You Can’t Get There From Here

SCOTT CROWDER / LEARNING TO BE PRESENT KAREN SWALLOW PRIOR / LIFE, LITERATUR...

You Can’t Get There From Here

You Can't Get There From Here

Every culture has strange sayings, vestiges of days past. Some origins are easy to discern like, “Knock it out of the park.” Others like, “Break a leg,” less so.

Then there are the curious phrases that are just good fun.

Why are there “Skeletons in your closet? and what’s “a humdinger”?

“Clean as a whistle?” that’s never been blown?

“Give it to me straight like a pear cider made of 100% pears?” OK.

Why would you ‘beat a dead horse?’ Also, please stop beating horses, dead or alive.

“Out like a light…” that’s, been, turned, off?

“The rules were made to be broken,’ Yeah, pretty sure that’s not why they were made.

And how does ‘imagining everyone in their underwear’ calm the nerves of a first-time public speaker? That’s counterintuitive.

Finally, “You can’t get there from here.”

Back before GPS, in the days when, as a lost traveler, I had to stop and ask directions from some old-timer, always an old-timer. On more than one occasion, upon hearing my desired destination, he would shake his head as though I was willfully lost and say, “Son, you can’t get there from here.”

“Sure, you can, fella.” I’d think. “If I’m here and I need to get there, then there’s no other way to get there than from here. So, unless this is an existential conversation taking place in the parking lot of a Piggly Wiggly, I’m certain I can get there from here if you’d just be so kind as to give me directions”

I never employed the phrase except to cleverly expound on its contradiction.

Then, one late night several years ago, I navigated for my brother, Joel, as we traveled from Charlotte NC to Lexington KY for a conference. By “navigated,” I mean, I was listening to Siri communicate GPS directions and repeating what she told me.

Siri, “Turn left,”

“Turn left,” I said, looking up from my phone and pointing.

“Joel!

Left!

There!”

I repeated as we passed our hotel.

“I can’t turn left, bro. Look!” Joel responded just as I recognized the problem. A freshly cemented three-foot median wall had been newly installed between our left turn and the hotel. We couldn’t turn left.

As we drove past and Siri declared, “Recalculating,” I heard myself saying that rascal phrase, “You can’t get there from here.”

And then with epiphanous enthusiasm, “Oh?

Oh!

It’s about the road you’re traveling!”

What Am I Still Lacking?

In Matthew 19:16 a young fella came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do so that I may obtain eternal life?”

That’s a good question.

And Jesus answered in the language of the man’s understanding. Something Jesus is brilliant at as He is fluent in every language; a master communicator.

“Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

“Which ones?” The young man asked, sincerely.

So, Jesus gave him some well-worn roads he could travel down; some of the greatest hits.

“You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not give false testimony; Honor your father and mother, and, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

The young man replied, “All these I have kept; what am I still lacking?”

“What am I still lacking?”

That question cuts to the heart of the matter. And I imagine Jesus was thrilled by it.

It’s a humdinger, a recognition that even though the young man kept all of the commandments, something was missing. It was an acknowledgment that something still didn’t measure up, a confession of incompleteness, a realization that no matter how far down this road he traveled, no matter what he did, how much he prayed, read his bible, obeyed, or gave, he somehow couldn’t seem to reach his destination.

What am I still lacking? is a question I’ve asked most of my life, and I’m not alone. It’s the question so many of my brothers and sisters ask today. It seems to haunt us even after we prayed the prayer, that first one, and the thousandth…

What am I still lacking we ask after tragedy strikes, after disappointment crushes, after rejection breaks us, after loss devastates.

What am I still lacking we ask after we miss the mark. It’s the question that torments us in addiction, condemns us when we fail, and shames us after we have hurt those we love.

What am I still lacking we ask Sunday morning after church.

Because sadly, ‘What am I still lacking’ is the ‘gospel’ message many sin counting preachers still present from many Western pulpits.

“Prone to wander! Lord, I feel it…” The pastor pontificates. And, good lord, we feel it.

“When I am weak, He is strong,” the teacher espouses, and lord knows it’s true… even though it’s the exact opposite of Paul’s words which read, “When I am weak, I am strong…” (See 2 Cor 12:10) It seems the Apostles revelation of the good news was truer than his experience with what he was lacking.

That’s worth noting…

What am I still lacking is the punishing paradigm so many Christians slave under. It daily reminds us of our inability to measure up, it frustrates us with a beautiful destination that’s always just beyond our reach.

What am I still lacking reveals dualistic, for and against, us and them, thinking, it’s the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, it positions us in a fight against flesh and blood, it forces us to point fingers, and throw rocks.

What am I still lacking is the beginning and end of every transactional approach to God, the conclusion of all retributive thinking.

And, “What am I still lacking” was the problem the Rich Young Ruler couldn’t solve.

His question was sincere, his desired destination true and good. The man was endeavoring to arrive at eternal life. The man was searching for a Greater Love that answered every question that aches in the heart of humanity, and boy if he wasn’t asking the right person for directions.

“Jesus, if I’m here and I need to get there, then there’s gotta be a way to get there from here, right?” He asked.

And Jesus honored his question by redirecting traffic.

“Son, you can’t get there from here,” Jesus responded. “If you want to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me…”

Some of this article is excerpted from my forthcoming book, Leaving (& Finding) Jesus
CLICK HERE to Pre-Order

PRE-ORDER NOW!

Jason Clark is a bestselling storyteller who writes to reveal the transforming kindness of the love of God in a world traumatized by the religious abuses done in the name of the love of God. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children, Madeleine, Ethan, and Eva. Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow JOIN OUR MAILING LIST GIVE TO A FAMILY STORY YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE… THE CROSS with DEREK TURNER & JASON CLARK

by A Family Story | January 6, 2021 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Intimacy, Leadership, Relationship, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 3 Comments

In this first episode of season two, Jason and new host Derek Turner dive into the wonder of what Jesus revealed about our Father and humanity through the cross and resurrection.

Read More Fixing the Church Scale Problem

by A Family Story | December 16, 2020 | Articles, Dreaming, Faith, Friends, Leadership, Relationship | 0 Comments

No matter how we package the metrics, the current model of the Church in the West is incapable of scaling Kingdom growth at a rate that can keep up with it…

Jason Clark's Blog

Jason Clark's profile
20 followers