“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” – Matthew 16:15

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 15, 2017): Matthew 16

On September 13, 2009, at the MTV Video Music Awards, the award for Best Female Video went to Taylor Swift for her song “You Belong to Me.“ It was an evening that few watching the award show are going to forget easily. Swift took the stage to accept the award, and then Kanye West took the stage, grabbing the mic from Taylor, to insert his commentary into the award. His words are infamous. “Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you and I’mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!” The crowd booed Kanye while some seemed to try to cheer on Taylor, but by the time that Kanye had handed the mic back to Taylor, her time was up.

No one was overly impressed with West. President Obama had some unkind words for the singer, as did Katy Perry tweeting “Kanye, It’s like you stepped on a kitten.” Al Roker would later suggest that Kanye West needed to “re-evaluate his place in the universe.” For the night, the world seemed to sympathize with Taylor and Kanye was stuck wearing the proverbial “Black Hat.”

Who do people say that you are?  Or maybe the better question might be who do you want people to say that you are?  In a lot of ways, this is the real question of our lives.  In the Taylor Swift/Kanye West debacle, the bottom line of the whole thing was who people were saying that the principal characters in the story were.  Did Beyoncé make an incredible video – yes.  But at some point, someone chose Taylor’s video for the award.  Both had tried hard, and Kanye disagreed with the results.  In Kanye’s mind, someone made a mistake – and being who he is, he told the world what it was he thought.  This shouldn’t have been much of a surprise – it informs our opinion of who he is and confirmed who we believed him to be.

At some point, we have to make decisions in our lives that will influence how people see us. Yeah, I have made a lot of wrong decisions – but they were my decisions – and I (and Kanye) have to be responsible for the wrong choices that we make.  And how people perceive us will influence what it is that we can do in their presence.  If people think I am a fantastic guitarist (I’m not), then I will probably be asked to play guitar.  If it is a speaker, I will be asked to speak.  If I am seen as a fantastic sanitation worker – well, you know, I will be the one taking out what you have thrown away.

It is interesting to me that it was this question that Jesus asked.  Who is it that you say that I am? The answer effected what it was that the disciples would allow Jesus to do in their midst. Our answer to the question will change what it is that we will let him do in our midst. If we believe that he is a great teacher, then we will let him teach.  If we believe that he is the great healer, then we will allow him to heal.  If we believe that he is the Christ, then we will allow him to lead – no matter the circumstances.

So – what is your answer to the question?  Who is it that you say that he is? Or maybe, who do you need him to be.  Let him be precisely that. 

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Mark 8