Going Somewhere — or Just Stepping in Place? In his book, The Pioneers, on the early settlement of the Ohio River Valley at the turn of the nineteenth century, David McCullough reports that the people of the American frontier loved “tall tales and practical jokes. … If asked by a stranger, ‘Where does this road go?’ the local answer might be, ‘Don’t go nowhere, mister, stays right here’” (pg. 226). Is that not true of a lot of folks, in spiritual terms? They expect that they, or their fellow travelers, are always going somewhere, but, instead, they always stay pretty much right where they always have been. This is very much like “treading water” and mistaking it for “swimming,” or “marking time” in the marching band. They are really just “stepping in place” — going through the motions as if they were making progress but never really going anywhere. The New Testament calls the gospel of Christ “the Way” (cf. Matt. 7:13,14; Acts 9:2; 19:9,23). This implies that those who embrace the gospel are on their way somewhere. Where they are is not where they intend to be very long. They are not just “stepping in place” but actually going somewhere. They, by no means, intend to stay where they are. They have made “the Way” their way because they expect it to take them to a goal, or home, where they wish to go. “The Way” is not an end in itself. For its travelers, it is not just “the journey that counts,” as if the destination itself means nothing. Unbelievers who say this are only consoling themselves that they have adopted a way of life which they might enjoy for its own sake but which takes them nowhere but what they think is oblivion. No! Instead, “the Way” is all about the destination — where it takes its travelers. It is as the words of the old hymn say: “the way of the cross leads home.” “The Way” goes someplace. It is taking Christians somewhere; that is why they are moving ahead on it; they are on their way to heaven. The journey is not just an end in itself; it is intended to take them to the end, or goal, on which they have set their eyes. “They have “set [their] mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” (Col. 3:2). They have heeded the exhortation in “fixing [their] eyes on Jesus… at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2). They are a goal-oriented people. They know “the Way” is, not just the end, but the way to the end — their heavenly goal. God has provided the way there through Christ, for He is “the Way” (Jn. 14:6). Yet, they must walk it; they must actually make spiritual progress; they must move along it; they must experience growth; they must sense that, when they look back upon the years of their lives, they have actually moved forward, that there is a difference between what they are now and what they were. This actually involves a change in scenery or environment. It means tossing aside impediments which hamper their progress along the way to their goal. So, they have to ask themselves if they are living their lives in a way which is appropriate to the course on which they have set themselves and which expedites their progress to their goal. Do they have a different set of friends (1 Cor. 15:33), do they live differently, do they even eat and drink differently, do they drive different cars or live in different kinds of houses, or do they look around and see the same food, drink, cars, houses, and friends, perhaps indicating that they have made no progress, and discover that, all along, they have merely been “stepping in place”? For travelers on “the Way,” life is going to change. They must sense that they are making progress toward their goal. They must be able to look around and see that they are now in a different place than when they began their journey on “the Way,” for those who are just “stepping in place” are actually going somewhere, though nowhere they ever intended.
“For men will be … always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:2,7).
Copyright © 2017 - current year, Gary P. and Leslie G. Eubanks. All Rights Reserved.
Going Somewhere — or Just Stepping in Place? In his book, The Pioneers, on the early settlement of the Ohio River Valley at the turn of the nineteenth century, David McCullough reports that the people of the American frontier loved “tall tales and practical jokes. … If asked by a stranger, ‘Where does this road go?’ the local answer might be, ‘Don’t go nowhere, mister, stays right here’” (pg. 226). Is that not true of a lot of folks, in spiritual terms? They expect that they, or their fellow travelers, are always going somewhere, but, instead, they always stay pretty much right where they always have been. This is very much like “treading water” and mistaking it for “swimming,” or “marking time” in the marching band. They are really just “stepping in place” — going through the motions as if they were making progress but never really going anywhere. The New Testament calls the gospel of Christ “the Way” (cf. Matt. 7:13,14; Acts 9:2; 19:9,23). This implies that those who embrace the gospel are on their way somewhere. Where they are is not where they intend to be very long. They are not just “stepping in place” but actually going somewhere. They, by no means, intend to stay where they are. They have made “the Way” their way because they expect it to take them to a goal, or home, where they wish to go. “The Way” is not an end in itself. For its travelers, it is not just “the journey that counts,” as if the destination itself means nothing. Unbelievers who say this are only consoling themselves that they have adopted a way of life which they might enjoy for its own sake but which takes them nowhere but what they think is oblivion. No! Instead, “the Way” is all about the destination — where it takes its travelers. It is as the words of the old hymn say: “the way of the cross leads home.” “The Way” goes someplace. It is taking Christians somewhere; that is why they are moving ahead on it; they are on their way to heaven. The journey is not just an end in itself; it is intended to take them to the end, or goal, on which they have set their eyes. “They have “set [their] mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” (Col. 3:2). They have heeded the exhortation in “fixing [their] eyes on Jesus… at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2). They are a goal-oriented people. They know “the Way” is, not just the end, but the way to the end — their heavenly goal. God has provided the way there through Christ, for He is “the Way” (Jn. 14:6). Yet, they must walk it; they must actually make spiritual progress; they must move along it; they must experience growth; they must sense that, when they look back upon the years of their lives, they have actually moved forward, that there is a difference between what they are now and what they were. This actually involves a change in scenery or environment. It means tossing aside impediments which hamper their progress along the way to their goal. So, they have to ask themselves if they are living their lives in a way which is appropriate to the course on which they have set themselves and which expedites their progress to their goal. Do they have a different set of friends (1 Cor. 15:33), do they live differently, do they even eat and drink differently, do they drive different cars or live in different kinds of houses, or do they look around and see the same food, drink, cars, houses, and friends, perhaps indicating that they have made no progress, and discover that, all along, they have merely been “stepping in place”? For travelers on “the Way,” life is going to change. They must sense that they are making progress toward their goal. They must be able to look around and see that they are now in a different place than when they began their journey on “the Way,” for those who are just “stepping in place” are actually going somewhere, though nowhere they ever intended.
“For men will be … always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:2,7). ”