In our westernized culture, it feels as if that question has started to function almost as a rhetorical one. With our churches on every corner and our unbelievable access to the word of God, surely everyone knows the answer to this question, right? Better yet, surely everyone is a part of the family of faith.
However, I am afraid that our lack of boldness for the gospel and our codependency of spiritual nourishment with others, even down to getting our theology from Tik Tok, that our belief that this question is a rhetorical question is rooted in the fact that we have allowed ourselves to believe that we don’t need to know our “why?”
I have thought this. I have felt this. And honestly, most of the time I have not even had to answer that question. I was not being positioned where I had to answer it. My entire world was surrounded by people who thought like me, believed like me and went to church with me. I believe in the church. I believe in serving the church. However, sometimes I think we fall into the trap of believing that serving inside the church allows us to “check off the box.” But I am starting to see that just as I am comfortable inside the comforts of my own home, I can treat church that way. Don’t hear me say to stop serving within the church, hear me say as God’s people I want to make sure you and I know our “why.” I want to make sure that echoing through the streets of our towns is God’s people living in a way where that question is being asked and answered. I want you to hear me say that it deeply saddened me when I realized that it wasn’t until I was 26 years old that I looked up and realized I wasn’t as bold for the sake of the gospel when I was outside the 4 walls of a church setting.
In a lot of ways, I am sure these words could come across as “here are all the ways I am getting it right” but it’s the furthest thing from that. It’s actually – here are all the ways I have gotten it wrong. It’s about how much the Lord has opened my eyes to how unlike Jesus I can become. It’s about my realization that I can sing good songs on Sunday and live an unapproachable and unsent life on Monday. It’s about the awakening that there must be a spreading of the gospel. It’s about the reality that I woke up one day to realize that my dinner table had very few seats and that so contradicted Jesus’ heart of – there is room at the table.
It’s about you and I understanding that our God is big and if we are not careful, we make can make our world really small.
This isn’t about a mass exodus from vocational ministry and church volunteering. It’s about us becoming more than just “church people.” I can’t tell you how many conversations I have had where that phrase has rolled its way into the conversation. I don’t want to be a “church person.” And if I had to guess, I don’t think most people do. However, in a lot of ways, I think we can become that.
Yes, I want to be an active participant in the local church, but I think really that phrase could be interpreted as “us” and “them.” I don’t want people to think that there is an exclusiveness. It’s convicting to me because the message of Jesus is “all.” He came for all. He died for all. He rose again for all. So, if at any point those around us feel excluded or if they feel like they can’t belong, it is our doing. It is us misrepresenting the heart of the Father.
I have been thinking about what would be said about me at the end of my life a lot recently. Probably because of how much we are reminded daily just by watching the news that life is short. And I am seeing more and more every day that while there are things I want to do – those aren’t what I want to be known as. I don’t want to get to the end of my days and people only talk about the fact that I was a writer. Or that I was a teacher. Or I was a small group leader for high schoolers. Or that studied the bible. Or that I helped with church events.
By the grace of God, I will keep using the gifts He has given me to leverage it all for the sake of His glory. But I hope it would be true of me that before anyone remembers all that I “did” they would talk more about who I “was”. I hope they would say – She loved Jesus and she loved people. I hope they would say – She cared and she listened. I hope they would say – She was inclusive and inviting.
I think we overcomplicate it and honestly, at times over-spiritualize it. It’s not running into the grocery store and quoting John 3:16 at someone. It’s not shoving the message of Jesus down someone’s throat. It’s not about the “I invited them to church.” I am starting to see most of the time Jesus’ starting point was to show up and sit with people. I am starting to see its about extending my table and opening my doors. I am starting to see that it is a beautiful thing to be in places with people who believe differently than you. I am starting to see what a gift it is to be in places where someone asks, “why Jesus?” Because the reality is, if I am professing to have given my entire life over to someone and to follow Him – I hope I am living in such a way that it makes someone want to know why.
So, my friends – I ask you. Why Jesus? Think about it. Not because you then need to walk into every room and tell people your answer. But because I think there is power and a fueling of our faith when we sit with the question and realize what our answer is. And because I believe that as we let Him make us more like Him that we will be in spaces where we have a chance to answer it. I ask you because it’s not a rhetorical question. It is one that needs an answer. An answer you must decide on for yourself.
