Errors usually come in pairs, offering two “ditches” on opposites sides of the path of truth which we must avoid in order to ensure we truly follow Christ. I am not sure that every truth occupies the middle ground between two wrong extremes, but certainly in Christian doctrine this is true of a great many truths. Thus I find this idea of the two ditches extremely helpful in trying to ensure that I don’t fall into one error (ditch) by trying to avoid the other.

Take, for example, God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. The Bible clearly teaches that God is sovereign over all things and therefore we can trust his guidance, provision, and control over events. But it also teaches that we are responsible for our own actions and cannot blame God for our misdeeds or those of others. Too much emphasis on God’s sovereignty may lead me to blame God for my problems, or, if I’m struggling to overcome a sin, to have the attitude that I simply need to wait for God to remove my desire to sin instead of taking any action (such as repenting) myself. On the other hand, too much emphasis on man’s responsibility may lead me to turn everything into an exercise in self-control and self-discipline, rather than turning to him for the help I so desperately need. Thus, Phil. 2:12-13 presents both aspects of this – “work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you.” As Christians, we are to work (exercising our responsibility) because God is at work in us. On either side of the truth lies a major error – we take no action, or we rely too much on ourselves.

The same is true in many areas. To give one more example, consider the deity and humanity of Christ. The Bible clearly presents Jesus as fully God and fully human. With too much emphasis on his deity, we lose his ability to sympathize with us in our weaknesses, function as our example, understand us, and fully advocate for us as one who has been tempted in every way as we have been. But with too much emphasis on his humanity, we may see him as less than fully God, merely another person, one who lacks the power to help us and one who is not as glorious and deserving as worship as the Bible declares he is – one not deserving of and demanding our complete trust and total obedience.

In any given area, most of us naturally tend more towards one ditch than the other, and it benefits us to know which. If we tend towards one particular error, we may need to exercise special care to avoid it. Also, it’s easy to think our particular side of the path is cleaner or nicer-smelling than the other, as it were, which can affect our relationships with others. In other words, if my natural inclination is more towards one error, it’s easy for me to look down on others who tend more towards the opposite error. But both are errors.

Some years ago, a close friend and I met regularly with a newer Christian, Tim, with a more charismatic mindset. After these meet-ups, we found ourselves saying to one another something like, “He needs to learn from us and we need to learn from him.” We were disciplined and organized in our lives and theology, with tasks lists, calendars, and a systematic way of thinking about Scripture. Tim was spur-of-the-moment, haphazard, and sometimes a bit confused theologically – but always asking what God wanted him to do at the moment. My friend and I would miss ways in which God was calling us to serve because we were too busy being “organized” whereas Tim was always there when someone needed him, but Tim’s disorganization also caused its own problems, just as did his theological sloppiness. This relationship was a great help to me – Tim spurred us to move further away from our ditch of too great a focus on organization, and we encouraged him to move away from his own ditch. I don’t think it was an easy process for any of us. However, this helped me a great deal – though first I had to overcome my own distaste for disorganization and sloppy thinking.

I don’t want to oversell this idea. It’s not earth-shattering. However, I find it helpful in checking my own thinking and practices, and I hope you will, too.

So, remember that there are usually two ditches, and beware of both ditches – not just the one you naturally dislike. And if you don’t know what the second ditch is, be especially careful – it might mean you’re in the second ditch.

I didn’t invent this idea of the two ditches. I’ve heard others talk about it, though unfortunately I can’t remember who I heard it from first to give them proper credit. It’s also Google-able; for example, here’s a blog post with some similar ideas, though with a bit more philosophical terminology.