Out Our Way: Sinking sand - 1 John 4:1-4

Out our way, you sometimes discover you can get fooled by appearances. Many of you may recall the time I was checking fence with Charlie and had to crawl through some hawthorn bushes to get to the corner post on the other side. I came upon what looked to be an opening in the grove of thorn trees and stepped onto what appeared to be a nice open patch of ground. It wasn't. It was a deep quagmire of mud - quicksand? - that had a light layer of dirt covering it. It looked like solid ground, but it was really sinking sand. I stepped onto what I thought was an old creek bed and went down to my knee in muck. I was only able to get out because I could step out of my cowboy boot. I scrambled onto a rock but the boot stayed firmly stuck.

As you may recall, I eventually got back on solid ground, headed back up to Doc, unhooked my rope, tied one end around the saddle horn and then tied the other end around the boot's pull tab. I then had Doc back up and eventually, "pop!" out came the boot. It was heavy as concrete with all the mud still attached, so I spent the next half hour or so scraping off the heavy mud with a stick.

The point is appearances can be deceiving. What looked like solid ground was not. It reminded me of that old hymn whose chorus says: "On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand." That is an image I experienced first-hand that day.  

These days we might be wise to learn the lesson of the sinking sand, for as John reminds us, appearances can be deceiving. What seems solid ground may really be only disguised quicksand. We live in a world in which deception has become the rule and the careless or indifferent are led into the sinking sand by those who assure them it is solid ground. How are we to know?

Well, John tells us "to test the spirits." In other words, check the ground before you blithely step onto it. It may look good and solid, but is it? Or is that just a covering that hides the real nature of what is beneath. If someone, be it a friend, neighbor, preacher, politician, talking head, or movie star tells us it is solid ground, test it. Does the appearance match the substance?    

John reminds us that the spirit of God and the spirit of the age are often at odds, and far too often the pop culture races into the sinking sand in the name of justice, love and even God - but it turns out to be fake. The good and just causes turn out to only be the thin layer on the surface that hides the abyss beneath.   

The false prophets speak well and passionately, but what do they actually accomplish? Where is the solid ground they claim to represent? Look well and see what lies beneath the attractive and solid looking surface. If all they offer is "pep talks" about Jesus, but don't actually do the work of the Kingdom; if all they offer are slogans and outrage at injustice, but offer no actual means of correcting it except to accuse others; if they speak about their concerns for the world and then hide behind their mansions and walls erected to keep the rest of humanity out ... they are sinking sand.

The false prophets of every age promise their way is the "solid ground." It has always been thus and many are those they have fooled and found it was really disguised sinking sand. So test the ground before you step on it. "By their fruits you will know them. (Matthew 7:15-20). John reminds us that Christ's way is the solid ground. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-40). If the "solid ground" is not based on this, it is indeed sinking sand.

Be blessed and be a blessing.

Brother John

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The Rev. John Bruington is the retired pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Havre. He now lives in Colorado, but continues to write "Out Our Way." He can be reached for comment or dialogue at [email protected].