Who are you?

A couple of years ago, I read: Jesus Centered Youth Ministry. In it,Rick Lawrence speaks of a time in his life when he was looking hard at the way he was following Jesus. He says, "Had I so taken Jesus for granted in my life that I'd essentially stopped relating with Him as He really is? Even more, had I so "understood" Jesus that the pursuit of Him was far less interesting to me than the pursuit of Christian relationships or postmodern worship or artistic expressions of the Christian life or culturally relevant approaches to Bible Study?"

At that point, he took time to focus on three Jesus-centered questions:
1. Who do I say Jesus is? Jesus asked His disciples this question after one of His huge public gatherings. It was preceded by a safer one for the disciples: "Who do people say that I am?" Jesus, ever shrewd, tossed them an easy pitch to swing at before He brought the heat.
2. Who does Jesus say I am? After Peter answered the first question by telling Jesus He was the Christ, the son of the living God," Jesus fired back with His own answer to Peter's unasked question: "And you are Peter, whose real name is the Rock."
3. Who do I say I am? After Peter had betrayed Jesus, his best friend he had to answer the most important question in his life: "Am I the fake, duplicitous little man my betrayal is telling me I am or am I the Rock Jesus told me I am?" You can see Peter's answer in the first two chapters of Acts as he stands before the crowds that only days before had demanded Jesus' life, and he ROCKS them.

Peter didn't believe the lie...he believed Jesus. Who does Jesus say you are?