First Step in a Long, Life-Changing Journey

A student receives a letter of acceptance from the college of choice. Hooray! The easy part is done; the hard work now begins. The job applicant receives a phone call from human resources saying, “You’re hired!” All right! Now all that’s necessary is to prove capable of doing the job – and to keep doing it. The prospective groom goes to one knee and proposes to his beloved. She says, “Yes!” Then the difficult part starts – first the wedding, followed by the reality of building a marriage.

 

It’s like this spiritually as well. Over the weekend our church held a spiritual retreat for nearly 800 young people during which they sang lots of songs, heard powerful biblically based messages, met in small groups and played games. To close the weekend, a number of them went forward to be baptized. Praise the Lord! There were choruses of joyful shouts after each baptism, sharing in the excitement of the milestone moments.

 

But for each of those adolescents and teens, that was just the beginning, the first step of a long, life-changing journey with Jesus Christ. That’s the hard part – studying, learning and applying the Scriptures, being obedient to what they teach, and discovering the Christian life is an impossibility apart from God’s Spirit and His indwelling power.

 

Years ago, I attended a church where every service ended with a lengthy altar call. I used to quip that we sang “Just as I Am” so long that by the end we were singing, “Just as I Was.” Inevitably, someone – often a number of people – would walk forward to commit their lives to Christ, or recommit themselves to Him, whichever was the case. But over time I’d notice that some of the same people would go forward again, and again, and again. 

 

I heard someone describe this as “rededicating until their re-dedicator wore out.” This isn’t to belittle the sincerity of those returning for a “do over,” since apparently it didn’t take the last time. It’s just recognizing that the lifelong journey with Jesus isn’t easy. It’s not a straight path, and sometimes it’s the proverbial two steps forward and three steps back. We may “reckon ourselves dead to sin” (Romans 6:11), but alas, sin isn’t dead to us. We’ll continue to wrestle with it until the day we take our last earthly breath.

 

A Chinese proverb states, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” This is true of the Christian walk – or trek, if you will. That single step might be getting baptized, walking a church aisle, raising a hand or signing a card to indicate having prayed to receive Christ, His forgiveness for our sins, and the promise of new life that lasts forever. But after that step countless others must follow.

 

How do we do that successfully? Many books have been written about this, but one thing is certain: It’s not a journey that’s intended to be undertaken alone. One of my favorite passages about this is Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, which says:

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work.

If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

 

Another Old Testament verse declares, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). From the beginning, God’s intention for the life of faith has been for it to be a partnership, whether a husband and wife in marriage, people sharing abilities and experience at work, members of an athletic team joining together for the common goal of victory, or most important, addressing the challenge of becoming “ambassadors of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). 

 

When Jesus sent His disciples out for their first missionary assignments, He didn’t send them out alone. “Calling the Twelve to Him, He began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits” (Mark 6:7).

 

When we read the story and writings of the apostle Paul, we find he wasn’t some super-Christian singing, “I Did It My Way.” He always was in the company of others, starting with Barnabas, who sought him out (then still known as Saul) after his dramatic Damascus Road experience with Jesus. After Barnabas, Paul traveled with a succession of others – Silas, Priscilla and Aquila, Sosthenes, Timothy, Tychicus, and even John Mark, the once-wayward cousin of Barnabas.

 

We in the Church of Jesus Christ do a disservice to new believers – and even lukewarm ones – when we fail to come alongside and help them in understanding how to follow the Lord. Hebrews 10:24-25 describes this so well: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

That “Day” – the promised return of Christ – is nearing. At the very least, we’re one day closer to it than we were yesterday. We should all desire to follow Paul’s admonition to, “stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord….” (1 Corinthians 15:58). The best way to succeed in this is to be certain no one has to undertake the journey alone. 

Considering Things Jesus Never Addressed

When I was visiting my uncle, aunt and cousins in Houston, Texas after my junior year of high school, Uncle Joe kindly took it upon himself to teach me how to drive. He was amazingly patient as I tried to follow his instructions on the old, orange Chevy pickup truck he called “Aurora.” It had a 3-speed manual transmission on the column, starter button on the floor, and clutch I had to learn to negotiate along with the gas pedal and brake. 

 

It was frustrating early on, figuring out how to engage and disengage the clutch while releasing the brake and stepping on the gas without either stalling out the truck or revving up the engine. Then there was learning to back out of his long driveway. Cars – and old trucks – didn’t have backup cameras then. Eventually I caught on, and his tutoring has served me well.

