I am in my 20th year of following Jesus and every year my faith seems to get simpler. The longer I walk with Christ the more I realize how simple Jesus made it for us. I guess what I am trying to say is the more I know about God, Scripture, and theology the more I realize I do not know. I remember taking a philosophy class where the instructor shared an illustration about the point I am making. He drew a small dot on the white board and said: "this person has this much knowledge and thinks he knows everything." Then he proceeded to draw a large circle around the the small dot and said: "this person has this much more knowledge and because of their knowledge they realize how much they really do not know."
Karl Barth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Barth) was a brilliant theologian from last century. He authored many deep and profound books that are read in most college and seminaries. He was asked once to sum up his theology in a short sentence and he said: "Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so." This man who knew the deep things of God and Scripture, realized the more he knew the less he really knew
I by no means am claiming to be Karl Barth or to be someone who you would say was the big circle on the white board, but I have been journeying with Jesus for a while and the longer I do the simpler it gets.
Often, we get stuck on the unanswerable questions about God and life. For example, the question of pain and suffering tends to be one of the biggest obstacles for people in believing in a loving all powerful God. Why does God not step in and fix everything? (if your interested in knowing more about this particular question we did a message at church on this recently. www.novationchurch.org/media/
Why? Why? Why? We ask. But God does not ask us to answer the unanswerable questions of life. I am not saying that we should never wrestle with questions, but their is a limit to how far we will get in our understanding because we our limited in our capacity to understand. Sometimes we just have to say "I don't know".
When you read Scripture you will not find God asking you to answer unanswerable questions, but you will find Jesus in the Gospels asking you to answer two questions. How you and I respond to his questions determine how we will live now and where we will spend eternity.
Question #1 Who do you say I am?
"When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Matthew 16:13-15
Question #2 Will you follow me?
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24
If Jesus is who he says he is, then why would I not follow him? Why would anyone not follow him?
Jesus claimed to be God. He claimed to be the only way to find God. He claimed to be the truth. He claimed to be the one who created us. He claimed to be the one who could give our lives significance. He claimed to be the purpose of life. He claimed to forgive sins. He claimed that by believing in him he would give us eternal life. He overcome death, the devil, and hell. He did amazing miracles. He died for us. He rose from the grave. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The list could go on and on!
Peter summarized the list in one simple statement when he answered Jesus' question: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:16
If we agree with Peter, then the only right response is to follow him. Over twenty times in the Gospels Jesus asked people to follow him. That is still what he asks today. WILL YOU FOLLOW ME? Following Jesus today means he is the leader of our lives. He calls the shots. We allow him to shape our lives. His practices and priorities become the priorities and practices of our lives. We learn how to live from him.
Less is more. The less I try to figure everything out and learn to keep answering the questions Jesus asked me to answer, the more I will get to know him. The more I will get to know myself and his purpose for me. The more he can use me to help others find him.
