My Way

Back in 2015 while traveling to a funeral of a friend’s mother in Mississippi, I used the navigation system on the automobile.  I looked up the address of the church and found directions to the church.  I knew the general location of the church but wanted to use the GPS to track time. 

What I realized was that the address was so rural that neither of my iPhone nor the navigational system could locate the address.  Knowing what directions I got from Google, I ventured into uncharted territory, but one of my passengers had to be sure and wanted to know the way.  She called John, our friend and son of the deceased to get specific directions.  His address was different from the ones I got from Google.

After the funeral, I entered my Linden address into the navigational system and I realized that we were in the middle of the nowhere, which was the parking lot of New Sardis Baptist Church between Mize and Mount Olive, Mississippi.

So many times, I have argued with the lady in the GPS and took my way.  Had I done that Saturday, I would have missed my destination.  I am afraid that many churches and members miss the destination that God has because we want to do things our way.

If there is one thing wrong, and there are many, with the church today it is trying to have church our way.  Since the beginning, doing things “my way” instead of God’s way has caused much pain and regret.  Think about the song “My Way” sung by Frank Sinatra.

 

And now the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend I'll say it clear
I'll state my case of which I'm certain
I've lived a life that's full
I traveled each and every highway
And more much more than this
I did it my way.

Regrets, I've had a few
But then again too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exception
I planned each chartered course
Each careful step alone the by way
And more much more than this
I did it my way.

Yes there were times I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I face it all and I stood tall
And did it my way.

I've loved, I've laughed and cried
I've had my fill my share of loosing
And the now as tears subside
I find it all so amusing
To think I did all that and my I say
Not in a shy way
Oh no, oh no not me
I did it my way.

For what is a man what has he got
If not himself then he has not
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way.

 

Although Frank Sinatra made it popular and Elvis, along with numerous others, did his version, Paul Anka is the one who wrote “My Way.”  Anka got the song from Claude Francois and Jacques Revaux.  It is based on the French song “Comme d’habitube” composed in 1967.

The lyrics tell of an old man reflecting on his life as death approaches.  This old man is comfortable with his mortality and takes responsibility for how he lived with all the challenges of life while maintaining a respectable degree of integrity.

Anka rewrote the song specifically for Sinatra.

“My Way” is most frequently played at British funerals.  Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union joking referred to the Soviet policy of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other Warsaw Pact countries as the Sinatra Doctrine.

The song has been reported to cause numerous incidents of violence and homicides among drunkards in bars in the Philippines and named “My Way Killings.”

 

The song is a testimony to those who want to exclude God.  A deacon once told me in reference to a church problem, “I don’t care what the Church Constitution and By-laws say or what the Bible has to say.  This is the way we are going to handle the problem.”  Dangerous words, bad direction.

 

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord (Isaiah 55:8 KJV).