All the Talk

One of the hardest aspects of growing up as a coach’s kid was overhearing criticisms of how your dad did their job. Frequently, if the fans were upset enough, their verbal attacks became personal.

My whole life, I grew up knowing what everyone else thought of my father, the good and the bad, but I had to learn to hold strong to the truth. My mother was the one who helped me navigate through the opinions of the world and settle firmly on the truth. Even in falsehoods, I could stand firm in what I knew was true.

In the same way, the world will have many opinions of who Jesus is. In scripture, we see that even when Jesus was on earth, there were many different thoughts about who He was. While these comparisons to other great men were not bad, they diminished Jesus’ power and authority as the Messiah.

Today, people might say, “Oh, Jesus is just a good guy” or “He was a prophet.” These comments do the same thing and take away the glory and honor that the Messiah deserves. Others will say that Jesus wasn’t real and is a fake and a liar. Those are easier to call out as lies because we know the truth of who God is. However, we must be careful not to believe the half-truths about Jesus’ identity. Yes, Jesus is good, but He is so much more.

We are called to stand firm in the truth about who Jesus is and be bold like Simon Peter was. When asked who Jesus is, Simon Peter did not falter but proudly stated that Jesus is the Son of the Living God. We are called to cut through the world’s noise and boldly proclaim who our Savior is.