Who is Jesus and why does it matter?

When it comes to exploring the question of “Who Is Jesus and Why Does It Matter?”, I often feel like the conversation becomes frozen. That puzzles me. It’s as if there is some kind of toxic bubble around this topic that makes otherwise amiable and conversant folks into combatants. I’ve been wondering lately if maybe that toxicity is primarily related to fear.

Henry Louis Mencken, the acerbic early twentieth century American journalist and essayist, wrote that “the one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear – fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety.”  Perhaps not coincidentally, Mencken was an outspoken critic of fundamentalist Christianity.

Christendom is not well known for it’s inclination to explore the unknown, complex and inexplicable, at least not at the zenith of modern western evangelicalism. We’ve been better known for circling the wagons and keeping the scary unknown outside, gathering to defend our common ground and going out to face the monsters only after we get a fresh supply of ammo.

This week we’ll begin our exploration of the “Who Is Jesus” question by poking a few of our fears to see if they are as big as their shadows make them seem. I think we’ll discover they are not, and that we can continue the journey of exploring our questions without fear. See you on Sunday…

Tim