One Way? Which Way?

There are a lot of ways to get to Boston. We live on a sphere. If you have the resources you can even start out in the wrong the direction and still get there. There are a number ways you can achieve your career goals. There are even a lot of ways you can go about becoming my friend, but there is one important ingredient you must include in this last goal - me.

If we see the goal of Christianity as getting to heaven or being moral so God won't get mad at us or being able to answer some key questions correctly, then there could be a number of ways to achieve that goal. But Jesus told us his goal was to reconnect us with God, to establish the relationship of love that man and woman first experienced with God before they tried to become their own God.

Jesus came to build friendship with God. Since Jesus is God (the second person of the Trinity) that friendship can't happen without him. We can only take the stance that there are other ways to God only if we misunderstand the goal or misunderstand Jesus. Both happen often. It is important that our students understand Jesus' identity and the objective for our lives.

It may seem that the concept that Jesus is God is a given, especially in the church, but that would be wrong. The things that seem obvious are often skipped. I was involved in a two year class leading up to my confirmation (okay, I missed quite a few classes, but still...). One of the things I didn't learn was that Jesus was God. I suspect that it was seen as such a basic truth, it was assumed. It would be years before I learned that vital piece of intel.

Students need to understand why we believe Jesus is God, but I will leave that for a future blog.

One thing we need to guard against is making, as C. S. Lewis once said, second things look like first things. If we talk more about morals, heaven, politics, and social justice more than we talk about Jesus, then all these things will seem to be more important than Jesus. He can begin to seem to be a means to another end. You need Jesus so that (fill in the blank) can happen. That's backward. We need Jesus because he is everything: the Alpha and Omega, our beginning and our end. The rest is important, but it flows out of our relationship with Jesus. They are not the reason for our relationship with Jesus. They are second things.

When we forget this, secondary things become gods. They begin to lead and guide us instead of Christ.

There are many errors that can take place when second things are treated like first things, but one of the biggest is that we realize there are many ways to accomplish second things. If they become the ends, then Jesus becomes merely another competing means.

We see this today when political parties and agendas (both conservative and liberal) become central. When middle class values take the lead then the Scripture becomes a self-help guide (5 Steps to a Good Marriage, Eight Steps to Financial Freedom, Property Improvement for Christ, etc.). None of these issues are unimportant, but we have to ask if they are the tail wagging the dog.

It's easy to stray, but effective ministry to students is Jesus centered. If not, then we accidentally reinforce that Jesus is just one road to other goals.