 

To this day I remember many of the things Uncle Joe taught me about driving. But some things he didn’t need to teach me. For instance, he never cautioned me about texting while driving. The reason is obvious: There were no cell phones in those days. Even if they had existed, he wouldn’t have said, “Yeah, sure, go ahead and chat on your phone. Sounds like a great idea to me. Let the other drivers look out for themselves.” He also never cautioned me about carrying explosive devices in the trunk of my car, or driving blindfolded.

 

Some things are so evident they don’t need to be said.

 

I mention this because increasingly we’re hearing people opine about what somebody else didn’t say. That somebody is Jesus Christ. People – even some within the Church – read His quotations in the four gospels, along with some in the Book of Acts and other New Testament books. (Printed in red in some Bibles.) Then they conclude, “Jesus didn’t have anything to say about this, so He must have had no objections to it.”

 

Seems they’re assuming Jesus’ words in the Scriptures represent the totality of everything He said and thought about during his 33 years on earth. This is ludicrous. If we were to take every one of His statements in the Bible and put them together, they probably wouldn’t amount to more than a week or two of conversation, if that.

 

The words of Christ in the Scriptures aren’t everything He ever said. They are, however, everything the Lord deemed necessary for the writers of the New Testament to include as they recounted His life and ministry. Just as the Bible doesn’t comprise everything there is to know about God – but it’s everything He determined we need to know about Him. All the libraries and bookstores in the world couldn’t begin to contain all the information about the infinite, eternal God who created the universe. 

 

The apostle John wrote, “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31).

 

What I’m getting at is the way some folks offer opinions of what Jesus would say about myriad topics, ranging from abortion and illegal immigration to lifestyles that would have been unthinkable just a few decades ago. As if to say, “Since Jesus didn’t comment on it, He must not have a problem with it.”

 

Jesus never said anything either about kicking puppies, jumping out of airplanes without a parachute, running with scissors, taking up two spaces in the mall parking lot, or leaving the seat up on the toilet. Does that mean He would advocate such things?

 

When someone asked Jesus about what He considered the greatest of all commandments, He replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:38).

 

In other words, if we can succeed in following these two commandments, we’re doing well. Some choose to put extra emphasis on “Love your neighbor as yourself,” but Jesus said the greatest commandment of all is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Our thoughts, our actions and our words should all be governed by this mandate.

 

Another time, near the beginning of His “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus asserted that His intent was not to cast aside the teachings that had been clearly established in the Old Testament, which comprised the Scriptures at that time. He declared, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matthew 5:17-18).

 

Jesus was affirming that Old Testament teachings on such things as sexual immorality, stealing, murder, envy, and many others were not being nullified. He had come not only to serve as the atoning sacrifice for such sins, but also to provide us with the strength and freedom to overcome them.

 

The entirety of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is the revealed Word of God. In essence, the very words Jesus would speak to us today. As 2 Timothy 3:16 states, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking correcting and training in righteousness.”

Managing the Marriage Marathon

Every year people stand before an altar and say “I do” to each other. Then some morning one of them wakes up and says in wonderment, “I did?” Or, after trying this institution called “marriage” for a time, decides, “I don’t!” Roughly 50 percent of marriages end up on the scrap heap. A sad fact.

 

In one respect, it’s understandable. It’s trite to say, but true – opposites attract. Two people from totally different backgrounds, along with diverse interests, skills and values, and often unlike personalities, are drawn together and attempt to build a permanent, happy relationship. Not to mention neither is perfect or anywhere close; how can you create a “perfect union” out of imperfection? Too often, once the honeymoon ends, rather than attract, opposites choose to attack.

 

Maybe part of the problem is what I’d call the “rom-com syndrome.” Romantic comedies make love seem so simple, such a splendid thing. There’s the “meet cute” when man and woman have a serendipitous encounter. There’s almost always instant chemistry. Then, a week or so later, they decide even though they’re as different as water and fire, they’ve found true love.

 

We never get to see the sequel, where the neat freak loses patience with the slob, or the homebody faces constant friction with the partner who likes to flit from place to place. Introverts tend to marry extroverts, and spenders are inclined to link up with savers, so conflict is inevitable. 

 

But there’s good news! Marriages can – and do – last, some for many years. We just attended a celebration for a couple married for 50 years. My wife and I just celebrated a milestone of our own, being married for 52 years. More than half a century!

