There’s a moment in many thriller movies when those fleeing from danger escape into a place of safety. It’s such a relief: the music calms, the mood relaxes and finally all is well. Only we have seen enough thrillers to know how often the plot twists. For the refuge is false. The danger they were fleeing is already hidden within their imagined refuge. Far from escaping danger, they have stepped right into it.
The peril of a false refuge
A spiritual false refuge works much the same way. Faced with difficulty and struggle, we instinctively look for relief. But the escape we choose so often proves false. It promises to ease our troubles but becomes the source of them instead. Our refuge is false. Our escape is not what it seems.
And while the false refuge in a thriller movie is invariably exposed at once (for that is what the drama of a film requires!), a spiritual false refuge can be harder to spot. It might take years to fully realise the extent of the damage our escapism is doing.
Escapism takes many forms. In some people TV, online gaming or scrolling provides a kind of mind-numbing escape. Or the numbing of the mind may happen more directly through the use of alcohol or drugs. Others escape to the busyness of overwork or an ill-judged relationship. There are many different forms of escapism but the underlying pattern is invariably the same: there is a measure of immediate ease but it only leads to longer term damage and harm.
The pull of escapism
Why do we do such things? What makes us vulnerable to missteps that cause so much trouble and pain? The experience of immediate comfort and relief is certainly one explanation. Such things are very attractive to us. But the deeper, and blunter, answer is that we are vulnerable to these things because of sin. The reason we fall prey to a false refuge is because we have hearts which, according to Romans 1, ‘exchange the truth of God for a lie and serve and worship the created things rather than the creator‘ (Romans 1:25). It may be the lie that tells us to rely on ourselves and that own effort can save us. People who immerse themselves in work are often doing that. Or it may be the lie that things in the world can save us if only we can get enough of them.
What our hearts do not do, at least not without the intervening work of the Holy Spirit, is seek refuge in Christ.
The picture of an undivided heart
And we should be clear that escaping into a false refuge is not something unique to the unbeliever. Christian disciples do it too. James uses the language of double mindedness to describe the person who is divided in their affections (James 1:8). He pictures a person whose heart has placed their trust partly in God but who also reaches out for some other kind of refuge. And, like the person who has one foot on the bank and one foot in the boat, they are supremely unstable. How different is the picture provided by the psalmist when he pleads: ‘Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name’ (Psalm 86:11). It is a glorious picture of spiritual maturity – with an undivided heart that orientates only to the Lord.
This instinctive tendency to reach for refuge in something other than God is at the heart of our spiritual problems. And as we grapple with escapism, conversational ministry seeks to do at least three things. First, it must help a person acknowledge and identify the false refuge they typically choose. Second, it must expose the spiritual unfaithfulness, and the spiritual peril, bound up in this false refuge. And, thirdly, it must show why, and how, the refuge that we can find in Christ is so, so much better.
The BCUK Conference 2027
Next year these are the things our national conference is going to be focused upon. We’ve titled the conference: No Other God: the snares of sin and our refuge in Christ. In conversational ministry it is vital that we should know how to speak well about the workings of the sinful heart, the path of repentance and the saviour in whom true refuge can be found.
This is core business in all our ministry of conversation and counsel. Yet that does not make it basic or easy to do well. Both through main sessions and seminars we will explore the Bible’s teaching in a way that will help us apply it to our own hearts and to the hearts of others. You can find more information on our website here, and this will be updated as main session titles and seminar topics are confirmed.
We are very excited to be returning to Keswick in 2027. The venue exceeded our expectations and the feedback from last month’s conference has been overwhelmingly positive. As with this year, accommodation and breakfast is not included – which lets you choose something suited to your individual needs. All other meals and refreshments are provided in the cost of your registration.
There is nothing more perilous than the sin that snares us and nothing more glorious than the saviour who redeems us. We are praying this conference will help our churches to speak about these things with greater conviction, greater clarity, and greater skill. Do join us.
