Shaking off the Dust

I remember when I was a director and I had several managers reporting to me, there were times when staff members would come directly to me, rather than bring an issue to their immediate superiors.

I welcomed this.  I never wanted anyone to think they could not come to me with their concerns, but my managers were not as comfortable with it.  They wanted their folks to follow the chain of command, raising issues to their superiors and letting their superiors handle or escalate as the cases warranted.

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. - John 14:6

When I listen to today's reading from John, I have to smile, because it brings back memories of my managers who wanted greater control over their people.

Is that what Jesus is saying here?  Is he throwing up a road block?

It certainly looks like that, doesn't it?  And I know this one line bothers a lot of Christians.  They interpret it to mean that there is only one way to salvation, through Jesus, and all others are damned.

If you are an evangelist, like John, you embrace this language.  It gives you justification for being pushy about Christ, for knocking on doors and getting in people's faces about the Gospel.

(I guess you can tell that isn't my style.)

On the other hand, if there is more than one way to enter the Kingdom of God, then why worry about converting people to Christianity?

So, this one line lies at the heart of a dilemma about our faith.  If we do as Jesus said and love our neighbor as ourselves, wouldn't we want our neighbor to be saved?

Throughout our history, we have seen what imposing our beliefs on others leads to.  Death and slavery, destruction and torture, burnings and hangings are all products of this approach.  Those can't be the way Jesus is talking about.

So, what happens if we don't try to convince the world to change and be like us?

When I was growing up, I believed the only way to get God's attention, to get Him to do what I wanted, was to pray, but not to pray directly to Him.  He is a busy guy and doesn't have time to listen to all of us.  No, I was told to pray to Mary or one of the other Saints.  They had the job of manning the crisis hot lines for God.

As I got older, I learned that Jesus is my friend and I can talk to him.  I could also ask for a one-on-one with the Father or I could take a walk with his messenger, the Holy Spirit.

All these avenues were available to me.

Those who don't know about Jesus, have a different path.  Maybe it leads to the same place, or maybe there are more intermediaries.  I don't know, but I am not sure they aren't the other  flocks that Jesus spoke about.

So, does that give me license to ignore the fate of others?

I look at it this way.  I know the benefits of the path I have chosen and those things I can share with those I encounter, those I love, those I care about.  The joy I feel as a living child of God with Jesus by my side is something I might want others to know and feel as well, so I share that.

They can take it or leave it.  If they want to know more, I can stay around and explain.  If not, I can shake the dust off my heals and move on.

It worked for the disciples.  It can work for me, too.

Now, can I share my understanding with you?

More to come...