Is Talking About Jesus Awkward?

This morning Don cooked up some mean waffles. I love all kinds of breakfast foods, and waffles are definitely among the top 3. Seth, Correy, Don, Link, Travis and I migrated to the living room with our waffles in hand. A local kid named Jack came over and hung out with us for a bit. Jack is really into dirt bikes and after talking about crazy motorcycle stories, the conversation shifted into a Jesus talk, what Don likes to call "J-time".

After a little bit, there was a silence. Don posed the question "Does talking about Jesus make people feel awkward"? If it does, why? After a few more moments of silence and contemplation, Correy said that it is awkward to talk about Jesus because we feel like we need to give the right answer, and if we don't then we feel like we have failed.

So I pose the question... has American Christianity left us to believe that the measurement of our spirituality is like a check list, or a test? Are we trying to get a 100% on a "Jesus Test".
I don't believe that Jesus wants us to look at our relationship with Him as a list of right or wrong answers. I think in the context of talking about our Lord, there are no right or wrong answers. When Don or Travis, or one of my mentors back home asks me, "how is God working in your life" or "why do you think God has you in this situation right now", I don't think they are looking for a text book answer. I think they want to make me think, and they want to see if indeed God is working in my life.

This point led us deeper in the conversation. Is it awkward to talk about Jesus because we don't know Jesus? We can grow up all our lives and know about Jesus, but knowing Him is entirely different. If you asked me to tell you about my relationship with Don, I wouldn't say "He's about 6 feet, black, works out all the time, used to wrestle in highschool, he smiles all the time." No, I would say "Don loves people and I can see that by the way he activly listens to me and asks me 'how i feel about this, and what i think about that, and why i think that'. Don is compassionate, inquisitive, a diligent worker, determined, and driven." We can know everything about Jesus without knowing Him. I can know all there is about Lebron James. I can read his bio, stats, his autobiography, but until I go and talk to him, I do not know him.

Jesus wants to be known. He wants us to seek Him, and pursue Him with everything we have.

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity."


Jeremiah 29:13-14



JN