Shiny Paths: Direction or Distraction?
Discerning where the road is actually taking us.
I tend to use media as escapism. In 2025, I read roughly 40 fiction books. I haven’t read that many stories since Ann M. Martin introduced The Babysitter’s Club: Mysteries. With all else that my mind was being forced to take in, I just didn’t have the capacity to take in leadership tips, theological deep dives or cognitive strategy. So my typical self-improvement podcasts and Audible choices were replaced with a revolving door of Libby holds where people were either falling in love, solving a murder or inexplicably doing both.
While I’ve honed my ability to see God in everything, I’m pleased to see a shift toward faith adjacent media over the last couple of years for people who are still learning to flex (or find) that muscle. Movies like Conclave, Heretic and Wake Up Dead Man all open the doors to conversations that you might not be able to have if you were to pull up to the dinner table all “So, let’s talk about the hypocrisy of secret keeping that takes place in the American church.” (While I’m grateful many of you are open to talking about the realities Christianity is facing, it’s nice to have a low stakes way of introducing these concepts to people with a more narrow or naive view of reality.)
A favorite rewatch from last year (because escapism isn’t only for my ears) was Schmigadoon!, a comedy on Apple TV where Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key find themselves trapped in a musical. While Season 1 is far superior to Season 2, there’s a line that Tituss Burgess delivers - well, sings - as the narrator that has stuck with me:
“The road you’re on is paved with gold, but who knows where it leads?”
Immediately I got a mental picture of American Christianity as Dorothy on the yellow brick road walking toward something that wasn’t what she expected. (Or what she’d been told she’d find.) Only the bricks are gold and the ruby slippers are the regalia of complicity and instead of meeting the divine, we’re just blinding following the voice of the man behind the mask, who is doing his best to distract and attract with fanfare so we don’t really see what’s going on behind the curtain. If we don’t want to find ourselves waking up in a dream that turns out to be a nightmare, we have to stop and ask ourselves where we are headed. If the shine of the extravagance is leading to something that will take us home or only toward the deception of evil. The road we’re on may be paved with gold, but are we willing to see where it’s taking us?
Maybe for you it’s something more personal. The beginning of the year is a great time to reflect on who we’ve become and who we want to be. Whether you have a word of the year, a resolution, a goal, a vision board or just a desire to become a little more like Jesus, what’s the path you need to take to get there?
As I navigate aging and health through perimenopause, there are all kinds of shiny gimmicks that promise to guide me to the other side stronger, smarter and more youthful. I have to research and ask questions so I don’t make choices for my body that promise me a beautiful immediate future while creating long-term damage elsewhere.
Whatever path is before you in this season, I encourage you to see what’s capturing your attention. Does the path itself matter more than where it leads? If the shine of the next step is keeping your gaze down, blink a few times and readjust. Look up. Look ahead. Look farther out. Where does it actually lead, beyond the promise of a shiny next step? (See it all the way through to who it is that benefits from you walking this path. Does it bring them money, followers, influence or otherwise?) Is it actually leading you toward Jesus?
The idea that you only have one path or one way to God’s will is just not accurate. You can step off, turn around or even go back the way you came at any time. After all, God’s word is a lamp to your feet that will light your path no matter how you get there. What’s most important is knowing where you’re heading.
If you’re looking for more faith adjacent media connections - or need some light escapism in your ears - don’t miss my conversation with Jamie B. Golden of The Popcast and Faith Adjacent on this week’s episode of Becoming Church!
