40 Bicycles

We often reduce the message of Jesus to a timeless, abstract statement of generalized truths, which we carry around with us and which are, frankly, boring. And then those of us who are theologians and teachers assume we have something called 'truth' in our back pocket, which we produce and shove down people's throats.

In fact, the truth about God being seen in Jesus is not like that at all. Truth is more like health. A doctor doesn't keep 'health' in his or her back pocket simply to throw at people. A doctor can work to create conditions for health and reduce the possibilities of illness. But ultimately health is a strange, mysterious thing that is part of God's gift of life. It is just the same with truth. The truth as it is in Jesus is personal truth, and Christians are not only summoned to see God in Jesus but also to know God in Jesus. Ultimately, we must learn to love God in Jesus.

You can't love an abstraction. You can't even love the idea of love. You can only truly love a person.

— Tom Wright, [Reflecting the Glory, p.7]