Positive Impediments

“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ.” (Philippians 3:7-8 NLT)

Malcolm Muggeridge was a famous British journalist who appeared on numerous television shows. As the son of a prominent English politician, he had more opportunities than the average person. During World War II, Muggeridge was a spy for the British government. He traveled and worked in Russia, Africa, India, and France. He corresponded with Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Salvador Dali, and the Beatles, among others. A self-proclaimed agnostic, Muggeridge became a Christian later in life. Keep these details in mind as you read the following quote by this colorful character: 

 “I may, I suppose, regard myself as being a relatively successful man. People occasionally stare at me in the street. That’s fame. I can fairly easily earn enough to qualify for admission to the highest slopes of inland revenue. That’s success. Furnished with money and a little fame, even the elderly, if they care to, can partake of trendy diversions. That’s pleasure. It might happen once in a while that something I said or wrote was sufficiently heeded to persuade myself that it represented a serious impact on our time. That’s fulfillment. Yet I say to you, and I beg of you to believe me, multiply these tiny triumphs by a million, add them all together, and they are nothing, less than nothing, a positive impediment, measured against one draught of that living water that Christ offers to the spiritually thirsty.” (Malcolm Muggeridge)

After a lifetime of experiences that brought him fame, success, pleasure, and fulfillment, Malcolm Muggeridge came to the same conclusions as St. Paul. Many things that he once thought valuable were positive impediments in his path. None of them truly quenched his inner thirst.   

An impediment is a hindrance that delays progress. Positive impediments are the affirmative things in life that can become barriers to growth. The pursuit of what we imagine to be beneficial can divert us from that which is truly important. It might take a lifetime of detours and side trips before we understand that everything else is worthless compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ.