"Who do you say that I am?"

According to The Wall Street Journal, Public Policy Polling is one of the most reliable polling organizations.  When PPP takes a snapshot of the American electorate, they usually obtain an accurate reading of the political temperature of our country.

Recently, PPP polled Americans to find out what they thought of God's performance.  Specifically, the question posed was this:  "If God exists, do you approve or disapprove of its performance?"  The result?  8% disapprove.  40% are not sure.  And 52% approve.

My immediate reaction was twofold.  First:  our President and Congress would be delighted to receive those polling numbers.  A 52% approval rating?  Woohoo!

Second:  a 52% approval rating?  For God??!!

 Photo of God?
(illustrating the recent CNN story
"Poll:  52 percent approve of God's job performance")

Once, when Jesus was hanging out with his friends, he asked what sounds a lot like a calculated political question:  “Who do people say that I am?”

Politicians ask that question all the time.  That’s why they pay big money to gather focus groups.  Each one wants to know: “What’s the buzz out there?  What’s the perception about me?"  Then, "What, if anything, do I need to do or say differently in order to really turn people on?"

“Well,” Jesus’ friends responded, “Some say you’re John the Baptist, or Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”  The polling results are all over the board.  But the the scuttlebutt is crystal clear:  People sense that Jesus is special – so special that some wonder that he might even be a dead hero from the glory days brought back to life!

Then Jesus asked his friends a follow-up question, one that sounds decidedly unpolitical:  “OK, but who do YOU say that I am?”
 
What a gaffe!  If you’re serious about PR, you tell people who you are, or (perhaps more often) who you want them to believe you are!  Bottom line:  if you want the fame and the money and the votes to pour in, you've got to “massage” your message and “buff” your image.

But Jesus didn't tell his friends who he is.  He asked, "Who do YOU say that I am?"

No one outside his immediate family knew Jesus better than the disciples.  For quite a while they had been with him hour by hour, day after day – from the moment he opened his eyes in the morning until the moment he closed them at night.  They heard what he said; they saw what he did.  They observed Jesus in his most intimate, unguarded moments.  And they stood nearby when he was in the public spotlight.  They witnessed how Jesus interacted with rabbis, prostitutes, soldiers, shopkeepers, adulterers, teachers, foreigners, and lepers.  In short, they had a very good handle on who Jesus of Nazareth really was.
 
No surprisingly, it was Peter who blurted out:  “You are the Messiah, the Christ.”  Who knows what Peter really knew, or what he really meant?  In that culture people had wildly differing ideas about who the Christ would be and what the Messiah should do.  But one thing is for sure – Peter knew Jesus well.  And he saw God in Jesus.  Peter saw God in Jesus like no one else he had ever known, or anyone else he could even imagine.

Then Jesus said another unpolitical thing.  If he had really wanted to capitalize on "Peter's confession," he would’ve said, “All right.  Get out there and tell the world.  I’m the Messiah!  Sell me!  And don't forget to take up a collection!”

Instead, Jesus said, “Don’t tell a soul” (the famous "messianic secret").  Why?  Perhaps this was his way of saying that he wasn’t going to play the cheap PR game of trying to shape reality merely by manipulating perceptions.  No, Jesus was going to try to change the world by being real.  And he was going to be real by walking in God’s way.

"Who do YOU say that I am?"  That’s the question Jesus has asked his friends in every generation.  

A lot of people say that they’re Jesus’ friend.  But if you ask them who Jesus is, more often than not you'll hear a well-worn laundry list of bullet points about theology, doctrine, liturgy, and whatnot that makes your eyes glaze over.  

These ideas aren't unimportant.  But, then and now, Jesus isn’t looking for supporters to regurgitate “talking points.”  Jesus is looking for people to follow his walking points – to put one foot in front of the other and strike out on God's way by embodying love, compassion, justice, mercy, truth, and joy.

Jesus modeled what a fully human life looks like, a template to guide us as we struggle to grow into our humanity.  To follow Jesus is to become – in St. Paul's famous image – the Body of Christ:  Jesus' hands and heart reaching out to embrace this broken, hurting world.

Who do YOU say Jesus is, right now?  Don't consult your crib sheet.  Just look at your life.  You'll see your unvarnished answer there.
 
What you see might be encouraging.  Or it might not be very pretty.  Thankfully, every single day we have a new opportunity to (as James Brown used to sing):  "Get on the good foot!"