 

I’m not being self-congratulatory. Because the credit doesn’t go to us. It totally goes to our Lord who has kept us together despite the many hurdles we’ve had to overcome through those years: Old baggage. Financial problems. Health challenges. Difficult family issues. Dealing with major course corrections God provided during our adventure of life together.

 

It’s been said the best model for marriage should be a triangle, with husband and wife at opposite ends of the base and Jesus Christ at the top. The closer the couple grows toward Christ, the closer they grow toward each other. That’s been our experience. 

 

Early in our marriage, even though we met at a church, Jesus wasn’t a significant part of our lives. We kept Him at an arm’s length, disinclined to let Him interfere with life the way we wanted to pursue it. The problem was we had no idea about how to forge a strong marriage and build a healthy family. By God’s grace, He put us in churches and surrounded us with friends that taught and modeled for us what a Christ-honoring home looked like.

 

There’s no “secret” to marital longevity. They say that life isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. The same holds true for marriage. But it shouldn’t be simply a matter of endurance, of trying to “grin and bear it.” It should be a demonstration of teamwork and partnership, grounded in mutual love and respect – two different people complementing one another, carrying out differing roles but sharing the same goals.

 

Over the years the Lord has taught me many lessons about what it takes to make a marriage work. Even now I’m hardly an expert, but here are just a handful of the things I’ve learned:

 

I’d have to start with principles from 1 Corinthians 13, often recited during wedding ceremonies but too quickly forgotten even before the reception. That doesn’t mean they’re not valid or worth applying. The passage tells us that love, the kind God designed: 

“…is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

 

Every failing marriage, I’m certain, lacks some of those traits. When ‘self’ is on the throne, insisting on always having its own way, it’s hard to cultivate marital unity.

 

Teamwork is important on an athletic field, in workplace settings, and especially in marriage. As Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 affirms, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work; if one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

 

I especially like the “cord of three strands.” If Jesus is one of the ‘strands,’ being a central part of the marriage, chances for success rise exponentially.

 

For me, it’s been critically important learning to tame my tongue. Proverbs 10:19 says it well: “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” Much of my adult life, especially when angry, I had a distressing tendency to put my tongue into gear while my mind was still in park. Putting it another way, to give someone a piece of my mind I couldn’t afford to lose.

 

The destructive power of uncontrolled anger is so common that Proverbs offers numerous warnings. For instance: “A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly” (Proverbs 14:29).

 

Proverbs 17:28 states, “Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent.” Perhaps that’s been the inspiration for a quote attributed to various people, including Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain: “It is better to keep silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.”

 

Why’s it not a good idea to just say whatever’s on our mind? Proverbs 26:21 suggests the answer: “As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.” As I learned and still strive to practice, rather than spouting words in the heat of the moment, wait a little while. Many times, once emotion has calmed down, you won’t even remember what you were mad about!

Bottom line: If we follow God’s guidelines and submit to His authority, He is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). As they say, that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it! 

Don’t Make Light of the Confusing Meanings of ‘Light’

While visitors from other countries were spending time in the United States for FIFA World Cup soccer and raving about many aspects of American life, I wonder what they thought about our language. We might not realize it, but American English can be difficult to learn and comprehend. 

Take a simple example: the word “light.” If you want to pin it down to just one meaning, good luck. We have light beer and light butter, meaning fewer calories than the regular varieties. We might opt for a light snack or a light meal – something to appease hunger pangs but not enough to stuff our stomachs.

 

Some of us like to engage in light humor, which probably won’t provoke a belly laugh but might prompt at least a smile and a chuckle. I’ve long been a fan of light classical music – it’s not as lengthy and complex, and more geared for easy listening.

 

We’re careful not to make light of some topics, meaning they should be treated with proper respect and seriousness. Then we have light moments, when we’re not as serious. At times we’re asked to perform light duty, meaning tasks that won’t require a lot of time and energy. There are even more ways for “lighting” up our vocabulary, but can you see why a foreigner could get confused by our everyday jargon?

 

There’s also the most common and important use for the word light: That which refers to things like celestial orbs, light bulbs, flashlights and chandeliers. Even then, the light we find in nature has at least three intrinsic properties: Luminiferous, which means to illuminate, produce, yield or transmit light; actinic, which causes chemical changes, like photosynthesis; and calorific, which involves the production of heat or energy.

 

Light also carries great spiritual significance. It plays a starring role at the start of the Creation account. After noting, “the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep,” Genesis 1:3-5 tells us light was the first item on God’s to-do list. “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.”

