Who is Jesus to me?

"Who is Jesus to me?" We were asked to answer this question by our pastor today.  I must admit that my first response to this question was "That is dangerous!"  Not that I believe it is dangerous to contemplate deeply who Jesus is.  I believe that is essential to our discipleship.  I do believe though that it can be dangerous to define who Jesus is personally independent from Scripture and the rest of the Body of Christ.

The evangelical movement of the last 50 years has defined Christianity in many ways as a personal relationship.  And for me that has been a struggle because I see  Scripture call us to follow Jesus as community.  Paul did amazing things but without Peter, Barnabas and even John Mark, he would have have been unable to see Christ fully.  He would have only seen who Jesus was to him.  For example, he would have missed out seeing the patience and vision of Jesus, as he worked in John Mark.  This is a side of Jesus Paul obviously did not see as he sent John Mark packing.  But it obvious that Paul later saw it as he called John Mark to his side.

I do not say this to question my pastor or even to complain in any way. I say this to set up my answer to the question.  Before I knew Jesus, I was extremely confident in myself.  If you asked me there was nothing I couldn't accomplish on my own.  I had no need of others except as objects of competition to motivate me to do better.  Jesus, by the very nature of His call, brought me into community, into relationship, with my brothers and sisters in Christ.  He is still working on my pride and competitive nature today and until He perfects me, He is the mediator that makes encouraging, edifying and educational relationships with other believers possible. (that aliteration is for Pastor Chris)  He is the one who allows me to see the lost with compassion as opposed to disdain or indifference.

Jesus is a reconciler.  He not only reconciled me to Himself but also to the entire Body of Christ.  These actions are why I find it hard to define "Who Jesus is to me?" because Jesus has shown me that I am nothing without Him and we are helpless without each other.  I hope to hear from many others from Trinity as well as the anyone else, because "Who Jesus is to US" can only help all of us to see Him more clearly.