Welcome to Season 1 Episode 24 of the Your Church Matters podcast. In this episode, I talked about the common dilemma of making choices. Not between good and bad. Not even between good, better, and best (that sounds so simple in theory). Sometimes our choices are between good and … good.
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Have you ever thought about what “super hero power” you would like to have? Probably the one I most often think about would be the ability to be in more than one place at a time. Sometimes it feels like there are too many opportunities, too many responsibilities, and too little me.
How can we be happy with one choice and have no regrets about the others?
Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). No pressure!
I once heard someone say, “The road is narrow, but we get to use the whole road.” That stuck with me, and the more I have thought about it, the more I am convinced that it is Biblically sound. I did a search of the concept of choices in the Bible. Here’s what I found: the word “choice” is found 34 times in the New International Version, “chosen” – 125, “chose” – 45, “choose” – 66, “choices” – 0. The vast majority of those occurrences are talking about God’s choice, not ours. Hmmm.
The road is narrow, but we get to use the whole road. Click To Tweet
Here’s one that is talking about ours: “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).
It seems that the pivotal choice for us is whom we will serve (Joshua 24:15), which sets the direction of our lives (Matthew 7:13-14). Within those parameters, we are able to exercise some discretion in our choices. For more on that, check out Season 1 Episode 20.
4 Questions/Filters to allow us to make good choices without regrets over what we decline.
1. Will my choice do anything to dishonor God or undermine my life’s choice to serve Him?
2. Can God be glorified in my choice and will I behave in such a way that He will be?
3. Can I make this choice joyfully?
4. Are there ways I can demonstrate faith, love, and respect in the choices I decline?
Note: These questions can help a church process choices as well.
To comment on this episode or leave a question for a future episode:
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2. Email: contactgerrylewis@gmail.com
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4. Direct tweet @drgerrylewis
*Special thanks to Keith Cooper (Guitar Music)
