I get it. The world continues to be troubled and broken. But Jesus as the answer? Too simplistic. The complexities of brokeness don't fit neatly into the problem/solution formula.
Brokeness is sometimes the moral failing of an individual’s choices. But those choices are almost always inextricably bound in relationship with other individuals, which together form a web of complex dilemmas making it impossible to pinpoint where the moral responsibility lies.
Other times brokeness is invisible and systemic. We are ensnared corporately on a daily basis — our complicity in a consumer society feeding upon greed, our participation in corrupting our environment, and our everyday purchases tainted by child and slave labors.
Answers are clear cut and devoid of mystery. Love is murky and nebulous, but endless in profound beauty. Answers are definitive and effortless. Love requires labor with no guarantees. Answers set up parameters and boundaries and gatekeepers. Love erases dividing lines and flings open gates.
Any time we try to confine God into a simplistic message small enough to fit onto a tract, a t-shirt or bumper sticker slogan or a 4-minute, feel-good Praise and Worship diddy, we cut out too many important details.
Jesus wasn't an answer. Jesus was love — a sentiment, or action, or spirit, that has been elaborated by poets and artists throughout the history of humanity, boundless in its outworking, limitless in its applications. In his time on earth, Jesus entered into our problem and he sat down and told us stories riddled with nuance and complexity, open to the interpretations of his listeners. Jesus entered into our problem and doled out not just one solution, but many different sorts.
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