Good With Change
John 14:6-14
“I am the way and the truth and the life.”
It is very easy to fall into the trap that people are either good or bad. “He is a bad man.” “She is a good woman.” It’s tempting to judge people by looking at them in their chronological totality, at that point in history, and making a decision of whether they are good or bad. Be warned: this NOT the thinking of a Paladin and it is NOT the Way.
Jesus is “The Way.” Any way is not a final destination: it is a process. It indicates movement, the passage of time, effort, proper maintenance, and often course correction. Jesus says that you cannot fully understand God/Love/Existence except THROUGH him, again indicating movement and a dynamic relationship between you and him. When Philip says “show us the Father” what he wants is hard evidence, a stone landmark showing him that he is in the right place at the right time, that God is present, and therefore he (Stephen) is good right NOW! Wisely, Jesus denies the request and explains (in his own vexingly unique way) that God/Love (the good) is a dynamic process with him at the center of it all.
Our salvation will come THROUGH the process of righteous living, humility, repentance, and grace. Salvation will not be granted at a specific moment in life. Validation will not be awarded when you achieve a certain spiritual objective. Enlightenment will not dawn in your mind when you pray the magic words. Let me make this very clear: you are not good or bad and the people you meet are not good or bad. In The Lord’s Prayer (The Our Father) we ask for the forgiveness of our trespasses in the same line as we declare our resolution to forgive those who trespass against us. Christianity at it’s core is the recognition of this dynamic relationship: we strive to be good, we fail, we are forgiven, and we try again, and again, and again. We get knocked down by temptation and Jesus helps us back up. My sons, stay true to The Way, and never stop moving closer to God because Jesus will never stop loving you and neither will I.
