“Stay out of the ditches” – generally good advice for driving or riding a bike.
All sorts of bad stuff happens when a cyclist veers off the road, but simply avoiding the ditch isn’t much of a goal. I can stay on the pavement and still be a terrible rider. In fact, just sitting still, never leaving home, will keep me out of the ditch.
There’s got to be more to cycling – and to life – than avoiding trouble.
Early Christians were called Followers of The Way and it’s common to visualize following Jesus in terms of the metaphor of a path. Sadly, that path is frequently mis-characterized in ways Jesus never intended.
Stay away from this! Avoid that! Don’t go there! So much fear, and the underlying message is often one of coercion and threat – you’d better stay between the lines or God’s gonna zap you!
I don’t see any of that in Jesus’ life. His words are all about invitation and opportunity. He points to a path that offers penetrating light and freedom in a world of otherwise all-encompassing darkness. “Follow Me. Let’s walk together on an incredible adventure of love and hope.”
Human guides focus a lot on avoiding the ditch, rules and laws mostly aimed at punishing those who step off the road. We become a culture of fear that equates not-doing-bad-stuff with doing-good-stuff.
Following Jesus is more -much more – than the absence of negatives.
Jesus didn’t come to show us how to stay out of the ditch. Two ways to travel.
Fear The Ditch. Spend the entire journey focused on avoiding the horrors beyond the white lines.
Follow The Light.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)
Act justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly. Can’t do that while I’m staring at the ditch.
“Follow Me.”
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Some folks look at human trafficking through a law-and-order lens. Punishment, anger, retribution.
I see our 22 kids living in hope and freedom. Hearts changed. Lives transformed.
That’s why we ride bikes. Come along?
Registration deadline is May 4: https://frontrangefreedomtour.org/
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