Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?
Some decisions in life are more difficult to make than others.
There are moments that feel as though the repercussions will have an impact for a lifetime, like skipping stones on water, creating ripples throughout all eternity. At times, a tale of two paths unfolds before us and we must think and wisely consider which route to take.
We pray and pray, and it seems as though the Lord is silent.
Yet, God is not trying to make things overly complicated for us. Usually the choice is simple and deep down we already know the answer. We just need to get ourselves into the state of faith to make that decision that we know to be God’s will.
Sometimes we need a little push to go forward into the choice of faith.
Two Ways
As I was thinking over the dilemma I am presently facing, the Lord spoke to me through this scripture:
Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (2 Tim 2:22)
He showed me something very simple; flee and follow.
The answer to my complex life decision can’t be that easy… can it?
Well, in a way; yes. It really might be that simple.
Decisions are not always as obvious as choosing between the glaring ‘good’ and ‘evil’. For instance the decision to choose between moving overseas or staying local. It is hard to consider a deliberation like this as the ‘lust’ vs ‘righteousness’ dynamic that this mentioned passage describes, yet the principle of flee and follow still remains.
No longer is it a question of ‘good’ and ‘evil’, but instead a battle between the ‘good’ and the ‘perfect’.
As we grow in the faith our understanding between right and wrong grows too. We advance beyond the stage of having to choose between the obvious overt moral transgression like having to choose between adultery and faithfulness. Instead God begins to entrust us with more difficult choices to handle and thereby grow.
Each decision is an opportunity for spiritual growth. Both in faith and in character. Each decision is an opportunity for God to be glorified.
God gives us new lessons as we advance through his education of life. This is why the book of Hebrews says: ‘But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.’ (Heb 5:14).
What this means is, as we grow in understanding God’s will, we will be brought to the solid teachings that are beyond the foundational building blocks. We move from basic maths into advanced algebra, or from learning the ABC to reading Shakespeare.
Those that are mature in the faith have over time come to learn and understand God’s will through practice, resulting in spiritual growth and conformity to Christ.
The Perfect Way
When Christ spoke the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) he took the command ‘do not murder’ and elevated its meaning into not even being angry with a brother. He increased the scope and depth of the commandment. Thus he reached into the truer sense it.
Jesus was shining forth his maturity and glorious wisdom upon the full comprehension of that particular commandment, as he is the embodiment of the mature and perfect man. He was the first flower that had blossomed in God’s garden, the first tree that bore the fruit that the Father desired out of humanity. All of humanity had failed, but Jesus lived the perfect life.
He is the perfect human.
Christ showed us what it means to live a life according to God’s love, according to the true fulfilment of his will. Jesus is the divine pattern that we are to follow.
God desires that we follow that perfect life of Christ, so we too will bear the fruit of his kingdom.
Ultimately, God’s will is our sanctification, meaning us being made like Christ.
Therefore, we can be assured that God’s will in every situation is to bring us to a deeper identification and reflection of his image - the Son.
It could be said like this; as we grow we live more like Christ, because spiritual growth is conformity to Christ. Any movement away from Christ is going backwards not forwards. God’s desire is obviously for us to grow, and so the right path to take will always be the one that leads us in a movement towards God and reflecting his image, never away.
Follow Jesus
And so we come back to this passage; 2 Timothy 2:22. It has a parallel scripture in 1 Timothy 6:11 where Paul says much the same thing:
‘But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.’ (1 Tim 6:11)
The idea of following righteousness, faith, love and peace is just another way of saying ‘following Jesus’ because these are all things that represent Jesus.
When tasked with making a decision in life, we are to always follow Jesus. Any path or option that does not look like Jesus must be fled from.
You may be thinking that sounds good, but how does that help me choose who I am to marry, what job I am to take or which university I am to go to?
Well, the simple principle applies to all such life decisions: flee and follow.
We are to flee the earthly man, the carnal mind, the old man, we are to flee the old Adamic nature. Instead we are to follow the Heavenly man; the new man, the Spiritual man, the Christ.
Whenever we come to a major decision, the answer will always be found in the simple question; what choice looks most like Adam (the way of the world) and what looks most like Christ (the way of Heaven)?
So, flee from Adam and follow Jesus.
