My Way and The Way Do Not Mix

In the late 1960’s, Frank Sinatra released a song in which he looks back at his life and proudly declares, “I did it my way.” The self-determination and independence that his song’s lyrics celebrate are qualities prized by many people, including no doubt some who claim to be Christians. Can I hold these as personal values and still please God?

The first thing worth considering is that God Himself has a way. Today, that way is found in none other than Jesus Christ, who declared, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus’ words declare exclusivity and singularness. There aren’t multiple ways to please God; there is just one way, one path. Jesus encourages, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). His startling words found a few verses down in Matthew 7:21-23 remind us that the broad way has incredible room for self-expression. Following it are those who want absolutely nothing to do with God as well as those who have mingled service to God with lawless practices, things outside of the boundary of His will or His way.

God’s singular way can’t be found by following intuition or human ingenuity. Isaiah said, “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,’ says the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9). This should cast a real shadow of doubt on any idea that God uses an inner voice, thoughts, or feelings to guide us in serving Him. Jeremiah knew, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). This led him to a very logical and important conclusion: “O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jeremiah 17:9). Discovering God’s will for us is not about us searching our heart or our mind; it is about honoring the fact that “the Spirit of God” has already searched out “the depths of God” and communicated them in the “spiritual words” of Scripture (1 Corinthians 2:9-13 NASB).

This ought to influence how we see Christianity. If Jesus envisioned Himself as being a singular, exclusive way and warned that we could easily mingle what we envision as service to Him with lawlessness, we shouldn’t envision Christianity as a series of many winding roads that all lead to the same place. Even in prophecy, Isaiah said, “And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it” (Isaiah 35:8). The way has always been singular and always carried the risk of not being followed even by the well intentioned. In the New Testament, the Bible even describes Christianity over and over again as “the Way” (Acts 9:2; 16:17; 18:25-26; 19:9, 23; 24:14, 22). Paul lived “in all good conscience” (Acts 23:1), and yet he was persecuting “the way” rather than pursuing it (Acts 9:2). Apollos had been “instructed in the way of the Lord,” yet his partial knowledge necessitated that someone would come along and “[explain] to him the way of God more accurately” (Acts 18:25-26).

God’s way is not without its liberties; it is not a way of slavery but of sonship (Romans 8:21). God’s description of Christians as members of His Son’s body in 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12 reminds us that God has uniquely designed and equipped each of us for His service. Both of these truths remind us of the fundamental truth we are considering here though. Sons and daughters must still obey their Heavenly Father; as Isaiah reveals, “‘Woe to the rebellious children,’ says the LORD, ‘Who take counsel, but not of Me, And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, That they may add sin to sin’” (Isaiah 30:1). Likewise, members of a body must follow the guidance of the body’s head, which in the case of Christians is Jesus (Ephesians 1:22-23), lest their individualistic behavior “spread like cancer” (2 Timothy 2:17).

May we all strive one day not to say, “I did it my way,” but, “I did it HIS way.”