Did you ever swim in the ocean as a kid? Remember that feeling when a huge breaker crashed over your head, and the wave’s force tumbled you round and round until you came up gasping for air? Even if you’ve never seen the deep blue sea, maybe you can relate. Sometimes culture’s tides ease off, like they did with the conviction of Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd, and we breathe a little easier. But within days those tides are bound to rise churning up our anxiety until we wonder whether we’ll survive. When that happens, The Windblown Girl’s imagery provides a powerful visual of what can keep our feet planted on solid ground.

Shifting Sand

Years ago, my extended family had the incredible privilege of owning a small cabin located right on the beach. Some of my earliest memories involve arriving for a vacation and running across the green cement patio to see if the sand was in or out. If it was in, we could almost step over the seawall. If out, we’d jump down into the damp sand below. To get back up, we’d climb the wall’s ladder.

That sand rarely remained at the same level. Always in flux, we never knew what to expect.

Aligning our lives with cultural standards is much like that shifting sand. Trying to adjust to popular trends is not only confusing, but can also be dangerous as waves of depravity pound against our sensibilities. Despite taking a step in the right direction for justice, there’s still far too many erroneous messages and ongoing possibilities for hate-related crimes. According to experts, the potential still exists for another Covid surge. And, many former small business owners wonder how to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives.

Cliffside Erosion

Whether in a police force, government, journalism, entertainment–or even in the Church– unchecked arrogance has eroded our culture  in ways similar to the way water has been devastating California’s coastline.

In Matthew 7, Jesus offers a word picture warning us that:

Everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and its collapse was great (v. 26-27).

Most people have stopped heeding that warning. Politicians from the president (whether Biden or former President Trump) to the Speaker of the House to those in Congress ridicule and disrespect one another. Lying has become so commonplace that after a speech, media evaluates the number of falsehoods. After his first news conference as president, where he attacked the new Georgia voting law,.Biden earned four Pinnochios from the Washington Post

Before he even took office, President Trump earned five.

There has never been a serial exaggerator in recent American politics like Trump. He not only consistently makes false claims, but he also repeats them, even though they have been proven wrong. He always insists he is right, no matter how little evidence he has for his claim or how easily his statement is debunked. Unfortunately, we see little indication that this pattern will change during his presidency.

Obama earned three. So we continue electing liars and then making excuses for them. People who fabricate whatever they want to accomplish their purposes. And, according to the Bible–it’s wrong. Yet these chosen role models for our children teach them to lie. To stop the cultural confusion and noise, we must recommit to the truth and hold our representatives and entertainers to that standard. Of course, that’s easier said than done.

So, what do people of integrity do?

We Dig Down to Bedrock

Even as a child, I understood that the seawall was the only barrier standing between our beloved beach cabin and powerful waves of destruction. I can remember my dad saying that the engineers, who built it, had drilled down to bedrock. A rock-solid foundation kept the wall standing so it could reflect wave energy back into the sea and protect our precious family cottage.

For our society, truth is that bedrock. And, there’s only one source of all truth—our Creator, Jesus Christ. Though many people claim you should speak “your truth” or I “my truth,” that’s a misnomer. Real truth isn’t your perspective or mine. It’s absolute. Always true. Facts conform to reality. And, they can be tested. That’s why at a trial like Chavin’s, we have evidence and witnesses. It’s what makes logic and common sense necessary. If two people stand next to each other and one says a police officer committed murder and another denies it–there’s a way of getting at the truth. It is not based on feelings.

We Reject the Lie

Has anyone ever tried to convince you that your beliefs are wrong? Maybe people laughed at you or bullied you because of your convictions. Did you know that if millions of people believe a lie, it’s still a lie?

That happened to me when I was a young adult, and it almost destroyed me. After my mother accused me of being a prude for thinking sex outside of marriage was wrong, I decided to find out for myself. Although Scripture supported my convictions, I wasn’t a Christian and decided society couldn’t be wrong. However, it was. And, the consequences were devastating. (Much research documents the facts corroborating my experience.)

While on that self-destructive path, there were times I wanted to die. Then, I got to know Jesus who is the way, the truth, and the life that is the light of men. Once I stopped listening to people and started paying attention to the truths in the Bible, it began transforming my life in powerful ways. Ways that gave me confidence, security, and peace. That’s when I became determined to live in the Truth—about my self, sex, and others, no matter who tried to convince me otherwise.

We Ride the Wave

No longer was I at the mercy of cultural whims after drilling down to bedrock. In Matthew 7:24-25, Jesus said

Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.

Standing on the rock of Christ set me free to conquer cultural waves that otherwise produced anxiety, doubt, conflict, and chaos. Holding fast to truth empowered me to live with joy regardless of what’s going on in the world. In his book, My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers wrote:

God expects His children to be so confident in Him that in a crisis they are the ones upon whom He can rely . . . God expects of us the one thing that glorifies Him . . . to remain absolutely confident in Him, remembering what He has said beforehand, and sure that His purposes will be fulfilled.

Huge cultural breakers that churn up chaos and confusion aren’t supposed to suck Christ followers under. Instead, the reality of truth keeps Believers above the turmoil. When life’s surf is up and cultural winds blow fierce, spending time with Jesus every day prepares us to experience the thrill of riding the wave.