Why have I spent so much time and energy trying to make this verse say something other than what it clearly says? Like a lot of my friends (can I say my generation?), I was troubled by the exclusivity of Jesus. It's far more loving to be tolerant or inclusive or pluralist here—different paths leading to the top of the mountain, right?

But then someone turned it upside down for me: It's not exclusive to point out the only way to salvation, and then make that way accessible to everyone. That's the opposite of exclusive, the opposite of narrow-minded. That's one Big God.

So I'd like to talk to those Christians who are trying to perform impossibly difficult mental and semantic gymnastics in order to make Jesus more loving: Stop it. Jesus says exactly what he seems to be saying. He is the way, the truth, and the life, whether our postmodern sensibilities like it or not. The cross is big enough to include all of us, and no one is turned away. All we have to do is be willing to carry it, no matter who we are. That's inclusive love.

John 14:6