Controversy

Be it a questionable call in a football game, a famous person getting into trouble with the law, or just hearing two random strangers arguing at the grocery store, people love controversy.

We’re drawn to it like a moth to a flame, and often with the same result.

But in addition to all of the meaningless little controversies that occupy our lives, there are also some very important controversies in life that, sooner or later, every person must weigh in on.

Who forgot to put the milk in the refrigerator? It may be a controversy, but it’s not a big deal.

But try some of these on for size--

When does life really begin?

Who gets to say what is right and what is wrong?

When is it right to break the law?

Questions like these, how we answer them, and how we live with people who answer them differently than we do are some of the great defining factors of our lives.

And the very greatest controversy of all, in my humble opinion, is this one--

Who. is. Jesus??

This question has, in my opinion, created more controversy in the the world than any other. All over the world for two millennia people have debated and often battled over their answers to this question.

AND even when Jesus was in the midst of His life and ministry, the controversy was already happening.

The Book of John, Chapter 9 in the Bible tells the story of one of those controversies.

The big picture is that as Jesus was out and about he had found this guy begging for money on the side of the road. The man was born blind, and never in his life had he been able to see.

And Jesus, being Jesus, performs a miracle and heals him.

Oddly enough, at that point is when the controversy really started.

A group of people who didn’t like Jesus heard about the miracle, and so they actually hauled the guy who got healed—AND his parent even—into court.

Then, and as a part of that fiasco, they tell the healed man that they believe that Jesus is an awful evil sinful person, and they demand that this man, who had just experienced a life-changing miracle from Jesus, agree with them about that.

You have to read this story for yourself today in the Book of John, Chapter 9, but in verse 25 the man responds in the most amazing way to Jesus' enemies who are threatening him and his family.

Instead of picking a side and jumping into the fight about if Jesus is a good guy or a bad buy, he simply says--

“Whether [Jesus] is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

The controversy continued on that day, and 2,000 years later, the controversy about Jesus continues still. Some people say He is the Savior of the world and that anybody can put their faith in Him and find real life forever. Other people say that He is a phony. And still other people say that whatever He was then, it does not matter today.

As for me, I believe that Jesus was for real, I believe that He still is, and I believe that every person's decision to trust Jesus or not is the most important decision that they will ever make.

So what do you believe? Who do you say that Jesus is? And what difference is your answer making in your life today?

I don't know what your answer is to those questions. But I know this. In a very real sense, I once was blind, but now I see.

And my hope for you today is that God will do for you what He has done for me.