The Tugging of the Soul

In recent times, I was obliged to attend a business conference that spanned several days. As business conferences go, the participants were herded into meeting spaces for many hours daily, subject to the thoughts and opinions of the presenters. While the conference itself was specifically for business professionals, the theme was “Love over Fear.” Here’s my quick summary: I, as a Christian, was listening to humanist views of what love is and how to attain it, expressed with the utmost passion and conviction. It got worse. They also delved into how to meet god (lower case “g” intended).

By day two, 300 professionals were sitting in a dimly lit auditorium with a panel on stage comprised of elites who feigned humility as they name-dropped how their earnings had them moving in the same circles with recognizable names we associate with the richest of the rich. This panel was our fount of wisdom for how they found their wealth to be meaningless and how they’d graduated to the ultimate question of life, “Why am I here?”

There is a longing in humankind that has been placed there by God Himself. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end”[1] (emphasis added). This God-given awareness of eternity has a longing for something more than life on earth in its basic form. What God has made is “very good” (Genesis 1:31), and His ongoing presence weaves together “good” for those who love Him (Romans 8:28). All belongs to Him (Psalm 104:24). Within this Truth, we know that God has made Himself so evident that men are without excuse (Romans 1:19-20). He perpetually bears testimony of Himself (Acts 14:17).

God intends for us to know Him. Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws them, and I will raise them at the last day” (John 6:44). God desires that we are all drawn to Him. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2:4 that God the Savior “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the Truth.” In 1 Peter 3:9, Peter says, “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Why is God a magnet to the human soul? Because love—God love; holy love—will do that. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19.

The truth of who God is acts like centrifugal force, with Him pulling us toward a straight path while our flawed will spins us in circles. Absent from regarding God for who He is, this human tug toward truth, love as defined by its Author, and virtuousness according to Yahweh’s law leaves seekers in this world fumbling through substitute narratives convinced they’re on to something, up to and including the meaning of life.

In the Mark 10:17ff account of one who approached Jesus looking for answers, the man first kneels before Jesus and then addresses Him as “good teacher.” These are two acts of humility, if not discernment of the Lordship of Christ. This can be concluded because Jesus questioned the young man on describing Him as “good,” adding “No one is good — except God alone.” The question on this fellow’s mind that he puts to Jesus is, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus references the commandments, then the young man pronounces that he has kept these commandments since he was a boy. The next line in the text is so powerful. It says, “Jesus looked at him and loved him” (v 21). The holiness of Christ is tugging at this man’s soul, and then come Jesus’s words that draw him toward a straight path. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me” (v 21). Did this wealthy seeker allow himself to be pulled toward the right and true path? No, he did not. He chose his own solutions instead, and the text says not that he disbelieved Jesus but that he went away sad. Clearly, he knew Jesus was speaking the truth or His answer would not have had the ability to bother him. It would not serve the right purpose to get overly focused on the entrapments of wealth, but rather the struggle any person has to surrender that which takes precedence over the authority of God.

As sad as this Bible story is, we know the man at the center of it was not unclear about who Jesus was. On the other hand, in a dark auditorium in Omaha, I listened to one conference leader after another address how they found love. It was shocking, actually. Each one had, at this stage of their lives, turned to psychedelic drugs where they “met” god himself. They referred to controlled, facilitated “journeys” on illegal hallucinogens to free themselves, as they put it, of all the constructs of humanity, including gender identity, sexual identity, political identities, religion, nationalism, patriotism, and more. They all repeatedly professed their devotion to their faith and to “god,” describing having gone from just believing to knowing of a divine creator and master of the universe because they’d been with “him” while hallucinating. They stood before the crowd and proclaimed their convictions while pronouncing that corporate culture will no longer silence their celebration of their faith and knowledge of their god(s).

In one regard, I wanted to walk out, but in another regard, I felt like a bit of a transformer. One minute, I was just a lady in casual business-wear carrying a tablet, and the next, I was sporting the full armor of God. I was not afraid. I was not indignant. I was not angry. I knew precisely that I was in the presence of the enemy. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me (Psalm 23:4 KJV). In their utter human arrogance, these conference leaders attempted to dethrone God while presenting as if to profess Him. God is everywhere; all spiritual paths lead to the same higher power; find your path and take your journey where and how you can; we are all meant for abundance; these human constructs confine us from being complete, etc. There was no concept of eternity outside of their own fantasies. In fact, there was more of an indication that if we all just evolve into this spiritual ambiguity, we might find our way to sustaining physical life indefinitely and save the earth while we’re at it.

Barna Research reports that there is a surge toward spiritual renewal as a desperate world searches for answers. Per Barna, “In a survey conducted in February 2026, nearly 3 in 10 U.S. adults (29%) say a spiritual revival could be coming, with Gen Z the most likely of any generation to anticipate such a movement (38%). These figures reflect Barna’s most conservative population estimates of renewal—and even at that level, they account for roughly 80 million revival-minded adults. Across repeated studies, the directional finding holds: tens of millions of Americans—especially younger adults—believe a spiritual revival may be near. Even when revival is difficult to define or predict, the belief that spiritual change is possible signals a meaningful shift in cultural posture—from indifference and resistance toward openness and curiosity.”[2]

Here we have the prince of darkness, the prince of the world, mobilizing not against headwinds of spiritual revival, but using it to corrupt. This brings me back to those powerful seven words in Mark 10: “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” As I sat in the presence of this evil dressed up as “love over fear,” could I love anyway? You know, true God-love love anyway? As consumers of the Holy Word of God, we’ve allowed the Truth to pour into us, so we recognize wrongheadedness. Life as a Christian does require us, however, to not just know the Truth or even be just practitioners of the Truth. If we are a witness to the folly of the world masquerading as the truth, then what? Jesus loved that young man in Mark 10 and then spoke the Truth to him. He loved him enough to assure him that when he sold everything he had and gave it to the poor, he would have treasures in heaven. He loved him enough to offer Himself as his companion when He invited him, “Come, follow Me.” He loved him enough to answer the fundamental question of what must be done to inherit eternal life. When we are a witness to evil – to lies – to stumbling blocks within the fellowship — then what? Do we love first and most and act like it with the Truth offered as a warm blanket, a destination, a lifeboat, a tether in the magnetic force of God? Do we encourage clutching the hem of His garment to such as these?

The last session of the conference had the participants broken into groups of about 10 or 12 and being prompted one at a time to answer a series of questions in a vulnerable sort of way. There was a young man in our group who didn’t share when the first question moved around the group, nor the second question. This led to others prompting him, saying they cared about his thoughts and wanted to hear from him. Still nothing. Then came the question, “Where does your abundance come from? Where do you find your source of love?” He speaks. “My love comes from Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. He is who guides my life.” Then came another declaration for Jesus from a lady from the opposite side of the circle, and then another, and then another. Praise Him! Praise Him! “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39). He is our centrifugal force in this world. People have a longing. We have the Answer. We need to have enough love for the disoriented to share the Answer. God has made Himself so readily available. Seeking the Truth is in our design. Embracing it raises the bar. Love over fear? It can only be achieved by embracing the tug of Jesus upon our souls.