each other where we’ve encountered trouble, in order to help others avoid the same mistakes. We are quick to seek out the guidance of others who have traveled the same or a similar stretch of river before. And we realize that much training is needed to become great kayakers.
Except when those things are not true.
For some crazy reason, we let our own pride get in the way of seeking out help, asking for guidance, seeking out mentors, and recognizing that some things are just more advanced than we’re ready to handle. When we act in these ways, we often fail spectacularly.
We have so many ways that we as Christians can get help along the way for navigating the cultural currents before us. Compared to previous generations, we are loaded down with options for study Bibles, commentaries on scripture, and Bible study groups we can join. It’s almost ridiculous how available they are. But if we don’t take advantage of them, it’s a little like getting on a river with no clue as to what may be ahead.
There is an amazing breadth of different kinds of Christian communities we can join, not to mention the smaller groups within those churches. But if we don’t come with openness to share when the cultural current has led us into treacherous places and with a yearning to learn from the insights of others—especially those more experienced than us—it’s like ignoring the presence of other kayakers who can teach and learn from one another.
The cultural currents of our day are often swifter than we realize, and the river is laden with dangerous obstacles. May we recognize our need for guides along the way, take advantage of the bounty of assistance right in front of our noses, put in the effort to learn the art of “kayaking” through cultural currents, and know when to get off the water. Then may we run the river with joy and confidence!