3 Questions about Jesus: Daniel So
This week Daniel So answers our 3 Questions About Jesus: Who is Jesus the Christ? What has he done? And why does it matter? (Previous installments: Jason Coker| Jesse Schroeder | Cari Jenkins | Jason Clark | Ben Sternke | JR Rozko | Amy Rozko | Steve Burnhope | Jason Evans).
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Jesus is the most remarkable person I’ve ever known.
In him, everything that has gone wrong is being put back together, in all the most important relationships we know — with God, others, ourselves, and the world. For many years, because of my disconnected sense of identity, I sought escape. The longer I have followed Jesus, though, the more I have come to see that he offers something better than escape: in him is genuine hope. That which is lost, broken, and dead is found, restored, and made alive in Jesus.
Before Jesus found me, I struggled with a sense of being “neither/nor” as an Asian American — neither fully accepted as “American” nor fitting in a “home” culture to which we never belonged. In, through, and because of Jesus, I am learning to see another way forward. “Both/and” people learn to navigate fluidly between worlds and cultures, with empathy for those at the margins. Jesus is not obliterating my ethnic identity; rather, he is restoring it and freeing me to embrace it for the sake of loving God and people more fully.
On one day recently, I sent my daughter off to her first day of school, prayed at a funeral service, and visited a family in the hospital who was celebrating the birth of their child. Life, death, new beginnings – everything all at once. Days like those remind me of why I love and follow Jesus: the world we long for, which requires the courage, compassion, and creativity he fills our lives with, is already here and is on its way.
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Together, Daniel and his wife Jeya pastor United, their church community in San Diego, where they seek to cultivate better expressions of God’s love for the world. Their daughter lights up their house with her beautiful singing and electrifying dance moves. Daniel also serves on the board of directors for Justice Ventures International, a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening ventures that promote justice around the world. As a freelance writer and graphic designer, Daniel explores the connections between faith, culture, and identity. For more, visit headsparks.com
