Drifting Away

How many examples come to mind when you think about drifting away?

My first one is water related like drifting down the beach, you know, while playing in the waves and suddenly you look up to find your blanket and umbrella are way down the beach. A more serious drifting is caused by undercurrents and riptides. I was caught in one of those too and I'll never forget the sheer terror I felt as I was carried further and further away from shore, unable to stop the pull away from the safety of the sand and people.

Another drift that comes to mind is in a car. I'd love to say it's never happened to me, but I have fallen asleep at the wheel, only for a second mind you, but long enough to find my car wheels clattering on the rough ridges of the shoulder. And what about that other drift, the one caused by texting and driving: clearly dangerous. My husband would say that's nothing compared to catching me reading a book while I was driving and he was napping. (All true, it was somewhere in the Everglades; ever since then, he drives most of our long trips.)

Other forms of drifting: airplanes and ships going off course or singers drifting off key or drunks drifting off the white line in a sobriety test or satellites drifting out of orbit or just plain old sand and snow drifts, piled high by wind in some of the most unlikely places.

Some drifts are caused by outside forces and some are caused by inner choices. 

Recently, I learned about a different kind of drifting away. Pastor Jess reviewed the age-worn parable about the lost sheep where the shepherd willingly leaves the "99" in order to go after "the one." [See Luke 15:1-7] But here's what struck me: sheep, he said, have a herd instinct. It's one of the reasons sheep are considered to be stupid, they follow one another along without much thought and occasionally to their own detriment.

But then, I ask myself, how does the "one" get lost?

Somehow, that one sheep has stopped paying attention to his buddies. He gets really interested in a particularly sweet clump of grass or he trips and falls and loses track of the cousins or maybe, he's just daydreaming. I don't really know. It could be he was slower than the rest or stopped to smell the roses, as they say, or took a quick lamb nap.

However it happens, I'm thinking that "one sheep" is pretty overwhelmed out there once she realizes what's up. After all, if one has a natural herd instinct and the herd disappears, what's next? Where to go? Which way? That sheepette may bumble around for awhile and might even try a few adventuresome steps in one direction or another, but in the end, I'm guessing she comes to a standstill, much like the "deer in the headlights."

Anyone can drift away from the good by not paying attention. Like the frog who can die in a slowly cooking pot of water, we can lose our sense of danger, our sense of community, and our sense of family if we aren't paying attention.

A lot of people are out there standing alone. Some of them may look like they're in a crowd, but the heart is alone, the sense of belonging is gone, the ability to trust and love have flagged.

A church who's vision it is to find the "one" is not just spouting the four spiritual laws or using the techniques of "Evangelism Explosion" or passing out tracts. It's a people group, not a place. It's a bunch of people groups who remember being "the one" and are counting on finding a few more out there. Both are needed in any church: the shepherd and the sheep.

Irmgarde Brown
Blogger, Writer, Librarian,
Follower of Christ
Facebook: irm.brown
Twitter: IrmBrown

Restore Church's Current Sermon Series:

Ever wonder what’s the mission of the CHURCH? Have you thought recently what part do you play in fulfilling its mission? Maybe you have never asked yourself those questions. If not, no worries because your in luck. For two weeks from Jan. 29 – Feb. 5, we’ll be taking a hard look at those questions and others as Restore Church seeks to accomplish God’s mission throughout Harford & Cecil counties. This short, high stakes series is called: For the One! We believe our church exists “for the one” person not in our church, for the one person seeking God yet not sure where to find Him, for the one marriage on the brink of divorce, for the one millionaire unsatisfied with life, and on. Are you at church “for the one”?

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Sunday @ 9:00, 10:15 & 11:30 a.m.
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Restore Church
616 Ontario Street
Havre de Grace, MD 21078
(443) 443-0545