Who do you say he is?

And Jesus said unto them, "And whom do you say that I am?"
They replied, "You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being, the ontological foundation of the context of our very selfhood revealed."
And Jesus replied, "What?"

A lot of times we try to make this Christian thing a lot more complicated than it really is. I am guilty of this just as much as the next guy. We are just not content until something is so complicated we can’t understand it. For example the Lord's Prayer is 66 words, the Gettysburg Address is 286 words, there are 1,322 words in the Declaration of Independence, but government regulations on the sale of cabbage total 26,911 words. There is something to be said for simplicity.

Don’t be pulled in by big words and high sounding gas. Sure they have their place but when the rubber meets the road in your schools and workplaces…leave the “eschatological manifestation” at home. It is really the simple Truth of Jesus Christ that matters. We are messed up and flawed, yet we have an awesome God who sees something in us worth saving and is willing to pay the price to get it. This is the message that changes lives.

At the same time don’t confuse the simplicity of the message with the difficulty of the application. We may be marred but for some amazing reason this good God wants all of us. Not so much your public mask or some time by yourself but every part of you…the good the bad and the ugly. Is he the God of your Wednesday nights and Sundays mornings or is he your very life? Who do you say he is?

Article from the March 2005 edition of the Spotlight