The Narrow Path Part 1: Day 4 of 5

The Narrow Path Copyright © 2019 Nicole Donoho This 5-Day blog series story is a work of fiction. Names, descriptions, entities, and incidents included in this story are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, events, and entities is entirely coincidental.
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                Xander shrugged. “I don’t know, because he was Jesus. He was perfect.”
 
                “That’s why I’m so conflicted!”
 
                “Because he was perfect?” Xander raised his eyebrow stared at me blankly.
 
                “No, I’m conflicted because when I go to church and they talk about Jesus, he’s this perfect guy. But when I read this book he’s not.”
 
                “But Jesus was perfect. Wasn’t he?” Xander looked at me, “Isn’t that what the Bible says?”
 
                “No.” I smiled, “It’s not.”
 
                Xander scratched his head. “Are you sure?”
 
“Yes! That’s why I’ve been feeling so crazy the past few weeks. Reading what this lady wrote is shaking up everything I’ve been taught but at the same time awakening something else.”
 
“But I’ve heard a lot of people say that.”
 
                “I know, that’s why I’m so conflicted. There is a verse that Jesus says something about us needing to *be perfect like God but he doesn’t say be perfect like me. The Bible never says that Jesus is perfect, it says that he was without sin**.
 
                “What’s the difference?”
 
                I smiled. “That’s what I asked. So, I looked up the definition of the word ‘sin’ and it said that sin was an immoral act against a divine law.”
 
                “Meaning?”
 
                “Meaning that Jesus never broke God’s law.”
 
                Xander took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “How’s that different from being perfect?”
 
                “I don’t know, but I know it is different somehow. That’s why I’m so conflicted.” I shook my head and stared out the window.
 
                “Well, if you don’t think Jesus was perfect, what was he?”
 
                “He was a man.”
 
                “Right, but he was also God, wasn’t he?”
 
                I sighed. I could hear the confusion in Xander’s voice. It was the same confusion I experienced when I started reading the book. It was a lot to take in. I had read and reread portions, then referenced the book against the Bible, and was still digesting everything I had learned. Maybe Xander wasn’t ready to talk through it. Maybe I wasn’t ready to talk it through.
 
                “Sorry,” I sighed heavily, “you should probably take me home.”
 
“Lexi, don’t shut down. I want to listen but I don’t understand what you’re saying.” Xander released a heavy sigh. “I mean, I’ve grown up in church like you. That’s what we hear in church, Jesus was fully God and fully man. But now, you’re saying he was just a man. I don’t understand where this is coming from. If that’s what the book is saying then—"
 
                “I didn’t say he was just a man.” I objected, “I said he was a man. If you have a friend that doesn’t speed, never runs a red light, and always follows the laws, what would you call him, perfect?”
 
                “Well, I’d call him Evan cause that’s who you just described.” Xander laughed.
 
                Evan and Xander met in middle school and became best friends. Evan’s father was a retired military policeman with a firm belief in law and order. A belief that seemed to be embedded into the character of his son. If there was a bonfire at somebody’s personal property, out of city limits, Evan was there with a case of lighter fluid to ‘make it interesting’. But if you wanted to make a homemade torch and explore a cave at a state park, he’d start citing the laws you’d violate and penalties that accompanied them.   
 
Evan was a great example for my analogy. “Is Evan perfect?”
 
                Xander laughed harder. “Hell no.”
 
                “Then what is he?”
 
                Xander shrugged. “I don’t know. Just a guy that follows the rules.”
 
                “See there’s more to this but I haven’t yet wrapped my mind around it.”
 
                “Well…I’m not really sure what to say.” Xander leaned back in the seat and stared out the front window.
 
                I sighed and stared out the window. I thought back to earlier in the evening when I had jumped from the pickup and ran down the road like a crazy person. What in the world was I running from? It certainly wasn’t Xander. Xander had never forced me to do anything I didn’t want to do. He never so much as talked me into doing something I didn’t want to do. I was the one who initiated our first kiss and the first one to ‘make a move’. Anytime that he attempted to initiate anything I’d feel the nervousness quiver through his body.
 
                Not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces.*** The scripture crossed my mind again but what was I missing?
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NOTE TO READER: Throughout the story, Lexi’s thoughts contain some references, not quotes, found in scripture. In no way is this meant to be a study or reference of what these scriptures truly mean. Please take the time to look up the scriptures and read them for yourself.
*Matthew 5:48, **Hebrews 4:15, ***Ephesians 6:12