When our family moved from the Southeast to Southern California a dozen years ago, we were loath to leave a strong network of relationships yet ready to leave behind mosquitos and humidity. We joked that someone had to move to one of the most beautiful cities in America to serve Jesus in a nearly perfect climate. Our weather may remain stable, but underneath the surface, where the naked eye cannot see, our city sits uncomfortably close to San Andreas fault. As secure as our home and neighborhood may seem, the illusion of security is quite literally only seconds away from being shaken.
The topographical position of our city serves as a helpful analogy to the spiritual condition of our souls. You see, we are only as secure as the source of our functional centers. Put another way, we are as vulnerable as the sources of our security. If our sense of security depends upon our financial package, we will ride the wave of the markets, our hope rising and diving with the DOW. If our sense of security depends upon the success or health of our children, we will find ourselves only as stable as the most recent test scores, well checks, or college acceptance letters. If we put even our local church congregation as the functional source of our security, our sense of stability will fluctuate with attendance, tithing, and congregational health.
While the human longing for security and stability is as old as humanity itself, we are living in a cultural moment where safety and security remain in the forefront of our minds and in the foreground of conversations. In the past year, two conversations with pastors from other continents exposed the growing idol of security in and around me. Both pastors, upon moving to the United States, noted a markedly higher hunger for safety and security in America. This struck me as strange because both came from countries where the threat of war was an everyday reality. In my mind, they had real reasons to be worried about security; however, here they were noticing how much Americans, myself included, obsessed over it. It seems that living in a largely peaceable land does not assure that we have peace in our souls.
The Fragility of Idols
Our souls were always intended to be centered and stayed upon our Creator. We were created from the stable, secure, self-giving love of our Triune God, who made us dignified yet dependent (Genesis 1:26-27). Humans, though crowned with glory and honor, were made as dependent created beings intended to be derive their security from God, their center, Creator, and Sustainer (Psalm 8:3-6; Genesis 1:31). Adam and Eve, in their devastating disobedience, placed self at the center where only God belonged, and we have been following suit ever since.
Whenever we look to any created thing to provide the security which only God can provide, we echo Israel. They made a golden calf; we make elaborate financial plans and place our hopes for stability in them (Exodus 32). They demanded a king so they could look like the nations around them; we demand that our political party provide assurance in an unstable world (1 Samuel 8:5). They rushed to make foolish, fragile alliances in a desperate search for security; we put trust in the strength of our military or the speed of our technology (Isaiah 30:1–5).
Despite our incessant search for security apart from him, Christ left the security of the godhead to become incarnate that we might know full security once again. The Center of the universe died on the central of three crosses that we might recenter our lives upon him.
The Security of the Savior
The gospel that saves us also sanctifies us. Those who have been justified by Christ are eternally secure; however, it is an ongoing, daily fight to live in light of this security. Our hearts will keep gravitating toward false promises of what will make us stable and safe, and we need to continually be focused on him who is truly our peace. The apostle Paul understood this constant need to reorient our lives around Christ. He begins his letter to the unstable church at Colossae by boldly reminding them of Christ, their center. They were beginning to entrust their sense of spiritual well-being to visible, outward rites and rituals, so Paul gave them a much-needed lesson on the centrality of Christ.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him, all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him, all things hold together (Colossians 1: 15–17 ESV).
The only unshakeable source for our security, both then and now, is the Savior. Though we are separated from the early church by thousands of years, our hearts are still prone to wander away from the only sure foundation.
Fault Lines and Reinforced Souls
Cities situated on or near fault lines require the reinforcement of buildings and foundations for added protection. If more stringent building codes seek to mitigate structural instability, how much more should we seek to reinforce our shaking souls with the security of our Savior?
Reinforcing our souls with Scripture requires that we know the tendencies of our own straying hearts. But the topography of the human heart can be hard to map. Thus, we are wise to ask the help of the Holy Spirit in searching and knowing what’s really going on inside us (Psalm 139:23–24). Anxiety can also serve as a helpful tool in mapping out dangerous fault lines of false security. Often we become anxious when our perceived sources of security are threatened. By following the smoke signals of anxiety, we may more easily locate sources of false security, whether they be physical health, wealth, a sense of control over our lives, or relational stability. The following questions/ prompts may be helpful in assessing false sources of security:
- What leaves me feeling afraid or insecure? What do I feel is being threatened?
- Where does my mind run when I feel out of control?
- When ________ is in order, I feel a sense of peace and rest.
- Where do I place my hope when life feels unstable?
Once we are aware of our own fault lines, we seek to reinforce these places with the sturdy, immovable, unchangeable words of Scripture. Grass withers, flowers fade, and false centers shake, but the Word of God stands forever (Isaiah 40:8). We would do well to listen to the advice of writer of Hebrews to those in the early church who were being shaken by persecution: “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it” (Hebrews 2:1).
One day, in the new heavens and the new earth, we will experience physically what is true now eternally. Then, as John saw in his vision, “The Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:17, NASB). Until that day, we are invited to continually recenter our lives upon Christ, the only sure source of security.
you are secure
Through You Are Secure, an eight-week devotional centered on the book of Colossians, Aimee Joseph helps us see that it is our union with Christ that fills our hearts with peace. Amidst a largely insecure world, our security is anchored into the unchanging person of Jesus.