 

What would be the point of everything else He planned to do without light by which to see it? The passage explains God commanded, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth” (Genesis 1:14-15). This is speaking, of course, about the sun, moon and stars.

 

As impressive as that was, biblical teaching about God and light was just beginning. The gospel of John opens by revisiting the Creation, declaring the preincarnate Christ was very much involved in it:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it” (John 1:1-4)

 

Jesus didn’t shy away from being compared to light. Speaking to a crowd in the temple courts that included teachers of the Jewish law and Pharisees, He underscored the concept: “When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’” (John 8:12).

 

Later Jesus used a man who had been born blind as an object lesson while preparing to heal the person of his blindness. He told His disciples, “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). He came to bring light, physically and spiritually.

 

Have you ever gotten up in the middle of the night in an unfamiliar room, perhaps in a hotel or the home of a friend, and tried to negotiate your way to the bathroom in the dark? An obvious solution is to turn on a light. Instantly the darkness is dispelled, and you can see the way clearly. In a far more profound way, sin and rebellion against God have plunged the world into spiritual darkness. Jesus, in declaring He is “the light of the world,” is the only remedy for this universal problem.

 

He knew His physical presence on earth was temporary. Forty days after His resurrection from the dead, Jesus ascended to heaven. In his stead, He left what we might call His “light brigade.” Speaking to a huge crowd during His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus announced to His followers, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).

 

We aren’t The Light, but through our lives – our actions, words, the way we conduct our lives – we can be used by God to bring His light into our world filled with the darkness of unbelief, evil and hopelessness. As the apostle Paul wrote to Christ followers in ancient Corinth, a city notorious for its pagan practices: 

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God…. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4-6).

 

When Jesus ascended to heaven, He didn’t abandon us; He gave the Holy Spirit, who abides in every believer. Only in that way could “the Light of the World” pass along the responsibility for us to represent Him as “the light of the world.” We can’t create the Light – but like moons, we can reflect it!

Finding Profound Joy in an Amazing Place

When I was a boy, I attended church most Sundays with my family, but it wasn’t what we’d call a “Bible-teaching church.” The minister would solemnly read a passage from the Bible, but then he would basically preach whatever was on his mind. Sometimes it related to the passage; sometimes it didn’t. I don’t recall ever hearing him say the Bible is practical and relevant for everyday life. I had no idea that it was “living and active, sharper than a double-edged sword,” as it says in Hebrews 4:12.

 

Even into my early adult years, if you had asked me, I would have told you I thought the Bible was a manual for preachers, maybe someone with a seminary degree; certainly not for ordinary people. It didn’t help that the only edition of the Scriptures I knew of at the time was the King James Version, with lots of outdated language that made it difficult for me to understand.

 

When I was about 30, I took a job in suburban Houston, Texas and my family and I started attending a church where the Bible was taught and revered. Every Sunday the pastor would demonstrate the “unity of the Scriptures,” showing how different parts of the Bible could be used to “exposit” or explain what other passages meant.

 

There I was introduced to a modern translation of the Bible for the first time. Gone were the “thee’s” and “thou’s” and “begats.” The Lord, I discovered, spoke modern language. I was thrilled and overjoyed! This was the beginning of my life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ, as I not only read and studied the Scriptures but also began committing verses to memory. As King David wrote in Psalm 119:11, "Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You." That’s what I wanted to do as well.

 

An Old Testament passage tells a story, brief but beautiful, about someone else who also had a sincere encounter with the Word of God for the first time. For many years the kings of Judah had acted and governed as if there was no God, doing “detestable things.” The Scriptures, as they were in those days, had been stashed away and forgotten for a long time.

 

Then came Josiah, the antithesis of his father Amon and grandfather Manasseh who had ruled wickedly, worshipping false gods and adopting the pagan practices of other peoples. Josiah was different. We’re told, “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in the ways of his father [King] David, not turning aside to the right or to the left” (2 Kings 22:2).

 

We don’t exactly know why Josiah didn’t adopt the evil practices of his father and grandfather except that Amon was only 24 when he was assassinated and Josiah, just eight years old, was named to succeed him. Maybe boy King J hadn’t been around his father long enough to learn and mimic his sinful behavior.

 

When Josiah was 26, in the 18^th year of his reign, a special moment occurred. A high priest named Hilkiah found “the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord,” the sacred Scriptures (2 Kings 22:8). He gave them to the king’s secretary, Shaphan, who read them aloud to Josiah. 

