Swimming Against the Tide

You will probably have seen an image representing the Christian life that is one small fish swimming against a shoal of fish heading in in the opposite direction. It is used on posters, book covers, and even jewellery. I have always thought it very relevant, but in today’s world it seems even more so.

Our scripture today shows us that in Jesus’ day it was not so very different. There might not have been social media to propagate the views of the day, but there was a clear understanding of how to deal with life and the way to deal with situations. It was, after all, ‘common sense’ to react by loving those who are nice to you and hating those who are nasty to you. That’s what came naturally. But Jesus challenges this way of life. He challenges His disciples to reconsider what seemed normal and acceptable. He challenges them to ‘swim’ in another direction, to go against the flow of the received wisdom of the world around them. He challenges disciples still.

Swimming against the tide is never easy, and indeed, in the sea, it can seem impossible. The force of the water that drags you off course can prove exhausting and potentially life threatening. In a similar way the spiritual force of the enemy working through the mass of ungodly, but widely accepted, world view can seem equally powerful to drag a little Christian ‘fish’ off course. It may seem we have little strength to resist being dragged along in the tide of mass opinion.

As Christians we have such different beliefs, understandings, and priorities, that we can suffer from being misunderstood, criticised, or even ridiculed for being ‘too different’. Our chosen direction can be very hard to sustain with the opposing force of media, peer group, or family.

But Jesus doesn’t just leave us with only our own human strength to swim against this potentially overwhelming ungodly current. He tells us all “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18). He comes not just to be ‘with us’ as Jesus was with those first disciples, but to be ‘in us’, in the person of the Holy Spirit, to give us a divine injection of power to hold firm to our beliefs and priorities. With Holy Spirit strength to draw on we can have the courage and determination to stay on course.

So, as graciously as possible, we can continue to speak out the truths of the Kingdom of God and, in difficult circumstances, be an example to a hurting world, that there is another way to ‘swim’.