When Jesus spoke in the gospel of John and said, I am the way, the truth, and the life he was telling those who follow him they must practice His way of life if they want a genuine relationship with God. The early Christians in the Book of Acts spoke of their faith as “the way.” They were walking in the steps of the living Christ as the living way of salvation as they shared the good news of reconciliation and love for all humanity.
It is essential to understand when Jesus says I am the way we must contemplate the essence of his life and follow his example. It is so much more than just believing and declaring that Jesus is the way and path to salvation.
In our worship, when we praise and proclaim the name of Jesus, it does not necessarily mean we are practicing the presence of God in our daily lives. When we dogmatically declare that Jesus is the only way to the Father, it has the tendency to cause others to question whether they want to participate in his life. Unfortunately, the church has made personal salvation a litmus test of right belief and theology instead of a living faith that produces a pure heart and spiritual fruit, which results in loving actions toward others.
The way of Christ is more than just studying about him by quoting and memorizing the Scriptures. (I am a Pharisee!) When Christ is transforming our lives, we desire to honor him by living our lives by loving and caring genuinely for others. The living way is partaking of the life of Jesus himself, not some idea about him or Scripture knowledge about him. Let us not be guilty of representing Jesus by simplified beliefs, axioms, and biases. So much of what is spoken about Christ are mere words that have no lasting transformation of our hearts and our lives to prove indeed that we are in a relationship with the living God.
Let us learn to live in each moment and let the living Christ and his love for humanity flow out of our hearts toward one another. (The Indwelling Presence of Christ) Jesus is manifested in our lives as we grow to be tolerant of others and show respect to those around us wherever it is possible. It is only then that the living Christ as the living way will dramatically change our lives as well as the lives of others around us.
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