Wherein, I attempt to answer my own questions.

A couple of months ago I did a 10 part series on how I got to where I am spiritually. Today, I begin a series where I wrestle with where I am at currently.

I will do it in the context of the questions I asked yesterday.  The posts in this series will not be static.  My views and positions are in a state of flux as I suss out what it means to be Christ-like.  But, they are my views and positions.  As always, I covet your thoughts.

At what point do we, in the church, get truly serious about weighing all scripture through the person of Jesus Christ?

In John 14:6 Jesus makes his bold pronouncement that he is “the way, and the truth, and the life.”

I imagine that every preacher has a sermon that he can dust off at a moment’s notice on this passage.

“Jesus is the way–there is no other path to salvation.”

“Jesus is the truth–there is an objective standard to understanding what is true and right”

But what about the life?  What does that mean for us?  I propose that it means much more than just a full and complete existence here on earth.  It is more than a joyful approach to day to day living.

When I have preached this passage I have focused more on the abundant life idea and less on the ethical implications of the way Jesus has called us to live.

But Jesus is not merely telling us here about some great blessing or earthly benefit to embracing Him as the Way and the Truth.  He is saying, unequivocally, that to arrive at a fuller knowledge of God we must live our lives the same way Jesus did.

I think, too often, we look at “the life” in this passage as the gift that we can expect from accepting the first two rather than an admonition to live as an embodiment of “the way” and “the truth.” We think more about what Jesus wants to give us rather than what He calls us to give.
To have the true zoe life we must filter our thoughts and actions through the Jesus filter.

We can construct a legitimate argument for war if we rely solely upon OT passages but does it pass the filter of Jesus and the life that he lived?

We can teach our children the need for self-esteem and the right we have to “stand up for ourselves” but does it pass the Jesus filter of meekness and turning the other cheek?

We can justify having enemies because of various ways that we have been wronged but does it pass the Jesus filter of loving them?

We can bog ourselves down in the minutia of scripture magnifying various proof-texts into tests of fellowship and righteousness but does that pass the Jesus filter of loving our neighbor as ourselves?

To truly have “the life,” that abundant life that Jesus promises us, we have to accept the totality of what that life means. That means the ethical implications of the life Jesus lived.

It means that we take up the basin and the towel and live servant lives.

It means that we seek not to exalt ourselves but consider others better than we are.

It means that we practice mercy, even when we don’t feel very merciful.

It means that we never stop advocating for peace over and above “security.”

It means that we be reconcilers seeking first to repair damaged relationships.

It means that we develop greater hearts for the poor.

It means that we value women and their roles in the kingdom.

It means that we seek to minister at the margins of society.

It means that our “borders” are not limited to states or nations but includes all of those for whom Jesus died.

We must be intent on living our lives as Jesus did.  It is increasingly problematic to take rashly developed exegesis of OT passages to justify nation-building and embracing “chosen” status.

The mere fact that God did something does not give us equal license to do the same. He is, after all, God.  And we are not.

But we are called to be Christ-like.  And that means living “the life.”

He is the final arbiter of how we are to live.