What's the Center?

In the realm of politics a "centrist" is one who doesn't fit neatly in one party or the other. They are a middle ground sort and find that they agree and disagree with bits of both ideologies. In the church there is a debate about what the center of the faith ought to be. Some argue for the Scriptures while others argue for Christ. What is the center?It is interesting isn't it? If we place the Scriptures over and above Jesus then are we really being faithful to Jesus? Are we deifying the Scriptures? Some have said that in the evangelical church the trinity is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Bible. 

On the other hand, if we set the Scriptures on the outside of things then what do we have? A few years ago there was a burgeoning Christian subculture called "Emergent" and it offered some really helpful critiques of mainstream evangelicalism. They were very Jesus centered and talked about how the Scriptures were one voice in the discussion. In other traditions Christians are not encouraged to read or study the Bible, that's better left to the clergy. 

What do we do with this? Is Jesus the center or is the Scripture the center? What is the center?

John 1 is really helpful in untangling this, 

The Word was first, the Word present to God, God present to the Word. The Word was God, in readiness for God from day one.

Everything was created through him; nothing-not one thing!-came into being without him. What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out.

The word translated as "Word" is the Greek word "logos". The concept of the logos in the Greek mind was full of meaning. It was weighted and heavy.  It was the basis of knowledge and reason. Here, John personifies the logos and places it at the foundation of creation. It was pre-existent with God the Father.

Later in the chapter John says,

The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.

This is a remarkable statement. He is saying that Jesus is the logos. Jesus is the Word. This does not mean that the Scriptures = the logos. So, we can't go too far with this connection. However, it does inform us as to how we approach the issue of the "center".

Hebrews 1 says,

Going through a long line of prophets, God has been addressing our ancestors in different ways for centuries. Recently he spoke to us directly through his Son. By his Son, God created the world in the beginning, and it will all belong to the Son at the end.

The author to the Hebrews says that Jesus is the ultimate self-expression of God to us.  What's the center? Is it Jesus or the Scriptures?

The answer is, "yes". Jesus is the center but the Scriptures reveal Jesus to us. So, we can't have one at the center without the other. We must properly place them both at the center of our faith because apart from the Scriptures displaying Jesus for us we will merely create him in our own image. When this happens we place ourselves at the center.