 

His response was one of joy and grief at the same time: “When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes.” He told his aides, “'Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah…. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book…'” (2 Kings 22:11-13).

 

Josiah’s enthusiasm wasn’t temporary. He didn’t just listen to the Scriptures, then shrug his shoulders and say, “That’s nice. Now let’s get on with business.” Instead, with a humble heart he led a revival among the people of Judah, reaffirming the covenant God had made with them many years before.

 

He destroyed all the articles of worship to false gods, got rid of the pagan priests, and restored the sacred festivals and requirements God had established in the Book of the Law. We’re told, “Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did – with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength…” (2 Kings 23:25).

 

Years ago, a good friend was discipling a young couple who had just come to faith in Christ. They’d never read the Bible before – didn’t even own a copy. So, my friend gave them a Bible and had them read 2 Timothy 3:16, which says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”

 

When the wife read those words, she exclaimed with joy and amazing insight, “Wow! God wrote a book!” 

The Bible, the Lord’s love letter to His children, should be a continuing source of joy for us as well as we seek to plumb its depth and experience its power. We’re not expected to “tear our robes” when we read it, but we should appreciate what an amazing and timeless gift from God it is. 

Choosing Between Straight and Narrow, Wide and Winding

Years ago, I returned to my boyhood hometown to attend a high school reunion. Deciding to take a trip down memory lane, I drove past the house where I grew up and visited the “grammar school” I had attended. Going into the school surprised me in several ways. 

For one thing, the demographics had changed. Many of the kids there had last names like Gonzales, Lopez, Torres and Martinez. The closest to my name was probably Tamayo. But what surprised me most was the size of the school. It was much smaller than I remembered.

 

I can still recall my first day of school, walking down what seemed like a long, cavernous hallway to my kindergarten classroom. When I revisited the school, however, the hallway wasn’t long at all. It was so narrow I could touch both walls with my arms extended. It was barely wide enough for two people to pass.

 

Over the years since my grade-school days I’ve learned lots of things in life are narrow. Have you ever seen one of those videos on social media of a car or bus perilously traveling a single-lane road around a mountain in some Third World country? Turning around is unthinkable. The driver of the vehicle must be praying no one’s approaching from the opposite direction.

 

We’ve all encountered a narrow bridge where only one vehicle can cross at a time. If you arrive and several cars are coming from the other direction, you have no choice but to wait until they’ve gone by. Sometimes the same is true for tunnels carved through mountains. They’re either one-way, or you have to wait your turn when another vehicle is coming through going the other way. 

 

Traveling in Europe, I saw many narrow stairways in old parts of towns. In the walled city of Sopran, Hungary the entrance is a narrow tunnel that centuries ago was intentionally designed to repel the advance of enemy soldiers. Even Rock City on Lookout Mountain has its “Fat Man’s Squeeze” through which only slender people can pass – one at a time. Narrow can be so annoying.

 

We frequently hear complaints that Christianity is “too narrow,” that its teachings are too restrictive, too exclusionary. Jesus Christ offered no apologies for the ‘narrowness’ of following Him. Speaking to a large crowd during what is commonly known as His “sermon on the mount,” Jesus admonished, “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 is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

 

On another occasion, while Jesus was teaching in some towns and villages someone asked, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He responded, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able…” (Luke 13:23-24).

 

Some might argue, ‘But isn’t this narrow-minded? Aren’t there many ways to God? As long as you’re sincere?’ Jesus’ answer to this is simple, yet sobering. Speaking to His disciples just before the Passover Feast, He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Yes, this sounds narrow, even dogmatic. But Jesus was declaring, “There’s no other way.”

 

While other religions and belief systems urge their adherents to seek God’s acceptance through good works or by keeping various rituals, Christianity is unique in asserting there’s no way we can merit His approval or assurance of eternal life. Ephesians 2:8-9 states categorically, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”

 

The “faith” it talks about is Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross, shedding His blood to make the once and for all payment for our sins: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13).

 

If that seems too narrow for some, it’s because we don’t – and can’t – fully comprehend the holiness and righteousness of God. It’s not a matter of good outweighing bad, or of “cleaning ourselves up” to become acceptable. In the Lord’s eyes, “good enough” can never be good enough: “…all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…” (Isaiah 64:6). Hence Jesus being the one and only way to God.

