Who Is Jesus - The Question That Matters Most

Does the idea of talking to someone from another faith make your hands sweat and your heart race? My passion for apologetics, the arguments and evidence in support of the Christian faith, was fueled by fear that I would one day be talking to someone and not be able to respond to their question or objection even though Jesus told us not to worry about this (Matthew 10).

In time I realized that I was going about it the wrong way. Apologetics is a powerful way to address objections and an encouragement to know that our faith is based on reason and evidence as well as the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. But these discussions become a distraction when we neglect to focus on the one thing that matters.

Who Is Jesus?

The next time you have the opportunity to speak with someone from another faith or world view, you can get straight to the point by asking that question. Then just listen to their response and their story. In 1 John 4-1:4 we are told that the question, "Who is Jesus?" is the litmus test. Then it's not an issue if you don't know everything about everything, though knowing the history and background of the major world views is an excellent subject of study.

In Acts and the rest of the New Testament, we find that the apostles spent most of their time explaining and clarifying who Jesus is and what the impact of that is.

So, who is Jesus? Knowing the answer to that question is key so I've listed a few statements and references to get you thirsty. These are just a sample because the roles and identity of Jesus can be found described throughout the Bible.

• King - Lord over all creation (John 1, Revelation 19) and He will return to judge and rule (Matthew 25).
• Man - Jesus came to Earth as a human but did not sin (2 Corinthians 5, Philippians 2). God's creation is good but mired in sin (Romans 8). If Jesus was willing to come to the Earth as a man, and He proclaimed His creation very good then Christians should love their bodies and creation and not seek liberation from it.
• Priest/Savior - Died and resurrected as an offering for our sins (Isaiah 53, Hebrews 10) so we could be reconciled to God and be in relationship with Him.
• God - The Son submits to the Father while remaining fully God (John 14, 15, 17). His divinity is affirmed by all the creeds, the New Testament, and references to the Messiah throughout the Bible. Therefore Jesus has all the attributes of God such as being eternal, holy, and omnipotent.
• Just and righteous - God has always been about justice which means to set things right. He is for the poor and the underdog (Psalm 82, Isaiah 58) and His return and reign over creation will restore (Isaiah 65). God is accused of being intolerant and harsh but if you read closely He is compassionate, slow to anger (Genesis 15, Numbers 14) and wanting to see everyone repent and follow Him (Ezekiel 18, John 3, 2 Peter 3). Whether it is the Israelites or you and me, He has given us a lifetime to choose to learn about Him and love Him and even when we push Him away, He continues to pursue us.

Again these are just a few of Jesus' roles and scripture that supports these claims. It's important that we know who Jesus is so we can reveal misconceptions and clear the way for people to have a fruitful relationship with Jesus.

Perhaps you've found the end of yourself. Your world view and attempts to reach God or success have fallen short and you're not sure what to do. Jesus is with you. He died for you so you can be reconciled to God and have a relationship with Him again (2 Corinthians 5). Seek Jesus!

Disconnect to Reconnect

It started for me with a feeling like I never read books as much as I used to.

Next I noticed I was always feeling stressed and busy even though my life and workload hadn't changed much.

I slowly came to realize the issues, for me, were stemming from spending too much time on my phone. The device that you're reading this blog post on, is an incredible thing. It can calculate, connect, and accomplish more than a person even 10 years ago could have imagined. No longer do we have to wait for a reunion to see how people are doing and you'll never have to be bored again as you sit in wait at the DMV or a delayed flight. With this technology our lives are changed, but the convenience and capabilities come at a cost that we ignore at a cost.

A base instinct of the human mind is seeking reward and avoiding risk. Smartphones, though often marketed as a device to free up our time and reduce the number of things we need to leave the house to do, have become for many an addiction. App developers can exploit these aspects of human psychology using features such as badges, powerups, streaks which make it very difficult for the user to resist say playing one more level in a game. It turns out the pleasure we receive from these actions, can be found even in the mundane tasks like scrolling through a news feed or checking our email.

Seeing people constantly on their devices is becoming a normal part of our society. A tradeoff for the benefits we receive. Do we consider how it is affecting our own life and of those around us? What do our kids, friends, etc think about how much we use technology? What are we giving up when we check our devices for the 10th time? We probably assume we're using technology responsibly but it's worth taking a look at your actual use. I was amazed to find out how long I was spending on my phone each day (I'll tell you an easy way to find out in a minute) but I was caught off-guard because we only use it in small doses. A minute responding to a text a few times a day, reading an article here and there, it all builds up.

Since this was affecting my life so dramatically, I looked for ways to curb its impact on my life. After multiple failed attempts at self-will and reminders, something more dramatic was needed. I found a couple of apps that have helped me tremendously in breaking the habit of getting sucked into my phone.

There are many options out there, but there are three I would recommend only from my own experience:

1) AppDetox - This is the primary app I use ever since they updated the app to properly use the usage Android API rather than the accessibility API (which prevented me from using a password). I chose this over the others because I really appreciate the interface, how it allows you to set limits per app for example, the number of times you can open it and how long. This is great because I'd rather have a time limit for a game but a limit on the number of times I open social media.

2) AntiSocial - while I don't care for the name, the app itself is quite useful

• Monitors my usage and lets me know what apps I use, which ones I spend the most time on, and how that compares to others usage.
• The most useful feature to me is the ability to set a budget for certain apps that you want to limit. Then after that budget is up, the app prevents you from using them further (it's possible to go in an add more time, but it's enough work to make you stop and think). You can also schedule times not to use the app or a timer.

3) QualityTime - This was the first app I used and it similarly reports on your usage and it curbs your usage of apps. The way it does it though is by blocking access to your phone except for apps you've whitelisted. Personally I didn't like that it made it harder to use all apps (e.g. camera, maps) just for the sake of a few troublemakers and I found myself disabling it often. That said, I used it for months and I would encourage you to try it for yourself.

There's many more apps out there, so try them out and let me know if you find one that works for you. If you're not putting proper limits on the technology around you, it might be controlling you. Maybe your phone is not an addiction for you. Great! I hope this post calls attention to the fact that we all have vices that can take us away from what truly matters. Phones are powerful tools that can enable us to draw closer to God but like any tool, can withdraw us into our selfishness.

I've found this process to be quite freeing, not feeling like I always need to be connected and so I'm much less stressed and able to focus. Sometimes, I find myself just staring off into space, something I haven't done for a long time.