Day 6 - Week 24 - John 14:6 "Jesus told him, 'I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father except through Me."

Jesus states that He is the way, the truth and the life...does that sound exclusive?  Yes it does.  If the accusation is narrowness, Jesus stands guilty as accused.  He actually said, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

He tells us that God has devised one way to come to Him, and that way is only available because of Him and His sacrifice.  Jesus cannot embrace the advocacy of other paths to God, because He knows there is no other way.  When You are the one that God has sent to tell people of Him, of His love for them, and of the Way that He has designed for them to come to Him...when You are that Way...than how can you be tolerant of false teachings that will lead people to false ends?  You know that the wide gates will be enticing, but that they lead to destruction...only You can deliver mankind to life.  How can You take anything but an exclusive stance when You know it is the only stance that holds the promise of life?  To do anything else would be leading the people You have come to save to their eternal death.

But that's where the exclusivity ends...for the proclamation that Jesus makes, and the offer that comes to people through Him, is absolutely open to all.  There are no requirements to become a follower of Christ other than what we already are, broken human beings acknowledging our need of healing from the Divine Healer. 

As Christians, what do we say when others charge us with being intolerant of other religions?  How do we "rebuke" their claims of other pathways to God? 

Listen to what Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 2:21-26...it's really something we need to hear and to remember..

Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing.  Run away from infantile indulgence. Run after mature righteousness - faith, love, peace - joining those who are in honest and serious prayer before God. Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights. God's servant must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a teacher who keeps cool, working firmly but patiently with those who refuse to obey. You never know how or when God might sober them up with a change of heart and a turning to the truth, enabling them to escape the Devil's trap, where they are caught and held captive, forced to run his errands. (The Message)

What we are to do is to be people who love other people, and to share God's love and truth with them.  What we are not to do is to present the truth that we have (and that we know through the Holy Spirit is God's truth) in a manner that says we are smarter, more gifted, more righteous or more deserving of this Truth. 

We are not to get in "inane discussions that always end up in fights:...have you ever been in one of those?  I have. They never win anyone over to Christ...in fact, they probably drive the person deeper into their conviction that Christians care more about proclaiming how "right" they are than in proclaiming that God's love and Jesus' sacrifice is the reason for their passion. 

Pray for God's direction when you are confronted with the opportunity to share the truth that Jesus has brought to us with someone who has not yet accepted God's way.  It is a God-given moment that is to be handled in a God-driven way...too often we make it a "self promoting" moment...and the moment that was meant to be used for God's glory, slips away.