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Did you know that the first Christians were called followers of “The Way?”
Take a look at these verses in Acts:
“… and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.”Acts 9:2 (ESV)
“But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus… About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way.”
Acts 19:9, 23 (ESV)“I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women…”
Acts 22:4 (ESV)“But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets… But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the Way, put them off…”
Acts 24:14, 22 (ESV).
What is The Way?
Biblical Hebrew is a very concrete language. This means that words for physical objects had to double for abstract ideas (the things we can't see). In the Old Testament the idea of “the way” had the meaning of a road or a path that someone could physically walk on, but there's so much more to the idea. The New Bible Dictionary explains “way” like this:
“Apart from the obvious literal uses, there are a number of closely linked metaphorical ones. They derive from the fact that one on a public path becomes known and his goal and purposes are revealed by the road he takes.”1
Jesus is The Way
Jesus used the term “the way” to describe himself:
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (ESV)
Jesus is the way. He is the path we are to follow. He describes that way as narrow and hard:
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV)
It was natural for the people at that time to refer to the first Christians as followers of “The Way” because “The Way” described the goals and purposes of the people who followed Jesus. These Christians were on the path to God through Jesus.
Guide Your Kids in The Way
In his farewell address to the people of Israel, Moses tells the people how they should follow God and raise their kids. He tells them:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (ESV)
Moses uses the idea of the way to talk about when the people leave their homes and walk the streets of their towns and cities. But, through the whole passage, he refers to every aspect of a person's day. Sitting. Walking. Lying down. Rising up. In everything they do, he calls the people to teach God's words to their children.
God has charged us as parents to be the guides for our kids on “the way.” He's given you the responsibility to disciple your kids. Not the church. Not your neighbor. You. It's up to you, but don't let that scare you. It's true you've not been given an easy task, but you don't need to over-complicate it either. Moses and Jesus have already given you the path: In everything you do each day, teach your kids the Word and point them to Jesus.
Citations:
1. Ellison, H. L. “Way.” Edited by D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, and D. J. Wiseman. New Bible Dictionary. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996.
