Greek philosopher Heraclitus receives credit for the statement, “The only thing that is constant is change.” His companion statement, “No one steps in the same river twice,” confirms his underlying philosophy of life that everything changes. It’s interesting that Heraclitus lived circa 500 BC, a time when change and innovation was measured in centuries. We, conversely, live in a time when change and innovation is measured in years, and sometimes even months.

I’m old enough to remember when the iPhone was introduced in 2007. In sixteen short years, the iPhone is on its 15th or 16th iteration (I loose count…or, just really don’t care). AI (artificial intelligence) is developing so rapidly that even some of its developers are encouraging a pause on further development in fear that AI will actually be the final ruin of humanity.

Not only are things changing digitally, but they’re changing culturally, too. There is a correlation between the changes in information technology and the cultural changes, but the cultural changes were happening even before the onset of the digital age. I won’t make a laundry list here of the cultural changes taking place (it would be too long, it would invite too much controversy, you already know them anyway), but I will point out one event that has been a defining moment in the cultural shift: the Obergfell v Hodges decision from the U. S. Supreme Court issued on June 26, 2015.

This is not a post about same-sex marriage, but rather about the rapidity with which the culture has moved in its acceptance of other non-traditional expressions of human sexuality and relationships. I mean, seriously, it has been less than ten years since the Obergfell decision and the cultural conversation has moved toward transgenderism and gender fluidity so quickly that we more traditional types (including the church) seem to have been left steamrolled by the conversation. So, just what are we to do about it?

To attempt to answer that question, I go back to the crossing of the Jordon River by the nation of Israel after their 40 years of wandering in the desert post-Egyptian slavery (find the story in Joshua 1). The children of Israel were a peculiar bunch. They stood at the banks of the Jordan, looking across to the promised land—that land promised to their father Abraham generations before. This particular generation only knew the promised land from stories they learned around the campfire from their fathers and grandfathers, or from bedtime stories during the years of wandering in the wilderness.

This was not the generation who left Egypt 40 years before. That generation would not possess the land because they were a bunch of grumblers and complainers. They comprised the “Back to Egypt” Committee. Only 38 years before, that generation stood on the banks of the Jordon ready to cross. Moses sent 12 spies across the Jordon. They returned with glowing reports of a land flowing with milk and honey. But, some of the spies also saw giants, and a land filled with enemies too big to overcome. Only Caleb and Joshua had the faith necessary to believe the people could overcome the obstacles that lay before them. Unfortunately, that generation believed the ten spies over Caleb and Joshua. Their lack of faith prevented them from inheriting the promise of God. It also makes me question Moses’ faith and leadership, but that’s for another day.

My point is that we more traditional folks, rather than becoming our own “Back to Egypt” committee, must continue to live faithfully because we believe God’s best days are ahead, God’s future for the Church is ahead, the Promised Land is across the Jordon not back in Egypt.

Yes, this is a new day for the Church of Jesus Christ. I believe we can learn a few lessons from the Lord’s instruction to Joshua and the people as they prepared to cross. What are those lessons?

First, as we move forward, we must stay rooted in the Word of God:

⁷ Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. ⁸ Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.

Joshua 1: 7-8 NLT

The key to living faithfully amidst the changes of life is staying grounded firmly in the Word of God. the Bible is our source of truth and understanding and we must keep our anchor in truth. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life…” (John 14: 6). Yes, He is our Truth. He is THE Truth, but we will not know Him or the Truth He proclaimed apart from the Holy Spirit leading us to discover Him in the Bible. Yup! That makes me old fashioned, but Jesus revealed in Scripture through the power of the Holy Spirit is my anchor when all the world is changing around me.

Staying rooted in the Word guides me to humility as I seek to follow the example of Jesus. This was the power of Jesus’ leadership! After Jesus finished the Sermon on the Mount the people were astonished because he taught as one who had authority. Yet about himself Jesus said, “…the son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does” (John 5:19). Later in John’s Gospel, we find Jesus demonstrating His humility when He washes the disciple’s feet (read it here), and the Apostle Paul captures the essence of Jesus’s character in that great hymn of the early church:

⁵ You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

⁶ Though he was God,
    he did not think of equality with God
    as something to cling to.
⁷ Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
    he took the humble position of a slave
    and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
⁸     he humbled himself in obedience to God
    and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Secondly, facing the challenge of change demands that we be both strong and courageous. It wasn’t enough that God instructed Joshua once, but He repeated it three times. Change demands strength and courage.

One great example of these characteristics is Mother Teresa. Ninety tiny pounds, quiet, and meek, yet when this powerless nun came to the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D. C., on February 3, 1994, in a room filled with senators, congressmen, and world leaders at all levels, she spoke with incredible strength on the subject of abortion. Her strength did not come from worldly power; it came from her submission to God, her holy life—a life spent sacrificially, serving the dying.  

Mother Teresa had the courage to speak to world leaders so authoritatively because of her inner strength rooted firmly in her humility. See, these characteristics are intertwined. One enhances the other. That’s why God would tell Joshua to be strong and courageous, and would remind him to stay connected to God’s word, to meditate on it day and night. They’re all related. We can’t find courage without strength, and we won’t know strength without humility. I remind us that we must never confuse arrogance with strength. Too often, arrogance is an attempt to cover up the inner weakness of a leader.

It takes courage to be obedient to God’s call in our lives. The nation of Israel was about to cross the Jordan River to inhabit a land full of foreign people and ideas. They would inherit a land that would challenge their belief system, and without the courage to be obedient to God, they would be swept away into idolatry and death. They would need a leader who had the courage to remain faithful to the word of God.

The church faces a similar situation today. We look across our culture, and we see something that’s strangely foreign to our values and belief system. It’s easy to want to turn inward, to stay where we are, where it’s comfortable and we know our stories. But, God is calling us to confront the culture, to share the Gospel, to live our faith in that strange foreign land. That takes courage!

Len Sweet reminds us that we live in a culture whose language is story, image and soundtrack. The problem is we’re still trying to communicate with 19^th Century methods. Oh! We can’t forget the past. All who have gone before us were inheritors of the promises of God. It takes courage to study the past, hold onto the stories that are meaningful and true, and preserve the heritage those previous generations sacrificed to see come to fruition. The courage comes in preserving the past without living there, for God’s Kingdom is ahead of us, in a foreign culture and a strange land. We need leaders to move forward…leaders with humility, strength and courage who are rooted in God’s Word.

I pray I can be that type of leader as we live in the face of constant change. I pray that you can be, too!

Until next time, keep looking up…