The Path of Christ
God’s ultimate goal in our life is our conformity to Christ, which means increasing likeness to Christ and less and less likeness to the old Adamic person. Before we can live and act like Christ, we must think like him. This is because right living is always produced by right thinking. This thinking does not come from degrees or from educational training, this comes from the Spirit of God. This is what it means to have the ‘mind of Christ’ - to think and live like Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In addition to this, not only does God desire for us to take the more Christlike path, he also wants us to take it for Christlike reasons. In this sense, he wants us to come to these choices based not on carnal reasonings, but instead for the reasons that Christ would, if he were in our very situation. This is imaging/reflecting/following Jesus, to do as does.
Reflecting Jesus
Jesus said that he did only what he saw the Father doing. (John 5:19). We are to have this same kind of relationship with Christ. We are to do nothing unless we see Jesus doing it.
Does this mean we must have an open vision of Jesus doing something before we do? No.
What it does mean is that we must act in accordance with his mind.
We commonly use this type of phrasing of ‘seeing’ to describe what we predict of someone. For instance we may tell someone that we ‘see’ them being a musician or a journalist. We are indicating that we can imagine a scenario in which the person would be doing a particular thing based on our knowledge of them.
This typically comes from an intimacy with that person. There is very little weight if a person I just met 5 seconds ago tells me they see me being a dancer, but if someone close to me were to say the same thing it would carry much more weight. Typically the closer you are to a person, the more accurate your perception of them is. It is more out of place to make such an assessment about someone you know fleetingly.
Thus an intimacy with Christ is needed to ‘see’ what he is doing.
This comes through the renewing of our minds in the word of God so that we learn to think and act like Christ.
Often the path of Christ will look like ‘foolishness’ to the world, for that is how the world perceives the cross. They do not understand, nor can they, for they don’t believe nor see the beauty of it by faith. Instead of walking by the eyes of faith, they walk by their senses and circumstances.
We Christians are called to go beyond these things.
Sons of Adam vs Sons of God
The questions and reasonings that concern the gentiles like; ‘what to eat’ and ‘what to wear’ are not to be entertained by us when making a decision, says Christ (Matt 6:32).
The point Jesus makes encompasses more than food and clothing. It reaches into things such as; ‘where to live’ or ‘what job to take’ or ‘what person to marry’. These are all areas that the gentiles spend their time thinking about.
The ‘gentiles’ simply means those who do not know God. Their mind is occupied with this present world. They live as orphans and strangers from God, they live as though he does not exist.
And they live this way because they don’t know God!
But we have a Father in Heaven.
Therefore, we cannot think and make decisions like the gentiles, for how can those who have a Father in Heaven possibly act like those who do not? It is inconceivable.
They think along the lines of how will this impact my eating, my spending, my friends, my family, my life in this world? But instead as sons of God, we should ask; how will this impact the Kingdom of God?
If we seek first God’s kingdom, our life on earth will be taken care of because the Father knows that we are presently here in the flesh. He is not blinded to the needs of our bodies. Instead he promises to take care of all these things if we set our mind on pursuing the Heavenly things.
This is intensely practical, as a person cannot be thinking of Heavenly things if they are always concerned with the earthly things? It is not possible for the mind to be in two places at once.
We must choose one or the other.
Earthly Man or Heavenly Man?
We are always posed with the two options of Heaven and Earth. Earth is deceiving. The flesh will seek to protect itself and reason against the need to go the way of Heaven.
The way of Heaven will always come to us in the shape of the cross.
This, however, is the highway of holiness, and the path God desires for us to take.
It will always require a step of faith to take the cross. It requires us to move forward, beyond the pain, and into the realm of unknowing. When Christ went to the cross, there was a great darkness. So too, when we walk by faith, we are walking into a darkness, a cloud of unknowing, but God is our light even in darkness and will guide us where we go.
Often the path of the cross is against the reasonings of the human mind. Sometimes it defies logic and emotions. Sometimes it hurts and breaks our hearts. But the cross is always the will of God. And the short, brief suffering cannot be compared to the glory that awaits the other side.
The Higher Way
If I can exhort you between your choices: choose the way of Heaven.
Choose the cross.
Never go the way of the earth.
The way of the earth is filled with compromise, lies, detours, fear and empty promises. The way of Christ is always the answer, the way of the cross is what leads to Heaven, it is the hidden wisdom and the door into Heaven.
When you choose the cross, do not fear, for God is with you. He would not even be giving you a cross unless he loved you, for he gave his beloved Son a cross to take freely. Take joy and be strengthened knowing that God will reward your suffering and raise you from the dead, bringing forth fruit for the Kingdom.
For God has ‘delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us’ (1 Cor 1:10).
