Why is Jesus always the answer to the wrong crowd’s questions?

I grew up with the slogan: “Jesus is the answer.” I never knew what the question was, but, what the heck, he was the answer to it! But when I began to learn how important questions are, I really wanted to know why we say Jesus is the answer — at least I wanted to know to which question(s). The only way to find out was to ask believers and non-believers alike. The results stunned me. My small, non-scientific investigation lead me to realize that Jesus is only the answer to questions that church people ask. In turn this “answer” is actually the question and even the problem to “outsiders.” Put differently, nobody outside the church care too much for the “Jesus is the answer” slogan, because they don’t ask those “If you die tonight, where will you end up?” questions.

Now, a question of my own — shouldn’t it have been the other way round? Isn’t Jesus supposed to be the answer to questions that non-believers, unChristians, backsliders, marginalized people, the poor, sick and outcasts ask? If Jesus isn’t magnetic to people who (still) don’t follow him, why will they even bother to listen to our “answers” to our questions that they never ask?

Don’t get me wrong — I believe John 14:6 with my whole heart: Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. He is the only One! But I also know that people who don’t believe this will probably never be convinced if I keep on providing them with unintelligible answers to even stranger questions. Their question to me/us would probably be something like: “Show me the money! Show me in your own life what it menas to follow Jesus, then we could probably have a conversation!” It’s not so much our beliefs, but our integrity in terms of following Jesus in the smallest details of our lives through service, sacrifice, humility and generosity that will provide intelligible answers to the right questions here in our day.

Return from Jesus is the answer to the echurch blog

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