Dear Fellow Trekker,

We’ve reached a major mile marker this month for MEN as this completes our first year, our 12th issue of “Passing the Baton”. Seems as if we’ve just begun! I hope we have.

One year ago, I wrote. “… in these periodic newsletters I have nothing more to pass on than the good news about Jesus Christ. He is the baton. I make no apology. It is not about religion or spirituality… it is Jesus alone. I make no excuse when I challenge you to simply “be in love with Jesus”.

So, anything that would water down my passion, cause me to drift away from Jesus or cause a rift in my relationship with Him would be scary indeed, something to be shunned for sure, if I could clearly identify the cause.

Many aspects of a relationship, however, are subtle, quite indefinable. A relationship can go south so quickly it seems as if one is left standing alone at an intersection of life, shamed, bewildered, looking around and lamenting, “What happened?” Ever happened to you? Of course it has. It happens to us all.

Often relationships in life that ‘go bad’, in retrospect, are seeded by decisions we did not consciously make. Had we known the outcome beforehand, we would have chosen otherwise. Is that not a simple, but accurate, reason why marriages fail? I think of it as the ‘Judas factor’. Something (or someone) duped us into blurred, fuzzy thinking. We drifted off course and were not aware of it until it was too late. Love of money or anything other than a steadfast love of Jesus, will do us in over time. And if the ‘Judas factor’ doesn’t grab you, dub it the ‘Solomon factor’. Love of sex (read: too many wives) is just as mesmerizing as love of money. Both are known to be compatible, are they not?

Two life experiences come to the fore, one, just a few weeks ago, the second, years ago. The first… driving across Kansas from Colorado recently, my thoughts turned to drifting snow which had closed Interstate 70 and delayed our departure from Colorado Springs to visit our daughter and grandchildren at Ft. Riley in the center of Kansas. Drifting snow is powerful; one loses his bearings fast. It creates blinding whiteouts; with no reference point one loses all sense of direction. The highway is shut down; traffic ceases. Bad news all around.

The second… our then 22-year-old son, Scott, came to visit Mom and Dad in Greece during my stint there as a military attaché. We were swimming at one of those idyllic, blue Aegean Sea beaches on the island of Rhodes. (I would recommend it.) All of a sudden we both noticed what a considerable distance we had drifted away from our beach location. Completely oblivious, we had been caught in an unusual sea current pattern that was moving us farther and farther from shore. Fortunately both of us were good swimmers and made it back safely, but the pucker factor was alive and well that day. I still remember the momentary panic, the sinking feeling. A few more moments and it may have been too late.

Drifting snow or drifting currents – both powerful forces. I liken such drift to the shifting sands of culture, or of a relationship. Drift in culture is a powerful force too, and can separate us from our love of and desire for Jesus alone. Individually, we drift into sin and inappropriate conduct, resulting in fractured relationships. We do not consciously choose to do what tarnishes, separates, erodes, and eventually destroys core values in a culture… or what can destroy a relationship. Down through history, cultures have drifted aimlessly off course, and civilizations have died, eventually washed away by the relentless tides of time. And what happens on the macro level of culture takes place and often begins with each of us as individuals. Peter speaks for us all, “Oh Lord, I would never (consciously) deny you!” He might have added, “Why, that is preposterous! That is the last thing in the world I would do.” And Jesus calmly answers, “Why Peter, before the cock crows tomorrow morning, this very night, you will deny me three times.” Peter had ‘drifted’.

What causes us to get caught up in drift? What causes ‘losing our first love’? Believe it or not, most anything will do! Good things – service to others, natural desires, social opportunities. Yes, service can be an unwitting enemy. And bad things – seeing and serving only self, sexual responses to feed our lust, laziness, pride, envy, greed. You name it. The list is long. Anything that takes our focus off Jesus alone will, over time, destroy our love relationship with him. And we humans drift together. Peer pressure in its many forms is unbelievably devastating to personal values and relationships.

For sure, cultural drift is blinding and consuming. Yet, there is some irony in the mix. A book just out by Brian Tracy, “Something for Nothing”, takes a critical look at many of the societal and cultural drifts our country is now facing. He suggests that certain basic drives have been so misdirected or abused, we expect to succeed by doing the least possible, i.e. “get something for free”. Interestingly, our relationship with God in Christ is initiated by nothing human. Abundant life is costly, but free to us! A relationship with the God of the universe is by grace alone; yet it cost God his only Son!

Remember. As we ‘fall in and remain in love with Jesus’ we can never deserve his love. I like Brennan Manning’s metaphor, “I’d like to say to Atlas, “Put that globe down and dance on it. That’s why God made it.’” Jesus and me/you make an awesome duo! Is there anything we can’t be or do tethered to Him? No, so long as we remain in His love and allow His consuming passion for us to be the litmus test for all we do and pursue.

The higher we go up the mountain, the rarer the air. The snow and wind bites our face, impeding our progress. But the pure oxygen of the Spirit gives life, renews our energy and keeps the summit in focus. May we be resolute, overcomers, secure, as we desire Jesus only, our eyes fixed on Him, the initiator and finisher or our faith.

Trekking through the drifts with you,

Jim Meredith