The Question

Do you remember when … spam was mystery meat … hacking meant to cut or chop …  a wall was something made of wood or stone?  The ever-changing vocabulary is often enough to make me want to refrain from using words!

 

Have you ever thought of Jesus as a pollster?  I’m a bit wary of polls myself, but some people consistently rely on them to help form personal opinion.  Efforts to gather and measure public consensus are sometimes manipulated to suit particular agendas, nonetheless polls are of great interest to many.  Jesus posed a question to His disciples at Caesarea Philippi with regard to public consensus: “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” (Matthew 16:13).  His probing question drew varying answers to which Jesus probed deeper, “But who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15).  In a few months, voters will step into voting booths across the country and make personal choices from among those who have campaigned.  For each voter, it will be the defining moment of personal choice.  Every day, I hear Jesus ask, “Beverly, who do YOU say that I am?”  The question is personal and my answer will not reflect public consensus: not what my parents say, not what Mr. Bill says, not what anyone has taught me – quite simply, it is personal conviction.  Furthermore, my language, priorities, choices will all reveal the role Jesus plays in my life.  O. S. Hawkins writes that many Christians “live in a world that is much more interested in what men say than in what God says.”  Peter and the apostles boldly said, “We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29).  The question is before us and it demands a response: will we answer with just words or will our words take flight in how we live?  And, your answer is …