Through

“no one comes to the Father except through me”  John 14:6

Through – A Christian is called to intolerance.  Oh, I know how uncomfortable that makes us feel.  We live in a culture where accommodation and tolerance is the expected social norm.  Our leaders want to “reach out” to other faiths.  Celebrities and advertisers portray the world as though it is on its way toward embracing the universal human spirit.  Everything is OK as long as it isn’t “pushed” on someone else.

But this is not the way that Jesus spoke.  Jesus diametrically opposed much of his society, its mores and its beliefs.  And he wasn’t shy about saying so.  This claim is only one of the stringent demands.  Jesus says that not one single human being comes to a relationship with the Father except through him.  That is about as intolerant as it gets.  But are we going to argue with Jesus?  Are we going to say, “Oh, no.  That’s not fair.”  Jesus is God’s Son.  Do you think he got it wrong?

There are two ways to approach this exclusive claim.  We could congratulate ourselves on our good fortune.  We are the included ones.  We are blessed.  The rest of the world is doomed.  If this is how we feel (even just a little bit), we may not be far from being outside the circle.  This was the attitude of the Pharisees too.

The second way is the way of Jesus.  It is the heart of compassion.  You see, this is not so much a claim of intolerance (it is that, of course) as it is a statement of urgency!  Compassion says, “There are so many who still have not come.  Oh, Lord, if what you say is true, what can I do to rescue them.”  And that is Jesus’ way.  The compassion road is the road of immediate, deliberate action on behalf of those who are living under the delusion of tolerance.  They are the ones who break God’s heart.  They are the ones He cries over.  Until we see the urgency of this claim, we will look upon those misguided masses with dull eyes.  We will not be ready to sacrifice for them. 

Dia, the Greek word for “through”, means Christian intolerance to anything that prevents a man or woman from coming to the Father.  We are to be completely intolerant of all those distractions, temptations and twisted decisions that block the way.  Our intolerance is the intolerance of any relaxation of the good news for a dying world.  Christian intolerance is the trumpet call to fight for the lives of others.