cute

I just started reading Ancient-Future Faith by Robert Webber. In the beginning of Part 2 Webber writes, “As far back as I can remember I was told that Christ was central to the Christian faith. However, when I began to reflect on the teaching I had received, I realized that the importance of Christ was always explained in terms of my personal salvation, little more. I have come to see through the study of the early Christian tradition that my view of Christ was severely limited. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe rightly. I simply didn’t understand how far-reaching and all-inclusive Christ really was. When I discovered the universal and cosmic nature of Christ, I was given the key to a Christian way of viewing the whole world, a key that unlocked the door to a rich storehouse of spiritual treasures.”

Now that I have discovered that key I can’t be satisfied when I hear the Jesus came to die for you me or the most correct epigrammatic answer, us. Can we really sum up God becoming flesh in even one sentence, no matter how cute. A few months ago in our small group we were asked why Christ came and I answered, to give us access to God’s kingdom now. I was told that wasn’t the answer we were looking for. I sat back and felt slightly angry that my answer had been brushed off like I used to brush off the answers seventh graders gave me in Ohio History class. The more I thought about the more I realized I fell into the trap of explaining Christ in a clever one sentence answer. It’s just not possible to sit in a small group and define Christ. We only come to know him through sitting at his feet and allowing the transforming power of his gospel to transform us into new creatures fully aware of his “universal and cosmic nature”. The further up and further in we go, the bigger everything gets.