We’re a couple of months into another new year, and we’re already getting some surprises. It’s hard to tell exactly what the rest of the year will bring, but one thing is certain: the world is changing fast. Culture is changing. Economics are changing. Demographics are changing. Beliefs are changing. As the world shifts around us, there’s plenty of disagreement about which of these changes are moving us forward, which are holding us back, and what the path of progress should look like. That’s a vital question. Years ago, C.S. Lewis made an important point about it:
“We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man. There is nothing progressive about being pig-headed and refusing to admit a mistake. And I think if you look at the present state of the world it’s pretty plain that humanity has been making some big mistakes. We’re on the wrong road. And if that is so we must go back. Going back is the quickest way on.”
If we really want to move forward, we really need to know which way forward is. Just because we’re moving doesn’t mean we’re moving in the right direction. But how will we know the difference? As we embark on a new year, and consider the part we will each play in it, is there a better compass to guide our course than the shifting sands of popular opinion? Thankfully, there is. Many, many years ago God said to his people:
“I the LORD do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you” – Malachi 3:6-7
In those few sentences, our Creator summed up the story of human history. We, the people, have turned every which way in search of everything we long for—every which way except back in trust and dependence on the God who made us. And all the while, as we have tossed and turned and shifted constantly, God has remained the same. In this, and this alone, is our hope. No matter how far we may have wandered down the wrong paths, his invitation remains the same: “Return to me, and I will return to you”. Wherever we are coming from, the direction of real progress will always lead this way—towards him.
Whatever changes await us in the year ahead, there is one solid foundation we can stand on that never moves: “I the LORD do not change.” He won’t go back on his promises. He won’t revoke his offer of salvation, or quietly update his terms of service. He won’t adjust his commands to suit the sensibilities of the masses, and then adjust them again when the masses change their minds. Because our God is unchanging, we can have confidence in his character, his justice, his love, and his promises. Because our God is unchanging, we can have confidence that his word is a reliable compass to direct our progress. The real question for this year is: will we follow it?