As time goes by, I have grown less and less fond of formulaic Christianity. There have been more books published in Christendom than I can count that give us some kind of formula on how to live a better life, or books that have “figured God out” as if He is some kind of mathematical equation to be solved. Don’t misunderstand me, some of them are good and offer helpful advice, and in fact I would be contradicting my own works, because I’ve offered some of that advice myself. However, when It’s all said and done, I’ve pretty much narrowed my belief down to this:
Jesus is the way.
The way I see it, the best way that I can live a life that is pleasing to God and fulfilling the deepest desire of my heart is to look at Jesus and imitate him. The more I look at him, the more I want to be like him.
Before Christians were ever called Christians, they were referred to as “the Way.” In fact, you can find it seven times in the book of Acts, but only once were they called Christians, and never once was their religion referred to as Christianity. There must have been good reason for them to be known that way. Pastor and author Brian Zahnd says this:
“The common life of following Jesus together was called the Way, not because it was the way to heaven (the afterlife was never the emphasis), but because they had come to believe that in his death and resurrection Jesus had inaugurated a new way of life. Because the lifestyle of the Way was such a radical departure from the way of the Roman Empire, it is no surprise that people viewed the Way with great suspicion and often maligned it as a dangerous cult.”
The world is suffering from a distorted image of God and so is much of the church. It is our responsibility to show them what he is really like. God did exactly that when he took on the form of a man and came to earth. If you want to know what that looks like in a practical sense, the Sermon on the Mount is a great place to start. Jesus came preaching the kingdom of heaven and was kind enough to show us what it looks like. Being Christ-like is completely countercultural to the world.
When we realize that Jesus didn’t come primarily to show us the way to heaven, but the way of heaven, our focus shifts from looking to a “someday in the sweet by and by, I’m going there” to “I’m going to partner with Jesus to bring the reality of heaven wherever I go right now.” Freedom and joy beyond comparison comes when we begin to walk this out.
In my blog next week, I’ll share with you some practical ways that I have have begun doing this in my own life.
With heaven,
Kevin