 

It’s not just the New Testament that teaches just one path to God. In the Old Testament the prophet wrote, “And there will be a highway called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it – only those who walk in the Way – and fools will not stray onto it” (Isaiah 35:8). Similarly Psalm 1:6 warns, “For the Lord guards the path of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” 

 

Narrow might not be our preferred course for travel, but it’s the only way of avoiding the temptation to defy or ignore the precepts and principles God has provided through His Word. King Solomon, who suffered firsthand the consequences of choosing the wide road, offered a “Beware – Danger Ahead” caution among his many proverbs. In fact, Solomon felt it was so important he repeated it: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25). 

 

The question we each must ask ourselves today – and every day – is, “Which way am I going to take? The narrow one – or the wider one that seems so enticing?” In the annals of rock music, there’s a “Highway to Hell” but a “Stairway to Heaven.” Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.

Having Achieved Independence, Let’s Revisit Dependence

We’ve just concluded celebrations of Independence Day and the 250^th anniversary of our nation’s founding. Independence, in many ways, has been a marvelous thing, not only for us as a country but also as individuals. Freedom is truly a blessing. However, as we enter the 251^st year of the United States, with no certainty about what the future may hold, it might be wise to recognize in some respects dependence isn’t a bad thing.

 

I’m not suggesting that we restore a dependent relationship with Great Britain. (My fake British accent is terrible.) But even though a “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” philosophy has provided great motivation for many of our nation’s great achievers – whether explorers, settlers, farmers, inventors or entrepreneurs – we’re still dependent on others for our success.

 

This isn’t a message we often hear in our society. Napoleon Hill, in his 1937 book, Think and Grow Rich, emphasized individuality and independence in a statement that has shown amazing endurance over the decades since: “Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” That declaration epitomized the so-called “American Dream,” that if a person works hard, he or she can achieve their wildest dreams. But tell that to a six-foot-five man who weighs 250 pounds. His dream of being the winning jockey in the Kentucky Derby is as probable as seeing a hippopotamus fly.

 

A corollary to Hill’s slogan is, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.” It sounds clever, it rhymes, and it resonates with our natural bent toward self-centeredness. But in truth it’s not that simple. Every achievement requires some level of dependency.

 

Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto. Abbott had Costello. The best race car driver can’t win without the pit crew. The best wide receiver in football can’t do anything without the quarterback throwing him the ball. The best chef in the world can’t create a world-class meal without the people that grow, raise and produce the necessary ingredients. And the old song reminded us, “It takes two to tango.”

 

Nowhere is dependency more essential than in growing spiritually. Yet this is exactly where some of us insist on trying to demonstrate our independence. I know, because I’ve tried it – and failed miserably. People say, “You just have to have faith,” and then proceed as if there’s no God at all, as if everything weighs on their own shoulders.

 

But Jesus Christ said just the opposite: “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). He was evoking the image of two oxen yoked together, pulling a wagon or a plow. They share a load neither could pull on its own. The same is true spiritually. When the Lord calls us to do something, we’re to do our part but He doesn’t ask or expect us to operate independently from Him.

 

Elsewhere Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). The apostle Paul, in reviewing the various circumstances he had experienced in life – good and bad – affirmed that truth: “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

 

There have been times when I thought I knew exactly what God wanted me to do and set out to do it – without consulting Him or seeking His direction. Only after spinning my wheels or finding myself at a dead-end did I remember, “Oh, yeah. I can’t do this without the Lord!”

 

To live the so-called “Christian life” also requires that we learn to value and utilize the strength of other believers. One of the best passages about this is Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, which says:

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work;

If one falls down, his friend can help him up.

But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up.

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered; two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

 

Everything is easier when the workload is shared, whether it’s cooking a meal, making a bed, handling finances, or navigating through the many challenges of life. And growing in our faith isn’t intended to be pursued in solitude. As Proverbs 27:17 observes, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” A good friend used to say, “We should all be mentored mentors.”

 

There are those who think they can survive and thrive in their journey of faith without the aid of others, but from the beginning that wasn’t God’s intent. After creating the first man, Adam, the Lord concluded, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” (Genesis 2:18). That remains true today.

 

The writer of Hebrews recognized the importance of having support from others as we strive to know and serve God and His people: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:23-25).

“The Day” is the promised second coming of Christ. No one knows when that will be, but each day we’re closer to it. Independence has its benefits, but when Jesus returns we want to “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). To accomplish that, we need to depend on one another – and especially on Him.