We recently had John 14:6 as part of our Gospel reading for the Fifth Sunday of Easter. Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth and the life...."  I started reflecting on what "the life" means. How is it different from a lifestyle?  

A "lifestyle" is a carefully assembled set of personal choices.  It is a blend of our preferences in things like, music, cars, clothing, books, recreation, food and other aspects of the way we consume ideas and things.  Something either does, or doesn't fit into our "lifestyle" which is put together with the eye of an interior decorator for total effect.  Lifestyle magazines and shows like "The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" allow us to monitor the choices we have made, to compare them to those who are more tasteful, affluent and influential, and to signal to others that we belong in their set. We tend to seek out those whose lifestyles are similar to our own, herding together in what has been labeled "lifestyle enclaves."

What this means, of course, is that a lifestyle is different from a life! A lifestyle can be adjusted with the twist of a television, the purchase of a new car or a shift in reading patterns.  A life, on the other hand, is all of us. A life tends to be messier than a mere lifestyle, harder to change, and it often involves untidy facts, like a problem with alcohol, a parent in a nursing home, estranged family members or a child with a learning disorder. Renting the video of Saturday Night Fever is a lifestyle. Staying up all Saturday night with a child with a fever is a life.

Our lifestyles can lose luster, but with sufficient cash flow, they can be improved; our lives, on the other hand, are more desperate and in need of being saved.  It is worthy to note then, that when Jesus gathered His disciples around a table for the last meal before His death, He pointed down the road he would soon be traveling and said "I am the way and the truth and the life."  He did not say "I am the way and the truth and the lifestyle."   

The difference is significant! Jesus came to save all of us, to lead every part of us that makes us human down the road to redemption, all the untidy, unraveled ends, and broken places that compose a life. Jesus offers us "abundant life" (John 10:10), not as pinch of religion tossed in as a leisure activity, but a life where every facet of it, the suffering as well as the joy, is the arena for God's saving grace. Our faith is not just some sort of spiritual patch among other lifestyle features but an all encompassing and all demanding reality.

There are "lifestyle Christians" out there. There was a book written about them called "Casual Christian."  And there is a song called "I don't want to be a casual Christian."  Those are the ones who play at being in relationship with Jesus. They know the creeds and the rules but their hearts are far from Jesus. They are quick to point out others faults but are blind to their own. This is a dangerous place to be. They want Jesus as their Savior but have no place in their lives to make Him their Lord. 

I’ve got a newsflash for you. You can’t have one without the other. Unless Jesus is the Lord of your life, He cannot be your Savior. In the seventh chapter of Matthew Jesus tells us: 21  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23   Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”

A life lived for Christ is not always about the choices our flesh want us to make. When Jesus is the Lord of our life, He takes us places and gives us experiences that we would not choose for ourselves, such a life is not a get away vacation but a vocation that will inevitable take down paths we never imagined. A life lived in that kind of richness of faith is a life that will bring peace and satisfaction.

Jesus is the way and the truth and the life. He is not the way and the truth and the lifestyle. Which one are you living?

Pastor Dave