In 1969, Frank Sinatra sang his famous rendition of “My way,” a song that was originally sang in French by Claude François in 1967. I once heard of a man (who was not a Christian) who wanted this song played at his funeral as his sort-of anthem for how he had lived his life. This song did end up being played at his funeral, and by all accounts it was how he had lived his life. If he wanted to do something, he did it, if he didn’t, he didn’t. He did things his way.
While to some this may sound poignant and reflective, when the Bible talks about people living life their own way, it is never positive. In fact, as you read through the book of Genesis, you know things are getting bad when you read, “when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes…she took of its fruit and ate…” (Genesis 3:6). A few chapters later, you know things have really spiraled out of control when “the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). We know that Eve’s story ends with her and her husband’s failed attempt at hiding from God and their ejection from the garden, and that Genesis six leads to a catastrophic flood that only spares eight people in chapter seven. Why is it that these particular eight people were spared from the flood? Because they were righteous before God! In other words, they were living His way while everyone else was busy following their own evil, selfish intentions.
Later in the Bible, in the book of Judges, there is a phrase that repeats itself twice: “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6, 21:25). From a distance, without context, this might seem harmless. Maybe like it is just a statement of fact. However, in the context of the book of Judges as a whole, it is quite ominous, and carries some heavy implications for why things are the way they are at this time. There are many parts of the book of Judges that are quite violent and hard to read. There is talk of child sacrifice, extreme violence, and massive character flaws in the judges themselves. If the leaders are included in “everyone doing what is right in his own eyes”, then I am sure we can imagine how grim things were. God, by His grace, is sparing the people and acting on their behalf when they follow Him, but even when they do obey Him for a moment, it does not last very long at all. This is what it looks like when there is “no king” and everyone is “doing their own thing.” To go one’s own way is not something to show off or brag about. What do we call a government where no one is in charge, and everyone rules themselves? Anarchy. And if there is one thing we learn from the book of Judges, it is that lawlessness on a personal, spiritual level, is just as bad (if not worse) than anarchy on a political scale.
We live in a world that often seeks to praise people for “doing their own thing” or “going their own way.” Sometimes, frustrated parents will tell their children, “We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way,” clearly meaning that things will get difficult and tense if the child continues to put up a fight against what the parent is trying to get them to do. We can be similarly shortsighted as humans when God tells us to do certain things. We often want to worship, talk, and act like we are our own bosses.
Interestingly, Jesus spoke of various “ways” to go about life as well. In the Sermon on the Mount, He says, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who find it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13-14). In the gospel of John, we famously read of Jesus saying “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). In these passages and others, Jesus makes it clear that it is “His way or the highway.” Except, in Jesus’ case, His insistence on His Way comes from a place of sacrificial love, not obstinance. His way leads to eternal life! Or rather, He IS not only the way to eternal life, but He IS eternal life itself! When we get to Heaven, we will be able to live in His glory forever, but we have to follow Him to get there. He is clear that it will be a hard road, but He is also clear that it will be well worth the sacrifices we have to make to get there. If He thought we were worth coming from Heaven and laying down His life, we should strive to put Him first, even if it means laying down our lives. If we are striving to follow Jesus, then unlike in the days of the judges, we do have a King, and if we want eternal life in His name, then we have to do things His way. After all, His way is the best way.
Notice what is said in Luke 1 about the birth of John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin and the prophet that was sent to prepare the world for Christ’s arrival: “You, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:76-79). I don’t know about you, but I want to go that way! The way that John the Baptist laid out, that points to Jesus Christ, that includes (despite its struggles) knowledge, salvation, forgiveness, mercy, and sunshine.
I pray that when people look at our lives, they say that we went His way. I fear for those who get to Judgment and tell God, “I did it my way.” If that sounds like you, change course now before it is forever too late.