The Right Directions

John 14:6 (NIV)  Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

            I went for a walk yesterday: a walk that took me on Clefstone Road. This road crosses West Street Extension, and it was there that I saw a couple out for a bike ride. After they passed by the woman swung back around and said, “Excuse me…”  She then proceeded to ask for my help. She asked me if this was Bloomfield Road. At that point I actually couldn’t remember for sure, but when I asked where they wanted to go she said Paradise Hill. Well, I did know how to get there.

            So I said, “Just take this road (and I pointed to West Street Extension) a little ways up the hill and take your first right. It will take you to Duck Brook Bridge and from there you can take the carriage path to Paradise Hill.”

            “No, no!” she said. “We want to go the way through the woods, not on the main road.” She was quite insistent that I was not giving her the right directions - to the point of becoming argumentative with me. Well I certainly didn’t want to argue with her so I just said, “Well, I’ve lived here for 25 years and can tell you that the way I’m telling you is the most direct way to Paradise Hill (through “the woods” anyway). I guess I can’t help you otherwise.” Reluctantly, she and her husband/riding companion followed my directions. I hope they got to where they wanted to go, because I’m not sure if they ultimately followed my directions or not.

            As I continued my walk I began to reflect on how similar this exchange was (or could be) with conversations about Christ. People may want directions to get to heaven, but when you tell them Christ is the way sometimes they balk at what you say. It’s as if they are saying, “That can’t be right. There must be another way, or other ways. I don’t want to go that way (through Christ).” Jesus’ words in John 14:6 are clearly exclusive. When He uses the word “the”, He eliminates all other possibilities. This “only way-ness” is a troubling stumbling block to many. Instead of thinking like God, they expect God to think like them and not be so “unreasonable” or so limited. And people often like to argue this point. Rather than arguing, I simply say, “This is what Jesus said, and these are the implications.”

            Like these bikers, people are left with the opportunity and responsibility to respond. They can put their trust in my witness to Christ and go the way of the Word of God and obtain life eternal, or they can pursue some other way – not indicated in God’s Word – leading them to eternal destruction. Whatever happens to them is not in my hands. I could not make this couple go a certain way on their bicycles, and I cannot make people take the way to heaven the Jesus proclaims. But what is in my hands is being prepared to give directions that come straight from the mouth of Christ Himself. And no more reliable word than that has ever been uttered. We who know Christ have confidence – not in our ability to deliver the message, but in the truth and power of the message already delivered by Christ. He is the way to the Father.

Acts 4:12 (NIV)  Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

Romans 10:8-15 (NIV) ⁸  But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: ⁹  That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. ¹¹  As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." ¹²  For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³  for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." ¹⁴  How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? ¹⁵  And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

1 Timothy 2:5-6 (NIV) ⁵  For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶  who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the testimony given in its proper time.

1 Peter 3:15-16 (NIV) ¹⁵  But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶  keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

PRAYER:  Father, your Word is clear about the way to you being through your Son alone. Give me grace and wisdom and power to share this with others, especially with those who are asking. In His mighty name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott