Thomas A. Swann

We have always been people of “The Way.”

“Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” (John 14: 5-6, ESV).

From the moment Jesus uttered those words, His followers were appropriately labeled as people of “The Way.” The Apostle Paul confirms this for us. He said while recounting his former self, “I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness,” (Acts 22: 4-5, ESV). Before we were Christians, we were people of “The Way.” Some meant this name to be flattering, a boast in the discipleship of Jesus that remained long after his ascension to the right hand of the Father. Others meant to use this label as a way of dismissing Jesus and His followers, as if this “Way” was little more than a misguided detour from Judaism with an eventual dead end.

You do not hear this terminology used today. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a follower of Christ referred to as a person of “The Way.” Today we are “Christians,” or for those that find issue with the sometimes tattered attachment that comes with the modern label of “Christian,” they are “followers of Jesus.” What we call ourselves matters on some scale, but it is certainly not a matter of supreme importance. What ultimately matters is the Savior we follow. After all, He IS “The Way.”

What should be a comfort to the believer is the One whose steps we follow. To walk with Him is to be covered in the dust of His sandals and to wear the marks of the exact path He is on. He is our shepherd, and our task is simply to follow. Perhaps calling the commission to follow Jesus “simple” is not quite fair to the human ear. Our lived experience testifies to the difficulties we face along this sometimes dusty road. Yet, although stricken at times, even our hardships are themselves a reward. They signal that we are moving the correct direction and that we are following exactly who we should be following. “In this world you will have tribulation,” Jesus promised (John 16:33).

I at times still wonder about my own way. Am I taking the right steps? Am I doing the right things? Am I where God wants me to be? I ask these questions much more often that I wish were so. How easy it is to forget the clarity of the cross… To lose sight of the simplicity of our justification in Christ. To chase a crown we could never wear. To grasp at a cup we could never drink. To beat back righteous indignation and judgement that we could never quench.

Rather, let us lay aside that which entangles us in this world. To run the race set before us, but not racing alone. Yet looking up at Him, running the race before us, and us behind Him and gloriously covered in His dust. (Hebrews 12).

Both scripture and the Church are integral to our life of following Jesus. They are where we come to meet our Savior afresh every day. This blog will serve as a place of reflection on scripture and life lived in the Church. My prayer is that the writings and musings you find here somehow bless you, strengthen you, and encourage you on your journey along “The Way.”