According to the Way
by Edwin Crozier
We find the closest thing to a name given to Christ’s church in Paul’s defense before Governor Felix in Acts 24:14-15. Paul said: "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, having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust" (ESV).
The Way
Paul says the Jews call the Way a sect, referring back to Acts 24:5 when Tertullus called Paul a “ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.” In other words, Paul seems to use the phrase “the Way” to refer not merely to a teaching, discipline, or way of life, but to a group of people. The word translated “sect” appears in Acts 5:17 to refer to the party of the Sadducees and in Acts 15:5 to the party of the Pharisees. It is used in Galatians 5:20 to talk about “divisions.” It is also used in I Corinthians 11:19 to speak of “factions.” And Tertullus was definitely using it to refer to the group of people following Jesus.
Tertullus was trying to dismiss this group of Christ followers as nothing more than another sect or party among the Jews. He called them the sect of the Nazarenes. Don’t miss how derisive this was. Nazarenes were inhabitants of Nazareth. Recall what Nathanael said: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46 ESV). Calling this group the “sect of the Nazarenes” did not mean to honor Jesus’s hometown. It meant to say this sect could not be anything good.
However, when Paul contrasted the Way with Tertullus’s pejorative accusation that it was a sect, he was making a claim. The Way is not a sect. It is not “a” Way. It is “the” Way. In other words, no longer should the Jews be satisfied divvying up behind favorite teachers and doctrines as if any way among the Jews might lead to God. They all needed to get in the Way.
No doubt, this moniker came from Jesus’s own self-description: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 ESV). The Way is named after Jesus Himself. He is the Way. The group that follows Him, being His body, is the Way.
Which says something. We cannot get to the Father apart from Christ, who is the Way. However, we also cannot get to the Father apart from Christ’s church, which is the Way. The notion of having some kind of individualized spirituality, being on good terms with God by ourselves, or doing our own thing did not occur to these ancient Christians.
Christ is the Way. His church is the Way. If you want to get to the Father, you have to get in the Way. Can we help you do that? If so, let us know in the comments below.
