Literary critic and poet T.S. Eliot begins his famous poem “Four Quartets” with this preface: “The way up and the way down are one and the same.”

These words are not original. He borrows the phrase from the ancient philosopher Heraclitus. Everything is constantly changing. As the water in the river moves, so history moves. It’s always new.

In a world that’s constantly altering, what does that mean for our maturity? If everything is always moving, is there any hope of stability, the kind that Paul refers to as maturity, not being “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” (Eph. 4.14)?

With the movements of the world fluctuating so rapidly, how can order come to the seeming disorder?

Solutions to Chaos

There are various approaches to these questions. Those with more conservative convictions tend to see power as the solution leading to stability. Whether it’s power in church leadership or seeking change in the political sphere, there are some who seek influence by any means necessary. After all, the culture wars rage on. The problem is seen as weakness or ineffectiveness; if only we had leaders who had some backbone to say and do the hard things. The way to mature and progress is by being in power. So, we clutch on to it with all our might.

As those with more liberal leanings tend to see, as long as the river is moving, we’re going to a better place. In this view, progress leads to stability. If reform is happening, progress is happening. The solution is throwing away backward policy and pursuits or, to make it more personal, as long as development is happening, we think we are maturing. As we progress from year to year, we’re obviously becoming more spiritually mature and vibrant.

For much of evangelicalism, we seem to think the truth is the way to find order. If we cross our theological t’s and dot our incarnational i’s, we tend to think we can bring order to a broken world. If the problem is theological illiteracy (which is rampant), the solution is more or better information. Stabilization in a turbulent age means returning to the “faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

I’ve searched for stability in all of these ways. I can even biblically justify them in many respects. I’ve wanted to gain or exercise power to “fix” a situation. I’ve lamented the social ills of our society and derided the powers that be. My natural tendency is to lean on my intellect and think, If you all just believed the same things that I do, we’d be a lot better off.

In many ways, these are the ways we seek to be credible. Politically, if the supposed right person is in office, then we’ll get the right policies and then establish credibility. Socially and culturally, if the right people become Christians, then the faith will be credible. The recent Kanye news brings this idea to the forefront, but it could just as well be said of Tim Tebow or Bob Dylan. “Look!” we seem to say, “These ‘influencers’ are Christians. We’re more credible now.” Personally, I can think my theological system or camp makes me credible. In many ways, pastoral hiring practices follow this line of thought.

But life remains chaotic. There are no results of stability or maturity. The promises don’t seem to deliver. The picture looks bleak.

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