Why Jesus?
I am a follower of Jesus. And, as a pastor, I am one who guides other followers of Jesus. It seems to me that today we have a greater need for Jesus than ever before, as well as a greater rejection of who Jesus is and what he did. Being a follower of Jesus gets tangled up with being a church-goer (and a church-leader.) It gets confusing and dangerous when so many people and groups who say that they are Jesus-followers- they call themselves Christians- have vastly different understandings of what that means. Some Jesus-followers use his words (and the words of his first followers) to exclude others, to condemn them, and to force their own beliefs on them. Jesus didn’t tell me to tell you what to do. Jesus told me what to do, and that is to love you.
The pain-points in the world all have Jesus solutions, though it’s not like following Jesus will magically solve all our woes. But if we actually emulated his actions and followed his commands, we’d get a lot closer to the world God envisions for us. Let me give you a few examples of what I see in our world, and how knowing Jesus is a balm for those pains. Note that I am very specifically pointing to the words and actions of Jesus. Jesus’ first followers wrote a lot of things, too, and these things have often been used to divide people. Look just at Jesus right now…
Loneliness is one of the biggest pain points in today’s society. The U.S. Surgeon General has described loneliness as an epidemic, with clear health ramifications. Half of all U.S. adults have reported experiencing measurable levels of loneliness, which can lead to heart disease, stroke, and dementia. One of the Surgeon General’s approaches to combating loneliness is “Cultivating a culture of connection”, which is an argument we can make for the question, “Why church?” But that’s a question for another day. But Jesus offers a strategy, too: “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-29). What if we could bring our loneliness to Jesus and just rest there? What if we don’t solve it yet, but just be in his presence? There will be time to do and to solve, but sometimes we just need to rest.
A large majority of humans suffer from a condition I call “now-sight.” Psychologists call it “normalcy bias”, and it’s the tendency to expect things to continue as they always have, leading to the refusal to plan for disasters or other unexpected events. Despite the fact that epidemiologists and futurists tried to warn the general public that a global pandemic could happen at any time, the world was shocked at and unprepared for the traumatic and widespread effects of Covid-19. Jesus brings us Kindom-sight. Jesus knows that this world is imperfect and fleeting, and talks all the time (126 times in the Gospels!) about the “Kingdom of Heaven” or the “Kingdom of God.” What’s most important, though, is that God’s Kindom is both now and not yet. The reality we live in is not what God ultimately wants, but the Godly reality is breaking through every time someone lives the Jesus way. How would we prepare differently for the future if we knew that tomorrow could be drastically different from today? How would we act differently if we believed that we could make tomorrow different from today?
When things change, and they always change, people often experience a crisis of identity. When we enter a new phase of life (like moving out of our childhood home), when something big begins or ends (like a marriage, a birth, or a death), or when something turns out to not be what we expected it to be (like a new job or relationship), we can be left asking, “Who am I?” and “Is this who I thought I was?” Fuller Youth Institute’s most recent research has concluded that the three biggest questions that youth and young adults are asking are “Who am I?” “Where do I fit?” and “What difference can I make?” I would argue that these are questions all of us are asking, but perhaps we’re surprised that young people are thinking so deeply about their identity. In fact, identity crisis is a hallmark of teenage development, according to the work of influential developmental psychologist Erik Erikson. The message of Jesus about our identity is simple, but profound: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:6-7). Despite the crisis–causing occurrences that life throws at us, Jesus' message is simple: “You are seen. Your are known. You are loved.”
Lack of purpose is another pain point that our culture is swimming in, and another issue that was made clear by the pandemic. Drastic changes in how we could work, go to school, shop, socialize, and go to church led people to question how they could do all of those things. When things got “back to normal”, we questioned why we always did the things that we did, and some people made changes. Covid spurred The Great Resignation in workplaces. Effects of nearly two years of on-line learning exacerbated achievement differences in students from different backgrounds, and quite literally changed the brains of adolescents. Many church-goers never returned to church after Covid lockdowns were lifted. The opportunity of these drastic changes is that were forced to ask ourselves why and how we do the job we do, attend church the way we did, or just do the things we took for granted. Many of us have not yet found the answer. We’re still stuck in the why and the what should. Jesus gives us a model. He expressed his purpose right at the beginning of his ministry: He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:17-21.) He clearly stated what he came to do, and then he went out and did it. He continued to do and show and teach. When I wonder if what I am doing fulfills the purpose God has for me, I look back at the Sermon on the Mount and on this declaration Jesus read from Isaiah to find my purpose.
I believe that all of these pain points stem from what I call Original Fear. Church Father Augustine called it Original Sin, but I don’t believe that we choose wrong because we’re just wired to be naughty. I think we choose wrong because we’re deeply, desperately afraid of being forgotten. When Augustine observed the jealousy of an infant who had to share his mother’s milk with his brother, Augustine saw sin. What if that first baby was just filled with a deep fear that he’d never eat again? Fear of being left, of being forgotten, leads to anger toward those who we observed getting what we think we need. This leads to hate, which is at the bottom of so many of our societal woes. More than anything, Jesus taught about and lived the opposite of hate and fear- love and service. Jesus showed love for his friend Lazarus when he died (John 11:1-16.) When asked to name the greatest commandment in scripture, he said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40.) Shortly before he died, an act of love in and of itself, he gave a final commandment to his followers, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12) And, even on the cross, with his last breaths, he prayed for the criminals next to him, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34.)
That’s what it all comes down to for me- love. Love doesn’t point out someone’s wrongs. It shows them right. Love doesn’t tell someone what to do. It does for them. Love doesn’t give rules. It gives grace and rest. This is my Jesus why. What’s yours?