Jesus never closes a mind: he opens it. Jesus is never threatened by a question: he welcomes it. He knows all questions will ultimately end up with him, so fire away!

Jesus is the answer, and when he walks through a question, he always leaves the door open so anyone can get to it from either side. We want to shut the door (once we’ve passed through it, of course). Bad idea. Leave the door open.

For many Christians, the experience of truth has been a narrowing one, and in one sense this is right. All those questions – religions, sins, frustrations, explorations – finally ended up with Jesus. Like following the inside of a cone, all experiences funneled to a point, and at that point was Jesus on the cross for my sin.

The error, however, is when we stop there and move no further. For our experience of truth to grow, we must move through the cross back out into the same reality – the same questions, the same world – with a different perspective.

It’s like an hourglass with the cross at the center. All my pre-conversion experiences narrowed me toward a personal encounter with Christ; but once through, he leads me back out into the world I came from where the lines now, instead of converging, open up into an ever-widening reality. The sands of truth always move this way – in toward the center and out again.

Yes, Jesus is the answer, and it’s precisely because he is the answer that we can venture out. Because he is Lord of all, we can walk into “all” and find him Lord. This is not only a privilege, it’s a mandate. It’s what we are called to do in the world.