The 3 Questions - Question Two
Question One: Would you say you are a Christian?
Question Two: Have you ever wanted to believe in Christ?
Question Three: If you wanted to become a Christian would you know how to?
QUESTION TWO: Have you ever wanted to believe in Christ?
By the time I was five, or six, my heroes were The Pied Piper, Jesus, and Winston Churchill. Not long afterward, Cassius Clay, later Muhammad Ali, would be added.
The Pied Piper, of course, is a curious choice, but the idea of a musician ridding Hamlin of the rats, Jesus ridding the world of hypocrites through love, miracles and his teaching, and Churchill standing up to and defeating Hitler all appealed to this five-year-old.
(When I was 8, I floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee and inflicted a terrible defeat on the school bully – who wasn’t a bully really. We became good friends. For 5 minutes, at break, when I took on the bully, Peter Mole, I was Ali. He had no chance! My reign was short-lived; I was beaten up by someone else a year or two later! But those moments illustrate the role of heroes, they inspire greatness in others).
What did I know about Jesus?
I knew this, that he walked up to James and John, Peter and Andrew, and Matthew and said, simply: ‘Follow me’ and carried on walking. It said of the fishermen ‘immediately they left their nets and followed him’. I remember sitting in a school assembly at the age of six, maybe, thinking ‘If Jesus walks through the door now, I would get up and follow him’. I knew enough to know that would mean not going home for tea and hitting the road with Jesus!
Comical maybe but maybe I was tapping into what makes Jesus, to this day, good box office. In our millions we turn out to watch films about Jesus:
• The Passion of the Christ 2004 Mel Gibson – cost $30 million but grossed $612 million and was the 5th highest grossing film in 2004
• Jesus of Nazareth 1977 Robert Powell – cost $45 million, film + 4 episodes TV drama, grossed $75 million
• The Greatest Story Ever Told 1965 Charlton Heston cost $20 million, grossed $35 million
The question at the back of everybody’s mind has to be ‘Is it just a story?’.
In other words, is the New Testament an accurate historical document? Or was it made-up, a literary work, no more than a mythical tale, an idealistic presentation of how things should be, could be maybe, but not as they really are?
Once one doubts the reliability of the New Testament, the gospel accounts, the question ‘Have you ever wanted to believe in Jesus?’ is bracketed with Santa Claus, Bigfoot, or the Loch Ness monster, the only difference being that the words ascribed to Jesus, his teaching, how he opposed the Pharisees, the hypocrisy of the religious leaders in Israel…does tend to get the blood moving in a way that talk of mythical creatures or Santa can’t quite match. Hence his appeal. We roar with approval for all he stood for, even though we are the very sinners he came to save, love, forgive, and show kindness and mercy to. We feel inexorably drawn to Jesus.
But we also know to follow him, whatever that means or could look like in the 21st century, is to swim against the tide, to court ridicule, and family and friends will question one’s sanity, and so on. Religion is, of course, in England, one of the conversations that are humorously banned in pubs! Sex and politics the other two.
And, of course, everything that is banned in England is precisely what many people want to talk about despite the divisive nature of the subject matter and the wisdom at times to avoid spoiling a pleasant pint!
By the time I was five, or six, my heroes were The Pied Piper, Jesus, and Winston Churchill.
But avoiding the question is not really an option for anyone who is even vaguely drawn by Jesus. If he was to say ‘Follow me’ our reasoned-secular-sceptical response ‘Hmm, not sure’ isn’t really adequate.
The fact is that despite the secularisation of English society, the drift towards a materialistic, atheistic intellectual climate that looks to science to explain our origins and likely future, many would still say they would like to have the same faith that Jesus had, or would like to see a world like the world Jesus spoke about, or, they have come to the view that the materialistic world-view is hopelessly inadequate and the spiritual realm is not only a reality but an essential ingredient in life.
Despite my personal drift into agnosticism and materialism, I, like many others, still wondered at times, whether it could be true? Surely not! But if it is…That six-year-old desire to ‘leave my nets and follow Jesus’ was lurking in all the arguments and cynicism that had attempted to fill the void.
I suspect, in fact I know, that many who live in England are in the same boat. Few have actually rejected Jesus. But haven’t a clue how to actually embrace Him as a real historical figure, or believe that he came back to life three days after crucifixion and burial.