Choosing the High Road
April 04, 2005
Choosing the high road -- it's a principle that my spiritual mentors and teachers bred into me years ago. But it frequently remains a challenging principle to follow.
Life and ministry is often difficult. People, problems, pressures, politics -- they're just a few of the things that test our faith, and our love for God and others. And it's commonly during those times of testing that we're confronted with the choice of taking:
The low road -- where we succomb to our base emotions and fleshly impulses, and then either do or say something we may end up regretting. It's also this lower road where we are preoccupied with and committed to justice -- our own.
The high road -- where we choose to set aside our "just" causes and our self-defenses, and we humble ourselves for the sake of the "higher good." This is the road that our Savior would likely take --the road of serving rather than being served; the road of going the extra mile and turning the other cheek; the road of laying down one's rights and life rather than defending them.
When we choose the high road, we do so with the belief that -- in the final analysis -- it will prove to have been the right choice. And there's a enigma here: taking the "high" road involves a "humbling" of ourselves. And yet it's this sort of humbling that eventually lifts us to great heights. Peter draws attention to this sort of thing: "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time." (1 Peter 5:6, NIV)
I bring all this up because something happened today that confronted me once again with this choice of which road I should choose. And it's got me wondering...
- What is it that keeps people from taking the "high road" more often?
- Is it possible to miss the mark here, and to confuse the "high road" with the road of emotional abuse?
- What benefits or liabilities do you see as being connected with our taking the "high road?"
- Have you ever taken either the "high road" or the "low road" and regretted it?
Often I'm just glad to find I'm on the road. Usually I've fallen into the slough of dispair..
Know that I pray for you often. And remember "Be kind to everyone. For we are all facing a great battle." (philo of alexander)
LYB
I'shalom
Seraphim de'Angelo
Posted by: Seraphim | April 05, 2005 at 06:50 AM
Thanks, Seraphim. You're a dear brother. The Philo of Alexander quote is perfect!
Posted by: Chris | April 05, 2005 at 07:02 AM
Here's to the spiritual existence of a sherpa.
Posted by: Rick | April 05, 2005 at 09:52 AM
I took the high road somewhat recently. I'm in youth ministry and a set of parents had some problems with me - going back almost a year to when I first came to the church - that they had never discussed with me. Finally, things came to a head for them and they requested a meeting with the senior pastor and me. I got blasted for an hour and a half and undermined by the senior pastor who then went and polled a few other parents. We had a followup meeting and I decided to just shut up and take it, even though a lot of what was being brought up was taken out of context or far too old to have any real relevance to the present. Now, though, when I think about it, I get really pissed. I'm mad that I didn't say anything to rebutt the meaningless things, I'm mad that I didn't haul the senior pastor out on the carpet over undermining me in front of those parents and for talking to a kid. None of that would probably have done me any good whatsoever, or improved the situation at all, but it still eats at me sometimes.
Posted by: Nathan | April 05, 2005 at 11:30 AM
I find, Chris, in my life that I have taken both the "high road" and the "low road" at different times. Sadly, I suppose the "low road" in many times of heavy emotion and crisis. However, I find God still present in both of those places. Always, the teacher, always the precious Redeemer. His highest aim for us is that we learn to see Him in every circumstance we find ourselves. So many things we take so seriously in life just don't matter in the end. Someone once told me to ask myself how much a certain crisis was going to matter to me ten years from now. That's easier to say than it is to practice in the midst of the battle, but it's so often the little things that get us down.
Just a couple of thoughts from your dear "simple" woman friend. LYB
Posted by: Judy | April 06, 2005 at 02:09 PM
"Sadly, I suppose the "low road" in many times of heavy emotion and crisis. However, I find God still present in both of those places."
Thank God for that!
Posted by: Chris | April 06, 2005 at 04:36 PM
Is it possible to miss the mark here, and to confuse the "high road" with the road of emotional abuse?
yes. lots of codependent people do this every day.
but lots of people who need anger management therapy take the low road everyday.
Posted by: tammy | April 09, 2005 at 11:55 AM
Thanks for that insight Tammy.
Posted by: Benjy | April 11, 2005 at 05:23 PM
Well Desert Pastor, thanks to this article, I took the high road today. I was part of the dot.com blowup. I went from making 17.50 an hour at a dot.com doing tech/customer support to working at an entry level job at a hospital making 8.19 an hour (figured that the hospital would probably still be there in 5 years).
Well, thru God's grace and 2 promotions, I'm at 12.07 an hour. I'm an Administrative Assistant and the webmaster for 2 departments.
What does this have to do with the high road? Well my boss, the Administrator of the division, wants to re-classify my position from Administrative Assistant to Administrative Specialist which would be a bump to 13.88 an hour. Well we lost the first round, and in order to win the 2nd round with classification, the boss wanted to say whatever we needed to say to get the raise.
I told him, no let's not do it that way. I offered another solution. And then I told him that if we had to lie to get my raise, I wouldn't feel right and wouldn't want the money.
Thus I took the high road. Sorta feels good and sucks all at the same time. Hah!
LYB
Posted by: Seraphim | April 13, 2005 at 06:42 AM