We Are All in The Way

“We are all in the way.”

One of the upsides to a one-thousand-mile drive is the time it gives you to listen to books. I have grown less and less accustomed to paper books. I do a lot more listening. Sometimes a statement will catch your attention. These statements really stick. These thoughts really grab us. We want to write them down (though we don’t because some of us are driving).

“We are all in the way.”

That statement struck a personal chord. Ministries have powerful, gospel objectives. These objectives are carried out and influenced by fallen people. The temptation (for all of us) is to see others as the point of failure. We’re not getting where we need to go or doing what we need to do because they are in the way.

The cause is worthy. It is eternal and essential. Sinful people can and do get in the way. The mistake is not in assuming people cause problems. We do. The mistake is excluding yourself from the problem. We are all in the way. We all stand in the way of a perfect gospel mission.

Paul was well aware of the great potential he had. He had the potential to fail.

1 Corinthians 9:25-27 – “Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable crown. So I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air. Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

Paul saw the need to bring himself under subjection. He did not want to be disqualified himself. His place as an apostle did not exclude him from failure. His role as a preacher did not protect him. He had to live the Christian life like everyone else.

It would be a grave mistake to see the faults and failures of others and assume that only they are in the way. We can quickly do what Peter did. Peter assumed that he was the exception to the failures Jesus predicted.

Matthew 26:31-33 – “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Tonight all of you will fall away because of me, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I have rise, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.’ Peter told him, ‘Even if everyone falls away because of you, I will never fall away.’”

Peter’s pride is more obvious to us than our own selfishness. How could Peter say such a thing? The same way you and I can say or feel the same way. Surely, we are not the one’s getting in the way of what God is doing!

“We are all in the way.”

This truth can be especially hard for pastors to digest. Even pastors, who lead God’s church, can get in the way of the mission. We have faults and shortcomings. Our ideas are not pure gold. We are still fallen, even if we are mature and qualified.

Why does God encourage spiritual people to consider themselves before confronting someone? Or to confront someone with a gentle spirit? Is it not because they themselves are fallen people despite their spiritual nature?

Galatians 6:1 – “Brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so that you also won’t be tempted.”

There is a practical application to this reality. Before we confront someone, correct someone, or even lead someone, we must consider ourselves. Are we in the way? Are we dealing with the only person we can truly control? Have we dealt with ourselves as skillfully and honestly as someone else?

“We are all in the way.”

This thought is powerful. It is thought-provoking. I hope it inspires genuine humility in your life. In what ways do I need to continue to grow and change? How is my fallenness impacting my ministry? Let’s be realistic with ourselves as we strive to follow God and complete our mission!