My mother believed in introducing me to different churches and teachings. Growing up, I attended a Protestant Sunday School of one denomination, and went to a parochial school during the week of yet another denomination, where we had a Bible class each day. So, from a young age, I was a follower of Christ Jesus. But what it means to follow in Jesus’ way has shifted for me significantly since I began studying Christian Science.
As a child, my sense of Jesus was as a personal Savior who had brokered my salvation through dying on a cross and washing away my sins. If I just believed enough in him and what he did for mankind, Jesus would save me and wash me clean of my sins. But over the past two decades since I began to study and practice Christian Science, I’ve come to love the concept of Christ Jesus as the Way-shower. The Christ aspect of Christ Jesus (his spiritual identity) is a living presence throughout all ages that shows each of us the way to demonstrate the healing power of God here and now. And the concept of Way-shower resonates deeply with me and provides the standard to follow in my life. The Christ shows each of us, today, the way to live based on the way Jesus lived and taught a life of love and healing. So we’re not relying on him to do everything for us, but to “save us” by showing us the way to live these precepts ourselves.
When I recently began studying more deeply this concept of Way-shower, I assumed it was another name for Jesus found in the Bible. He is referred to by so many different names or descriptions throughout the Bible, such as Messiah, Savior, Wonderful, Counsellor, Immanuel, Son of God, Prince of Peace, and the light of the world, just to name some. These descriptive names and titles illustrate his role and what his presence meant and continues to mean for the world. Yet the Bible does not use the name Way-shower to refer to Christ Jesus. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, and a meticulous wordsmith, referred to Christ Jesus as the Way-shower 15 times in her published writings and even included this title in one of the Tenets of her church.
