Is Your Family Spiritually Drifting? How God Calls You to Be the Leader of the Ship

⚓ The Silent Current: Why You Don’t Feel the Drift Until You’re Lost ✨

Have you ever floated on a raft in the ocean? You close your eyes, enjoying the sun, feeling peaceful. You think you are staying in one place. But when you open your eyes twenty minutes later, the shore is a tiny dot in the distance.

You didn’t paddle away. You didn’t turn on an engine. You simply drifted.

The same thing happens in our spiritual lives. Families rarely reject God overnight. They don’t wake up one morning and decide to become atheists. Instead, they get busy.

• Prayer becomes rare.
• Church becomes optional.
• The Bible gathers dust.

And suddenly, you realize your family is miles from the Shore.

Is your family spiritually drifting?

The writer of Hebrews warns us: “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip” (Hebrews 2:1).

The Greek word for “slip” literally means to drift past a harbor because you weren’t paying attention. God is calling you to grab the wheel. You are the captain, and it is time to turn the ship into the wind.

Part I: The Physics of the Drift 🌊

The Current of Culture 📺

The reason drifting is so dangerous is that it feels effortless. To drift, you just have to do nothing.

The current of our culture flows away from God. If you do not intentionally paddle against it, your family will naturally move toward secularism, anxiety, and self-focus.

As the leader of the ship (whether you are a father, a mother, or a spiritual guardian), your primary job is resistance. You must set a course that cuts across the grain of society.

For more on staying alert in a distracting world, read The Double-Edged Command: Why Jesus’ Call to Watch and Pray Is Your Key to Victory.

Part II: The Captain’s Responsibility 🧢

The Noah Principle 🚢

When God decided to save a remnant from the flood, He didn’t speak to Noah’s sons directly. He spoke to the father.

“Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.” —Genesis 7:1 (KJV)

Notice the pattern: God saw Noah’s righteousness, and through his leadership, the whole house was saved.

Noah had to:

1. Hear God (Sensitivity).
2. Build the Ark (Preparation).
3. Lead them in (Action).

If Noah had drifted, his family would have drowned. Your family needs you to be the one who says, “I don’t care what the rest of the world is doing; we are getting on the Ark.”

For more on Noah’s obedience, read How Did Noah and His Family Survive the Flood?.

Part III: 3 Common Misconceptions About Leading the Family 💡

Misconception 1: “I need to be a theologian to lead.”

• Correction: You don’t need a seminary degree; you just need a compass. Leading means saying, “I don’t know everything, but I know we need to pray before we make this decision.” It is pointing the ship toward Jesus, even if you are learning as you go.

Misconception 2: “I can force them to follow God.”

• Correction: You cannot steer a ship that doesn’t have an engine. You can guide your children and spouse, but you cannot force their hearts. Your job is to create an environment of faith (like a greenhouse) where it is easy for them to grow, but they must choose to bloom.

Misconception 3: “It’s the church’s job to teach them.”

• Correction: Deuteronomy 6:7 commands parents to teach God’s laws “when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way.” The church is the supply depot; your home is the battleship. The primary training happens at your dinner table, not in Sunday School.

Conclusion: Drop the Anchor ⚓

How do you stop the drift? You drop an anchor.

You decide that today, the drifting stops.

• Anchor 1: Re-establish family prayer (even just 5 minutes).
• Anchor 2: Open the Bible together weekly.
• Anchor 3: Prioritize worship over sports or leisure.

When you take the wheel, you might face resistance. The waves might chop. But there is no greater joy than looking back at the wake of your life and seeing your family following you safely into the harbor of God’s presence.

Reflection: If your family continues on its current spiritual trajectory for ten years, where will they end up? Is it time to turn the wheel?