In the age of wooden sailing ships, navigation was a matter of life and death. A small navigational error that put a ship off by a fraction of a degree would compound over the miles, days, weeks, and months, resulting in a vessel missing its target altogether. The problem with ocean travel is that the ocean is big and flat with no landmarks to use for directions. Early sailors used the stars, in particular the North Star. In fact, sailors from cultures all over the world throughout history have used the North Star as an anchor point for navigating the seas. The key is that it holds a roughly stationary position in the sky a fraction of a degree from celestial north. The north star is a consistent point of reference. That consistent point of reference is vital for decision making.
One of the biggest challenges people face in our culture is the lack of a proper “North Star” to use in plotting the course of their lives. We live in what philosophers call “a liquid age.” The modern world has stripped away values, beliefs, faith, structures, and other guiding elements that have historically served as our constants. In their place, the popular mode of thought has enshrined alternatives largely rooted in personal opinion, self-expression, and ideas of right/wrong/purpose born of preference. The problem with this change is that it is a shifting standard.
I can’t go out and point to the North Star from memory or my understanding of astronomy. However, I know enough to be clear that I cannot simply navigate by a star I decide to call “the North Star” and expect it to work out. The north star of my preference is likely not actually in the north. In addition, most of the stars in the night sky move as a result of the earth’s rotation and orbit. Using a star that is not stationary as a stationary point of reference is a recipe for getting lost. The same is true for values that are chosen by the tastes of popular preference or what may seem right in my own eyes, which is roughly the same. Opinions, sentiments, feelings, and preferences change constantly. A simple comparison of what was considered acceptable and normal today versus 10, 20, 30, 50, or 100 years ago will reveal that these are far from stationary positions. The crazy thing is that the era we are living in sees everything changing faster and faster. Living our lives based on that kind of liquid value system will lead to disaster.
Kierkegaard offered a solution to this problem in the 19th century in the very early stages of western civilization, in which the people of the era had decided it was time to choose new stars for navigating our lives. He saw the problem of having no frame of reference for knowing what is true and right in life. He argued that the unchanging truth that we should use as our point of reference was the moment we encounter God. He said that we encounter God by taking a leap of faith. That leap of faith, and the encounter with God that comes from it, becomes the point of reference that never changes our lives. It is like a concrete pier in our liquid age. Purpose in life, values, right and wrong, and everything else is then charted using that unmoving truth as our frame of reference. Kierkegaard goes further by asserting that Jesus is God, specifically He is the infinite God manifest in the finite man. We can know God through Jesus, and He becomes our “North Star.” Becoming what God made us to be can be known in Jesus. We simply have to take our leap of faith.
