By: Larry Young
I’ve always been fascinated by compasses and how they work. A simple compass utilizes a tiny magnet that is free to point any direction but then is influenced by the earth’s magnetic field, aligning itself to roughly north and south. A modern ship’s compass senses the direction that the earth is spinning and aligns itself accordingly, revealing a more precise north and south. There are also gyroscopic compasses that must first be mechanically aligned using the North Star (or equivalent) as a visual north reference, and then it is spun up to high speed so it will “remember” true north. If a super accurate compass is needed, then it must be able to compensate for the fact that the earth “wobbles” as it turns on its orbital axis.
God has also given each of us two kinds of compasses: a means to detect and apply which way we are going spiritually as well as morally. Our spiritual compass helps us to detect God’s guidance and direction for our lives, and our moral compass helps us to detect right from wrong as well as applications such as common sense.
With the current condition of many people in this world, there are a lot of misaligned compasses out there!! For instance, many are like the “simple” compass, utilizing the presence of the earth’s magnetic field. Unfortunately, the actual location of that magnetic field is slowly moving eastward towards Russia, causing all such simple compasses to point just more-or-less north. We want to think that our internal compasses are pointing us the right direction, but the reality is that we unknowingly are slowly being led off to a different direction.
The “spinning earth” compass is certainly among the most accurate, but still suffers errors because of the earth wobbling around. Man is also like this compass, which aligns itself based on spin, and it looks good enough, until you get up close to see that the earth’s spin slows down and speeds up as it wobbles around. Humorously, the earth’s wobble is often referred to as the
motion of a “drunken sailor”. This motion can certainly apply to certain aspects of man’s life, aspiring to go the right direction, but then not achieving it.
The “gyroscopic” compass isn’t technically a compass at all. Initially it must be pointed to true north using an external reference. Then it is spun up to high speed as a gyroscope, so that it will literally point to the same point in space (the North Star), regardless of what the earth is doing. Man can also be like this compass, pointed a certain direction at the start, but then remaining rigidly locked in going that same direction, regardless of anything else that is happening.
The “perfect” compass is really a combination of the best contributions of the other compasses, but also includes a dynamic external correction factor to offset earth’s wobble. The “perfect” man is not unlike this compass, because he takes advantage of the best of all available information, but then includes God as the dynamic external correction factor that guides him into becoming an accurate reflection of his creator and savior, Jesus.