Between the Moorings and the Weir

The task of navigating the cultural currents through values, faith, and experience is essential in the 21st century. In a world of subjective perspectives, the moorings of our existence have been in flux for many in the West over the last 50 years. Postmodernity has afforded autonomy in values, morals, culture, and identity, shifting authority away from objective truth and toward the self. On a wide river of relevance, there is a force just beneath the surface that helps manage the flow of culture and defines the space we travel in from shore to shore. Understanding the world as it truly is requires us to dive into the discussions of what is presented to us as important, factual, and helpful.

In the 21st century, seeking truth can look like a contrarian’s task, one that constructively tries to build a worldview that supersedes cultural values, popular opinions, and subjective perspectives. In the face of a ubiquitous stream of information that can rarely be validated beyond opinion, questioning what we are presented with can feel like going against the grain. We have to deconstruct the noise, not ourselves. We need redemption, not reinvention. We are seeking ultimate purpose, not relevant influence.

Like many on this Earth who live from a worldview formed by faith in things we cannot see, we understand that reality must be anchored in something higher than ourselves. The idea that life is a random collection of experiences, the culmination of our choices, or the result of our own assertive ability is an illusion put forward to keep us from the truth. From Machiavelli to Screwtape, motivation, relevance, and ambition often lead people down a primrose path rather than to an ultimate source of truth, meaning, or identity. The world is calling us to conform, to deconstruct, to assert our own foundation for building our lives. From the beginning, autonomy and knowledge have been alluring, promising a world that works toward the good of our purpose. This is the illusion we live in.

The Bible presents the idea of being transformed by the renewing of our minds. We are not contrarians to the world for the sake of criticism, counterculturalism, or condemnation; rather, as transformed people, we seek to transform the world for a Kingdom not bound by the illusion our world lives in. This is the power of the Gospel at work in us.

The efforts put forward here are intended to stir hearts and minds toward the faithful pursuit of something better; the good of a purpose that supersedes our understanding. I want to promote discussion, engagement, and an integrated understanding of the values, truths, and realities that surround us every day. In a world full of distraction, disillusionment, and doubt, we need to be transformed so that we can engage the world for that Kingdom. We need to see truth and engage the world as it truly is. Join me as we seek a higher calling and navigate the cultural currents that abound in our experience; between the moorings and the weir.