One of the many things I love about my post as principal of Vose Seminary, is that I get to work with some amazing and creative thinkers. No matter whose office I walk into at the seminary, my entry causes the average IQ in the room to drop about 10 points! More recently we’ve been trying to share that giftedness more widely, and have created a section on the seminary’s website called, “theologians at lunch” – it’s meant to capture some of the feel of many of our lunchtime conversations. In the lead up to Christmas, each day we’ve been considering a different name or title for Jesus. They are short devotional slots, and I thought you might enjoy this one from the director of Vose Training, Jon Bergmann. If you click through to the site, it will open up many more for you. Incidentally, these devotions are also currently being aired on Sonshine Fm.
This Advent, we have been reflecting each day on a different name used to describe Jesus. One of the more puzzling things Jesus calls himself is the Way, the Truth and the Life. I’ve been a Christian for a little while now, and one thing I’ve noticed is that there are a lot of people who are very concerned about finding the Truth. They’re searching for this big, concrete, objective thing, often so that they can rest in the fact that they have found the “right” way to live. It’s strange to me that often these people, who are so committed to what they call truth, have the tendency to be the most rigid, inflexible and oftentimes abrasive people. When I look at how Jesus describes truth, and his startling assertion that: “I am the way, the truth and the life,” I’m reminded that the truth we are searching for is not an objective statement of fact – but rather it is a living, breathing person. Jesus also shows us that when we follow the way, and find the truth – it brings life. Truth always leads to life, and life is always filled with love.
As always, nice chatting…
