Go West, Not Left

A finely-aged repost...At 5:30 this morning, I woke up (unintentionally) and began thinking and then blindly writing notes on my hand so I wouldn't forget my thoughts when it came time to crawl out of bed an hour later. I had been dreaming about a friend. In my dream I was giving him directions, strangely enough, to his own house. As I crossed the fuzzy divide between reverie and wakefulness I began to think about how different people give directions.

Some folks are right-left navigators: Go here, take a left, when you get there, go right, and then after this far, take a left. Others are "compass" people: Go east on that street, then head north at the next street, the place you need will be on the west side.

The first method is OK, but the problem is that it only works from one starting point, because right and left are different depending on whether you're heading north or south. That is to say, right and left "change" depending on which direction your nose is pointing.

I like "compass" directions, because even if I make a wrong turn, or head to a location from a different route than the direction-giver, I know that North, South, East and West are still the same.

Alright. So all this is going through my head in the wee hours. Then I think: well, that reminds me somewhat of a Pyromaniac post I read earlier in the week!

People argue about directions all the time; everybody has their own "shortcut". When you're driving to Wal-Mart, the method and route are negotiable. However, when Heaven, Truth and eternity are the goal - there really is only one way. And furthermore, the directions Christians are handing out had better be accurate. The roadmap a preacher presents had better use compass headings that don't change, instead of nebulous instructions such as, "head up that hill, veer left at the windmill, then go a little right at the red barn, and you'll see it up ahead there a-ways." (Post-modern translation: feel good about yourself, form "god" in whatever image suits you, be nice and heaven will be waiting for you...")

People need to hear someone tell them, "Go west", not, "Go left". There's just too much room for error in "go left."

If a preacher, or any Christian, is responsible and wise and compassionate, they won't steer someone else wrong when it comes to directions as important as the True Gospel.