For me, why Jesus?
Because as I write this the night before Father’s Day without my earthly father here to celebrate, I think about growing up in a home with two parents that always talked about Jesus. This God they talked about. One that they trusted, and believed to be good. I think about cancer arriving like it had a bomb on its back and blowing up my childhood. How could this God that my dad loved be the same God that would leave my family in shambles? I think about drug addiction creeping in like thief in the night to my brother’s life and experiencing the darkest days of my life. How could there be a God with all of this pain?
It’s one of the things that makes it the hardest for us to believe in Him right? How much pain is in this world.
Hope.
It’s the life raft in this shipwrecked life so many of us have experienced. If not for hope, what is there to press on for? I realized even if you take God out of the equation, the pain is still here. But when I found myself digging into His word seeing what He promised in Revelation 21:14 – “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
And reading the promises of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-12
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
And hearing people talk about how there is this God who doesn’t need me to do anything to get to Him but did everything to get to me. Understanding that when I look at the story of the gospel, of Jesus coming to earth, offering Himself on the cross, and raising back to life – that kind of story doesn’t tell one of a God who is against me. It tells of one who is for me.
Why Jesus? Because He is the one who offers me the promise that there is always hope. He is the only one who can take the broken pieces and bring purpose to them. Everything that Jesus says that He is and that He offers – it’s what I wanted. It’s what I still want.
It still feels crazy sometimes when I really think about it, too good to be true you could say. If He is all that He says is. And if He does all that He said He does – it makes more sense to trust Him than to not too. And I can tell you that with everything in me, I take Him at His word, and I have experienced Him to be true to it all.
You might ask – what if it’s not true? My friends, I would ask you back – but what if it is?
Why Jesus? Because if not for Him, I have nothing.
So what about you….
Why Jesus? And, while we are here, I also want to know why not? There is room at God’s table for both conversations and if there is room at His for it, then I will create space for it at mine.
The Comments
Noel Edwards Sr
Adria, I just finished reading your post and all I could think of was “how proud your Dad would be that you have grown in the Lord the way that you have”.Your dad was an influencer so that others could develop a love for the Lord. As a human he fought his flesh like we all do. He too desired boldness but had to fight being politically correct and a great desire to be liked. He was blessed with a personality that drew people to him. His circle of friends was big. Some were simple laborers all the way up to doctors, dentists, and attorneys and judges. He was a great friend to Pastors and staff members.
You might ask what is the point of my conversation? I hear in you the heart I heard in your dad. Your dad would talk of the talents each one of his children possessed. Anna was writing about the Lord and showing great creativity toward a life of writing and teaching from a very early age. But he always said just wait on Adria, she will be the rock and the glue that holds our family together. I don’t think he knew just how God would bring you to that but believed with all of his heart that God would. I am thankful that God has allowed me to live long enough to see my friend’s dream come to reality. I can see God’s hand upon you.
You talked about your table and the Lord’s table. May I encourage you to not eat many meals alone. Your dad didn’t. You talked about your table becoming more inclusive like the Lord’s table. Your dad’s table was always inclusive. He had many subjects that he could discuss in depth with people. He loved to tell jokes. He and your Uncle Jeff had that in common. He loved sports of all kinds and his day was not complete until he knew where all of his favorite teams stood in the standings. He ran the NCAA Basketball tournament pool for his like minded friends. But he loved to read His Bible and about his Bible. He would love reading your blogs.
I was witnessing to a young man one day last week and was reminded of the kind of love we are to have for the Lord Jesus Christ. I asked him could remember the day he met his wife. I asked if he thought she was pretty. If he talked to her a lot. If he found himself talking about her to his friends. Of course his answers were in the affirmative to each question. I then explained that is the same feeling and love we are to have for Jesus Christ. We can’t help but talk about the people we love. Almost 22 years later I’m still telling the story of my friend, your dad, and his love for his children. And our mutual desire to see people come to Christ. Like you his passing left a hole in my life and like you I miss him and his friendship. Unlike some others, we have the hope of a grand reunion. Jesus Christ paid the price and then assured us of this. That above all is “why Jesus”.