“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.”
Hebrews 6:19-20a
An anchor for the soul. Does that sound good to you? It sounds wonderful to me. I don’t know about you but sometimes my soul feels buffeted around by the challenges and confusion thrown up by the world around me – and it really does feel like being on a boat tossed around on the sea with no firm land in sight or secure footing to steady me.
And to be honest, recently for me, the thing that has unsteadied me the most – the thing that has left me reeling and unsure of my footing in the most profound way is the lack of consensus on societal and political issues within the family of Christ. There can be vastly differing perspectives on what is ok and what is very not ok. This is all set to the current backdrop of the erosion of concrete truth and things which in years gone by could have been relied upon to a greater extent to provide anchors- points of truth that weren’t contested and brought stability as such. For example, reality has taken a hit by our advancing capacity to manipulate and create photos and film which convey scenes that never existed. Moreover, there is an abundance of fake news to be found on social media and beyond, and politicians and leaders proclaim distorted narratives to suit their own agendas. With all this and more eroding our anchors, how can we ever be sure that anything is real or true?
And so, it is especially unsettling when the very thing that was supposed to ground us, to be a shelter in the storm and to bring right perspective into a world where chaos and confusion reign, is the thing which is causing the most confusion of all! I am unsettled because Christianity is supposed to provide a moral compass – to teach us about right and wrong, justice and injustice, to love and not to hate. Therefore, it leaves me troubled when I do not know who to trust to have a godly perspective, when arguments for and against various political responses can seemingly all have theological backing and Christians who will defend them vigorously.
Perhaps it has all affected me more than it ought, but I want to be humble and teachable and I long to be on the right side of justice and truth. Consequently, it can lead to some deep inner turmoil, including fears of getting it wrong, when people from whom I have previously learned much seem to hold some views which land very much on the other side of the fence. It is deeply unnerving when the ground upon which my faith was built seems so precarious. Am I the only one for whom this is so deeply uncomfortable – who feels so lost at sea?
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure”
And then I read this verse with its simple declaration of a truth – we have a hope which IS an anchor for the soul. There is something which can bring a steadying when all feels deeply unstable. No qualifications thrown in about always getting things right or being politically on point. I needed to hear that. My soul needs that anchor.
So, what is this hope then – what is this anchor that I can rely upon to settle the storm within? How can it be Christianity when it is Christians who seem to be throwing the weightiest confusion into the mix!
Then the penny dropped – it is not Christianity that is the anchor, it is not even my faith that is my hope. No, the anchor is Jesus, the hope that we have in Him. Eternal life. A High Priest in the inner sanctuary interceding for me, who has made me right with God, who has ripped the curtain from top to bottom that separated God and man.
Christians can be part of the problem. They are flawed and none have the full heavenly perspective. Church history is littered with times when Christians have seen things differently from the world around them and sometimes from one another. At times, those stances have brought great benefits and at other times, great ills. It is not that we should ignore differences if there are injustices that need to be addressed, but these differences, whilst they might cause turmoil, are not the source or destroyer of the hope. The hope is, always was and always will be, Jesus – and what He won on that cross.
That is my anchor – and not fallen man with his tendency to err, his potential to get things wrong and his capacity to act in harmful ways, albeit sometimes with good intentions. The world can toss and turn around me, cultural norms and accepted paradigms can and will shift. And Christians will find both good and bad in many of them – often not agreeing on which is the most important good upon which to hang their hat. This is because they are all man-made institutions and constructions, attempts to make sense of the world and bring order and control, but being man-made, none will be perfect, all will fall short.
So even amidst the inner uncertainty of holding profoundly different points of view to those from whom I have learned much, I can wrestle with those things, I can pore over my Bible in search of truth and right perspective, but I need not be shaken. I do have an anchor on this turbulent sea, and His name is Jesus. Christianity is not my hope or my anchor. Christ is. And He is in control – and my footing and future are firm and secure.
