There Is No Third Way
Matthew 12:30; Mark 9:40
“Whoever is not with me is against me.”
—Matthew 12:30“For the one who is not against us is for us.”
—Mark 9:40
In recent years, Christian political engagement has been marked by the idea of the Third Way or the Middle Way.
The Third Way, as it’s popularly understood, claims that between the two extremes of left and right, there lies a third and better way in the center. Most often, though, this comes across as a sort of Third Way that doesn’t so much advocate for a separate, third position, but which steadfastly refuses to make a moral distinction between two competing and contradictory positions.
“Either option is permissible,” it says, “so long as you’re nice about it.”
We see a very different picture in the Bible. Let’s start by looking at what Joshua says to Israel before his death:
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
—Joshua 24:14–15
Joshua gives the people only two choices: The true and living God, or other, lesser gods (whether the gods of their fathers or the gods of the Amorites). Absent from the checkboxes on Joshua’s ballot form are choices for the “None of the above” or “Either is fine” options. The Israelites are either for God, or they are against God, and they have no illusions about the availability of a Third Way that navigates between the two.
It has been this way from the very beginning. In the Garden, when God curses the serpent, he says:
“I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
—Genesis 3:15
This is, of course, the first proclamation of the gospel — the good news of the coming messiah — and it points forward to Jesus, the promised offspring who was bruised on the cross, but who crushed the head of Satan and death.
But it’s also setting the stage for the rest of the Bible, and for the rest of human history. There are two lines running through the world: The seed of the woman (those who, by faith, are members of Christ’s body and kingdom), and the seed of the serpent (those who are not members of Christ’s body and kingdom).
As with Joshua, God does not present us with a third option. It is not “the seed of the woman,” “the seed of the serpent,” and “the seed of a better alternative.” It is not, “Either seed will do.” No, there is no third offspring, third seed, third line, or Third Way.
“There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.”
—C.S. Lewis
Jesus himself affirms this, as we see in the two verses that opened this post (Matthew 12:30 and Mark 9:40). “If you’re not for me, you’re against me,” he said, “and if you’re not against me, you’re for me.”
Jesus doesn’t leave us any wiggle room here. We don’t get to squirm our way off the field of battle and into neutral territory. In the game of life, you’re either wearing the home colors, or you’re wearing the visitors’ colors.
This is true of our contemporary political arrangements, too. Let’s return to our earlier example of human trafficking. There is the position of Jesus Christ: Human trafficking is an impermissible evil. And then there is the position of the serpent: Human trafficking is not an impermissible evil. What is the neutral option here? Where is the Third Way? There is none.
It’s the same with other political positions: If a law or policy or position is compatible with God’s standards (that is, if it’s the First Way), then God approves of it. And if it is incompatible with God’s standards (that is, if it’s the Second Way), then God disapproves of it. The ground between the two vanishes.
This is not to say that there are absolutely no matters of liberty when it comes to political decisions. Within the realm of things God approves of, there is plenty of room for differing opinions. We know, for example, that God gives the state the right to tax citizens (Romans 13:6–7); within this boundary, then, we are free to disagree about tax rates. It’s the same with immigration policy, or funding for local services, or foreign policy specifics. So long as we’re operating within the bounds of God’s standards, we’re free to take differing positions.
But notice that this freedom only exists within the bounds of God’s standards. In these instances, we have already chosen the Lord. We have already picked one of the two ways: the First Way, the way that leads to life.
Christian liberty only exists within the First Way.
In the end, the Third Way turns out to be no way at all. It’s really just a mask for the Second Way, the way that leads to death.
Choose this day whom you will serve.
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© 2024 Josh Bishop. joshbishopwrites.com