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There's Something About Jesus

Sometimes there seems to be a thousand different ways to understand the Gospel, what Jesus' mission was, and what it means to be a Christian. I am often confused and frustrated by the multitudes of different opinions and ways of understanding Christianity. Sometimes it makes me doubt, while other times it is just frustrating.  Even in my own life my faith and belief has change and transformed as I have gone through different periods of life, had different experiences, faced different contradictions, and noticed greater complexity in the world around me. I often wonder if my current understanding of the Gospel is correct, both because of the ways I have changed and because of the seemingly endless supply of differing ideas around me. Yet amidst all the different ideologies, understandings, and practices, there is one common denominator across Christianity, one thing that the Christian world revolves around, Jesus.

The fact that there are so many ideas, opinions, and understandings about Jesus reveals how important He is. He has gripped our attention, and we are compelled to figure out who He is and what He is about. When I feel confused or frustrated by the theology and ideas that so many people hold, many which seem contradictory, I find great assurance in the fact that Jesus is at the center of it all. We are intrigued by Jesus and by the Gospel.  Across the undulating ideas and practices of the Christian world He remains rock solid at the center of it all. That gives me hope, that gives me peace, even through my own struggle to understand Him.  As the apostle Paul put it, Jesus is the cornerstone. It isn't our understanding that makes Him central to our lives, the fact that He is at the center evokes our desire to understand Him. We begin to realize that our existence, our life, and this world finds it's true meaning in the person of Jesus. He is our faith and our confidence, not our specific understanding in a given period of time.

Jesus alone remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. As our feelings, experiences, and understanding is shaped and molded through life, we can take confidence in Jesus relationship with the Father, and what He did for us and as us. He is our confidence, our security, and our assurance. My faith isn't that I have grasped the truth, but that the truth has grasped me. I am very thankful for Jesus in my life, otherwise I would not have a solid place to stand.

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