{"id":37794,"date":"2024-09-09T11:00:26","date_gmt":"2024-09-09T18:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=37794"},"modified":"2024-09-16T07:50:22","modified_gmt":"2024-09-16T14:50:22","slug":"the-obstacle-is-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-obstacle-is-the-way\/","title":{"rendered":"The Obstacle Is The Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

The text I have chosen to review is\u00a0Meditations, <\/em>written between 170 and 180 AD by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher. Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that was birthed and flourished in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. The Stoics believed that practicing virtue(s) would lead to happiness and a well-lived life. The four specific virtues emphasized in Stoicism are wisdom, courage, self-control, and justice.<\/p>\n

Marcus Aurelius is perhaps the most well-known and widely read of the ancient Stoics.<\/p>\n

And hereby ends my dry Wikipedia introduction.<\/p>\n

I chose Meditations after immersing myself in the modern writings of Ryan Holiday, an American philosopher, author, and podcaster who has been notably influential in spreading the Stoic philosophy in his writings. I devour anything from Ryan Holiday that I can get my hands on! Like myself, Holiday is a voracious reader. And I am smitten with the fact that he owns and operates his own independent bookstore, called Painted Porch Bookshop, in the small community of Bastrop, Texas, where he lives on a 40-acre ranch.<\/p>\n

I want my own bookstore. Oh, and I want my own 40-acre ranch, too. Also, I can’t help but love that Holiday is a musician who cites Metallica and Iron Maiden as his influences.<\/p>\n

He’s quite the Renaissance man…much like Marcus Aurelius.<\/p>\n

Now, it should be noted that there is debate around Aurelius’ attitude towards Christians in the first two centuries of the Christian era. The severity of persecution of Christians seemingly increased during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Still, what is debated is the extent to which Aurelius himself directed, encouraged, or was aware of these persecutions.<\/p>\n

All this talk is getting me interested in re-watching 2000’s epic historical drama Gladiator,<\/em> starring Russell Crowe. Richard Harris stars as Marcus Aurelius, and Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus, Marcus Aurelius’ son. It’s a Ridley Scott masterpiece. AND…buckle up, movie fans because Gladiator 2<\/em> is coming to a theater near you in November 2024.<\/p>\n

Let’s see, what other epic blood sport is playing out before our very eyes in November 2024? Oh, yeah, the U.S. Presidential Elections.<\/p>\n

This brings me to what this text has taught me regarding leadership: The Obstacle is the Way.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Meditations, Book 5.20,<\/em> Aurelius says, “The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting. The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” In context, Aurelius refers to putting up with people and events, even when they obstruct or impede us. The very obstructions and\/or impediments often serve as the way forward. What stands in the way becomes the way.<\/p>\n

This is paradoxical at first. An obstacle blocks. It prevents progress. How, then, can an obstacle to a goal become the way to the goal?<\/p>\n

I don’t know about you, but I don’t often like “the obstacle way.” I prefer smooth sailing. I opt for fewer obstacles, not more. I’ve been known to chock up challenges to the devil and pray my way out of difficulty. Aurelius, however, sees the art of life “not as a dancer but as a wrestler: waiting, poised and dug in, for sudden assaults” (Mediations, 7.61).\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I want to run when I see what’s coming our way in November 2024. No, I’m not talking about the Gladiator<\/em> sequel; I’m talking about the potential replay of all things 2020. I want to hide out. I want to move overseas. I, frankly, don’t want to be a pastoral leader if, again, things look anything like they did in 2020.<\/p>\n

And I’m not alone. A \u00a0lot of pastoral leaders are bailing out. Those alarming stats are coming in strong. Of course, there are a number of reasons for this, and you’ll have to read my final doctoral project to unearth them, but suffice it to say that pastoral leaders are languishing, burning out, and resigning from ministry. One of the contributing factors that I have discovered in my research has to do with an under-developed theology of suffering.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Apostle Paul, in Philippians 3:10 exhorts, \u201cI want to know Christ\u2014yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.\u201d This scriptural and theological understanding is often overlooked or downplayed in modern Evangelical church leadership, replete with celebrity pastors, the prosperity-lite gospel, and Instagram accounts such as @preachersnsneakers that seem to only showcase success and upward mobility. Pastors, like myself, are not immune to the lure. Yet when struggles come and tragedy strikes, disillusionment, and depression can often result. However, perhaps suffering is a feature, not a bug. Perhaps the obstacle IS the way.<\/p>\n

Pastor Andrew Damazio, in a recent message, spoke vulnerably about the painful season of pastoral ministry he has been experiencing for some time.[1]<\/sup> He asserted, \u201cI\u2019m scared that we have a generation that wants the oil but doesn\u2019t want the squeezing or pressing.\u201d He referenced Jesus, who perhaps \u201cshows us in Gethsemane how to survive our own Gethsemane.\u201d Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder in Rare Leadership<\/em> would term this \u201csuffering well.\u201d \u201cWe all suffer. We all endure hardship. What separates maturity from immaturity is the ability to suffer well.\u201d[<\/sup>2]<\/sup><\/p>\n

One pastor I interviewed commented, \u201cOften pastors\u2019 compulsions such as porn, overeating, alcohol, or binging TV are fed by our personal and ministerial suffering. Perhaps we are looking for ways to medicate and don\u2019t even know it. Perhaps if we knew how to \u2018suffer well\u2019, we would not fall for these kinds of compulsive actions.\u201d Aurelius supports this notion by saying, “We have various abilities, present in all rational creatures as in the nature of rationality itself. And this is one of them. Just as nature takes every obstacle, every impediment, and works around it \u2013 turns it to its purposes, incorporates it into itself \u2013 so, too, a rational being can turn each setback into raw material and use it to achieve its goal” (Meditations, 8.35)<\/em>. I love how Gandhi, in a 1909 speech, put it, “The grandest aid to the development of strong, pure, beautiful character which is our aim, is the endurance of suffering.”<\/p>\n

So. Don’t. Give. Up.<\/strong>[3]<\/sup> Even when things get dark. That’s when our light becomes most necessary. Regardless of the gladiator ring you and I get tossed into, regardless of who becomes our next president (perhaps again)<\/em>. Regardless of what obstacles are in front of us, persevere, my friends. Aurelius says, “Keep at it, until it’s fully digested. A strong stomach digests whatever it eats. A blazing fire takes whatever you throw on it, and makes it light and flame” (Mediations, 10.31).<\/em><\/p>\n

The obstacle…the suffering…IS the way.<\/p>\n

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[1] <\/sup>Andrew Damazio, \u201cHeart to Heart: My Heart Hurts,\u201d December 2023, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Toeb8EjJGw0&themeRefresh=1<\/p>\n

[<\/sup>2] <\/sup>Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder, Rare Leadership in the Workplace<\/em> (Chicago: Northfield Publishing, 2021), 15.<\/p>\n

[3] <\/sup>Shameless plug to check out my book\u00a0Don’t Give Up: Encouragement for Weary Souls in Challenging Times<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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