Occasionally in my work at Fuller Seminary, I receive phone calls from people who just want to talk to a real live Christian about questions related to faith in God. Last month a guy called to express some of his frustration with the Christian religion. He asked me a very personal and confrontational question. “Is there anything I can say to you that will challenge your faith in God?”
I paused after getting the question and then told him, “No, I don’t think so.” We began a long conversation about why I am a Christian. I mentioned that growing up in a Christian home certainly influenced me. I also told him that I had heart surgery at fourteen and needed to rely on God at a young age. Then I mentioned that what influenced my faith most was my fascination with this Jesus guy from the Bible. The frustrated caller eventually calmed down and by the end of our conversation he expressed appreciation in my answer. He said that I was sincere in my reasons for being a Christian.
That recent call reminded me how much my faith in God has been shaped by my great appreciation for the person of Jesus. I know the Bible teaches that we are to call Jesus Lord and that He is the Savior of the world and deserves our praise. I am sure my affection for Jesus is shaped by years of hearing that he is to be followed in order to have a good life. But deep down the reason I am still a Christian over thirty years from the time I made a commitment to follow Jesus as a little boy, is because I am more in awe of this historic figure than anyone that has ever existed.
I love many things about Jesus. I appreciate his sacrificial love, his compassion for the poor, his devotion to his Father in Heaven. I think he is both a radical guy and a regular guy. He was a leader that people followed and he was someone you could sit down and share a beer with at a party.
Jesus was also both a contemplative and an activist. He knew how to take a break and spend hours in solitude in prayer to His Abba Father and He knew how to actively stand up against injustice. He healed the leper and the woman with the issue of blood while others saw them as unclean. He stood up to the religious and civil authorities when others cowered in fear. Jesus was able to be a deeply spiritual leader who took time to reflect deeply and pray thoughtfully, yet this did not lead him to disengage from the world around him. Instead his deep interior life enabled him to have the courage to live an active life of profound love and compassion.
This Jesus guy is why I am a Christian. I am proud to say I am a follower of the greatest contemplative and activist who ever lived.
