What problem does believing in Jesus solve for you?
It’s a question that asks more about you than about Jesus. I recently posed it to a group of friends and heard back answers reflecting a range of concerns. Theological friends said Jesus solved theological problems. Intellectual friends said Jesus solved intellectual problems. Practical friends said Jesus solved everyday problems. Apparently, Jesus solved what they needed him to solve. But were any of their problems the right one?
We often think of “orthodoxy” as the right answer, but what about the question itself? What if orthodoxy has more to do with having the right problem? The right problem would have to be one to which Jesus is the unique solution, not a merely adequate one—the acceptable answer, not an acceptable answer. A human problem Jesus solves uniquely provides the ground to stake the orthodox claim about Jesus: he is the only way. A problem Jesus solves adequately is the wrong problem because an adequate Jesus is the wrong Jesus.
For people who don’t believe Jesus solves anything uniquely, Christianity is just a benign option. Sure, Jesus can get us through the day, motivate us to help with poverty, provide a social ethic, or resolve intellectual problems. But people use many things to get through the day (including coffee). Indignation motivates crusades against poverty. Pick your social ethic. Theory solves academic problems. While Jesus can solve such problems adequately, an adequate Jesus inspires nobody. So long as people have the wrong problem, they will have the wrong Jesus.
Dispute of Jesus and the Pharisees over tribute money (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
What is a Problem?
Problems are encounters we interpret as inconsistent with our cognitive model of the world (how we think the world works). We reckon with life by assessing our priorities, expectations, and concerns against our model, and a problem is the gap between what we observe and what we expect. Our models thus set up problems that structure the solutions we seek. And there are only two kinds of models: one centers our perspective in the problem whereas the other displaces it.
Some people tend to treat the world as revolving around their perspective—their concerns, priorities, and issues—and thus make their perspective (ego) central to their interaction with the world. Let’s call that the “ego-centric model.” People with ego-centric models tend to identify their problem with the scope of their world’s problem—their country, social circle, or individual life—and scale solutions to fit that scope. Their faith in God is upheld by a theology scaled to resolve those problems.
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