IS JESUS A LIAR, LUNATIC OR LORD?
On March 31, 1980 I became a new Christian. I will admit in the beginning my faith was based on other people's faith. I heard how empty their lives had been, I heard what actions they took and I heard how full their lives are now. This was what I wanted because my life was a mess. At first it was emotional and exciting but I was told this type of faith is fleeting and fragile.
At 12:30 AM on that Monday I had stepped into the water, said the words I was told to say and enjoyed the rejoicing of my new church family. At first I thought I simply needed to be baptized, attend services regularly, pray with my eyes closed, read my Bible, take communion, sing, not smoke, drink in excess or swear.
The Bible was hard to read and made no sense, I hate singing, I still smoked, swore a little and couldn't drink in moderation. The worst thing was I didn't understand why it was such a big deal that Jesus was killed on a cross. I was desperate to have my life fixed but I soon learned it wasn't that simple. The one thing I did have going for me was my hunger to learn.
After I was baptized I knew I was different. The hypocrites I had judged became real people like me, my hate for them was turning into love. I began to see, hear and understand things that had always been right in front of me. My hunger for information grew but I didn't know where to start so I tried everything.
Each day I stumbled through a chapter of my King James Bible in my car at lunch, listened to preachers and Christian music on the ride to and from work and wanted to talk about it with everyone. I soon found not everyone wants to talk about the big questions. Every time the church had a service, Bible study or activity, I was there asking questions. I know I drove people crazy but I had a hunger to learn like I had never had before.
I thought every church and church member were on the same page. As I talked with people from other congregations and denominations I found division, disagreement, tribalism and even hatred. I may have been naive in the beginning but I soon discovered I had a heart for healing these divisions. This has been a personal passion to find common ground and that common ground is Jesus.
I felt I had been added to something much bigger then the name on the front of a church. When I read the book of Acts I could not see more then one church. The oldest, largest, fastest growing or most traditional meant nothing to me, perhaps I had been influenced by the Jesus movement from the early 70's. We were a rebellious and passionate generation so the approach I took to my faith was all in.
Tom Smith was a man that I gravitated to, he smoked, occasionally used swear words to make a point and knew he couldn't drink in moderation so he didn't. He served in the Navy, worked in a steel mill, only read King James, loved to debate and spoke in a way that made sense to me. Tom died way too soon but I know I will see him again but for now I miss him.
Tom taught me how to pray, question everything and not to sweat the small stuff. He spoke in simple words, enjoyed God's sense of humor, always had a grin on his face and danced when he was happy. I spent plenty of summer nights sitting with him outside watching the distant heat lightning and talking about life.
Tom knew how to explain things in a way I could understand. He boiled it all down to one simple question, who do you say Jesus is?
This t-shirt was popular in the 80's I had one and wore it often. Today you can buy one on Ebay for $750, I should have bought a few more.
He said that is the one question that demands an answer. It was the question Jesus asked Peter, "Who do you say I am?" (Mathew 15).
He said Jesus won't ask to see a membership card, baptismal certificate or hear a denominational creed. He will ask me that question and expect my answer, not just blindly parroting what a church, denomination or clergyman said. He told me I need to know what I believe and why I believe it. I needed to have my own answers.
Over the decades I have found many Christians are loyal to a catechism, doctrine or a denominational brandname. It may be correct but we all are responsible to give an answer for our faith and hope. If our relationship with Jesus is personal, we will be different and when we are asked we need to know how to explain what has happened. Tom said he would always be there for me but I need to stand on my own.
It took many years and the understanding of covenant to clearly realize what I had done. I read, listened and questioned everything. There were many times I could have signed on to follow a strong charismatic personality of which there are many, but I chose not to ever stop my quest for the truth and just settle.
I am all in, I really want to know the truth so nothing can be off the table. I checked out the missing books of the Bible, all of the different translations and their reliability, other doctrines and the history of the church warts and all. I read anti Christian books, followed archeology, astronomy and the latest scientific discoveries. I examined other religions, evolution, Darwinism, atheism. I attended large city mega churches, small rural churches, bus ministries, men's groups, preaching, teaching and mission work.
I learned a lot about organized people. The same dynamics that effect any large or small organization be it business or political, church organizations have similar issues. I also found the world is not black and white, there is a great deal of gray especially in the Bible. I also realized I was responsible to navigate that gray using God's principles and my free will.
It is easy to attach ourselves to "group think" because using our free will puts us on the spot. We may form groups of people who believe the same thing but in a church each individual is responsible to know what they believe.
After decades of investigation I discovered Tom was right. After all of the debate it all boils down to one haunting question; who is Jesus? There is no question that Jesus was a historical figure but who was he? Was he a great teacher, was he a conman, was he crazy or was he who he said he was?
I have shared my answer before but this post is about challenging you to answer that question for yourself. First ask yourself if you want to know the truth. I know this is a hard question but it is the only question that matters. I can only share my answer, you have to answer it for yourself. Who is Jesus, a liar, lunatic or Lord?
Reject him as a conman, mock him as a fool or minimize him as a great teacher, but I believe Jesus is who he says he is.
