A few weeks ago I had posted asking for questions, and this was sent in. I had also recently posted about how the church has created formulas that are not always helpful to our life as Christians.
And so here is this question about a passage that many Christians feel as fundamental to the faith. Way, truth and life... no one gets in except through me.
I am going to spend the next several days offering some thoughts about this passage. Many of you will not agree with me, but I encourage you to read all of the parts, until the end.
Part One... Is the way, the truth and the life a formula created by the church.
Oh, there is so much to talk about here… Please note as I begin this discussion, that there are words of Jesus that we cling to, and words of Jesus that we ignore and disobey. Some people love to cling to this passage, the way, the truth the life, but everyone ignores the passage: don’t lay up treasure in heaven.
So it is clear to me that the church has chosen to grasp onto certain phrases and ignore other ones outright.
Do I think it is a formula? Well it is almost certainly used as a formula by many denominations. They take the phrase and turn it into, “Jesus is the way the truth and the life. Anyone else is going to hell. And our denomination can tell you exactly what his way was, what his truth was, and then you can find the life.”
Friends, remember, Jesus words are always bigger that the local pastor’s understanding of them. Jesus' words are always bigger than a denominations formulaic use of them.
Also please keep in mind that we have no way to redirect or ask Jesus for clarification… Jesus, when you say this, does it mean this, does it mean that, or something else?So the short answer is that many churches have chosen this passage while ignoring others. They have put it on a banner with their flavor of Jesus infused.
These denominations tend to be the more fundamental and the more heavy. Many Christians today have been taught the heavy approach, but they don't find it fitting into their world view of today.
More on this tomorrow.
It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
If you have questions, feel free to email me at jsbrink57@gmail.com
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