The Downside of Drifting

A few years back, I was fortunate to be able to ride as a passenger in a car with a drifter. No, not one of those homeless guys that wander from place to place. It was with a professional drifter at the BMW Performance Track in upstate South Carolina.

Professional drifters have perfected the art of making a car go sideways. It’s a worldwide competitive motorsport where drivers compete to earn points from judges in a precision time display just like a figure skater would in an Olympic trial. A drifter intentionally puts the car into a controlled skid sideways through a turn as the front wheels point in an opposite direction to that of the turn, all while maintaining control of the car through the turn.

As a passenger in the drifter’s car, I would describe the experience as that of riding with the stunt driver in a car chase from a Hollywood movie. We weren’t being chased or chasing anybody, but my driver was pushing the vehicle to its limits as adrenaline shot through my body while I gripped the passenger handle for dear life.

We started on a long straightaway, then my driver whipped onto a circular, wet track and deliberately put our car into a sideways skid. Like a merry-go-round on speed, we kept moving around the track in a controlled-out-of-control mode, the driver steering the front wheels while the tractionless back wheels felt like they were going to pass us.

This 3-minute video showcases the sport and contains this interesting statement by the narrator near the end of the clip: “While it may look complicated from the outside, anybody can learn to drift.”

Yeah, but what about those of us who don’t want to learn to drift, but have drifted anyway?

Just like motorsport car drifting, we can place ourselves into a skid in the turns of life, willfully putting our lives adrift. It is the slow burn that comes from a lack of purpose and direction. It’s the daily drift that’s so subtle that it’s often only realized in retrospect. It’s death by a thousand paper cuts. It’s the daily not-doing-the-things-we-should syndrome. It’s conceived in apathy and manifests itself in estranged relationships, bad health, and poor overall well-being (see James 1:15). Drifting doesn’t involve decision-making; it is a lack thereof.

When intent is missing, we are adrift. The best we can do as drifters are to react to our circumstances. As Frederick Buechner once said, “We are in constant danger of being not actors in the drama of our lives but reactors, to go where the world takes us, to drift with whatever current happens to be running the strongest.” The current of this world will take us wherever it wants us to go. If we drift with it, we will end up in a place we don’t want to be. We drift toward the temporal as the eternal fades into the distance.

Brian, one of the members of our couple’s Bible study, made this observation in last week’s session: “We drift toward sin, not holiness.” Brian’s right. Our nature is to drift toward the things of this world, instead of the things of God. Both John and Jesus warned against this:

• “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” –John
• “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” –Jesus

The Apostle Paul also addressed the subject of drifting in this question to his readers: “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth (Gal 5:7-8 )?” We drift toward sin because it is our nature, yet thankfully we are drawn to holiness by the call of Christ Jesus.

In what area of your life are you currently drifting? Are you an actor in the story of your life, or a reactor in the land to which you have drifted? Remember, anyone can learn to drift. It’s fun to drift on a closed track with a trained professional in a controlled environment, but not on life’s highway. To maintain control through the turns of life, we must choose to avoid drifting by having a purpose, a plan, and a guide. If you’re a Christian, you have all three of these available to you.

If you find yourself drifting, I challenge you to replace your indecision with intent. What do you need to stop doing and start doing to get back on course? Choose this day whom you will serve and stop drifting.