How are you navigating?

Earlier this week, Jean and I made one of our infrequent trips to a plant nursery that I particularly like to buy from.  This is several miles away, and on previous visits we have taken the motorway to travel there.  Last year, however, I realised that there was a more direct route that would be preferable, and so this time we set out to go that way.  I manually entered part of the address into the car’s Satnav, and we set off.  Once we had arrived in the vicinity of our destination, however, we were unable to identify the locality, which resulted in our travelling several miles out of our way and getting quite lost.  Eventually, I stopped the car, found the location in my phone’s address book and selected the navigation function.  Jean then followed our journey on this map and directed me until we reached our destination.  

Blindness

This was rather stressful, but also totally avoidable.  You see, when we set out, I suffered a bout of what might be called technological blindness.  I completely forgot that our car’s Satnav is paired to my phone such that my address book is shared.  All I needed to do was select our intended destination from the address book, and we would have been directed straight there.  I have used this functionality on numerous previous occasions, but this time took it upon myself to go the manual route.  There are, of course, spiritual analogies to this experience.

Going straight

Thinking that we know best is a very common human fault.  When we are dealing with other people, it may not be unreasonable, but with God, it surely is because, inevitably, he does know best, and our wisest response is to embrace what he says.  This applies to direct spiritual guidance and direction, but also to the teaching that we read in the Bible.  Deciding to go our own way will surely mean that we are diverging from the path that is both straight and narrow.  Contrast Proverbs 3:5,6.

If we plan to drive on a road that is straight and narrow, then we need to do so with great care, lest we stray to the left or the right; we can’t expect to stay on course if we drive carelessly.  The same applies to our Christian walk.  What does carelessness look like? 

Carelessness

The answer is probably found in where we began – thinking that we can go our own way, do our own thing.  That isn’t compatible with godliness, faithfulness and obedience.  This isn’t a matter of behaving the way that other people tell us that we should.  It is about honouring God, listening for his leading and actively seeking to live the way he wants us to.  Our primary source of such guidance is the Bible (Psalm 119:105).  The degree to which we are committed to living for God can be measured by the priority we place upon reading his Word.  To state that we want to live for God, but then to pay little attention to reading the Bible, is a contradiction.  Of course, we can hear from God directly, by his Spirit, but that is not a substitute for intentionally seeking to know him better through the written word.

Interpretations

We can all appreciate that the Bible is not a simple book; rather, it is a library of writings of differing types.   Some of these require little awareness of context for us to appreciate them, while others require rather more, such as is the case with certain of the prophetic books.  However, context is not the same as interpretation – being aware of the circumstances into which the authors addressed their writing is one thing, being told how to hear God through particular passages of scripture is something very different.  Many people claim to have such knowledge, but I believe that we are better off allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to us individually, rather than embracing certain, frequently misguided, interpretations.  God very often speaks to us through the written word, which is why it is important to be both listening to the Holy Spirit and also reading the Bible.

Analogies

The Bible gives us a very valuable anchor for our faith.  As we become more familiar with this, it is a little like driving a train.  This may be capable of travelling in many directions, but it has to keep to the rails, or else it will become derailed and crash.  A road vehicle, on the other hand, can more or less go wherever the driver chooses.  Yes, we normally drive on roads, but there is scope to deviate from this and go off-road as well, or to not use the SatNav and get lost as I did.  So now, we have three analogies: the driver of the train that is constrained by the rails, the driver of the car, directed using the satnav, and the car driver with neither constraint nor guidance who can easily lose their way. 

Arriving

We probably have a clear sense of where we want to get to, but how we travel will determine whether we succeed in arriving there.  This requires a degree of self-discipline.  We need to commit to spending regular time reading the Bible, but also to spending time in communion with God and in listening to the Spirit.  Both are necessary for a healthy walk of faith.  Both are essential if we are to arrive at our destination safely.  Many Christians are deeply committed to studying and following what the Bible says.  Many others are very open to the ministry and direction of the Holy Spirit.  But neither focus is honouring to God on its own.  We need both the written word and the Spirit if we are to live a God-honouring life.  Both are absolutely essential.  We need the rails that the Bible provides and the navigation that the Spirit gives us.

Good intentions

We must do both in practice, and not just in theory.  Many of us will claim, and genuinely intend to embrace both Word and Spirit.  But intention is one thing; action is yet another.  The bottom line is that how we actually behave is the measure of what we truly believe and intend.  We are reminded of the parable of the two sons in Matthew 21:28ff, specifically the one who responded positively but didn’t go on to do as he had promised (v30).  Let us be those who choose God’s way, fully intend to honour him, and actually go on to live in the light of God’s word and the leading of the Spirit of God.

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