We are called to help each other move to the center of God’s kingdom. But that doesn’t mean my way is the right way. If I tell you do this and that so that you might be right with God I fail. Jesus was very clear, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.” People don’t move to the center through us, by our own power, people move to the center through Christ. We move together to the center, helping and encouraging but we have to be careful because we can fool ourselves into thinking we are somehow better than others and end up falling into temptation.
We need to point people to Jesus, remembering that it is Jesus that saves, it is Jesus that changes, it is Jesus that makes a difference. Paul, one of the most important persons of the early church, called himself “less than the least of all the Lord’s people.” He really was “all that” but he had found himself with the realization that despite “working harder than anyone” to help others move to the center he exclaimed, “yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” Our calling is not to take credit for what the Holy Spirit does through us, our calling is always to point to Christ.
Soon after saying “I am the way” Jesus said “I am the true vine” and we are the branches. We only bear fruit–help others move to the center–when we remember that we are just the branches. It is Jesus who provides us with the nourishment needed for the fruit to be borne. He is the way for us. Jesus says,
I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other. -John 15:16-17
