I sat with my friend Bill and unleashed a torrent of frustration. I was deep in the throes of a life decision and struggling desperately to discern the leading of God. Yet no answer seemed forthcoming, and I was obsessing over my next step.

Bill listened patiently as I shared my angst. After contemplating what he heard, he said this: “It sounds like you’re choosing between being right and being present.”

Huh?

I did not know how to process such a statement. In my mind the choice was always between right and wrong. Obedience and sin. Good and evil.

Being present had nothing to do with it.

Still, I sensed he was on to something. Like countless other times, I was consumed with making the correct choice to the point of no longer paying attention to relationships and reality. I had retreated into my head to work the problem, which in itself became a problem. My desire for good went bad.

Beyond binary piety

It turns out not every decision is binary. There is an evangelical impulse ...