Jesus Christ is probably the most popular person that ever lived, but I'd say Adolph Hitler and Brittney Spears are pretty close. I suppose that an analogy would be: Jesus Christ is to homosapien as Wal-Mart is to shopping center. Some interesting search numbers from Google'ing the following phrases: "I hate Jesus" -- 5,990,000 "I love Jesus" -- 7,790,000 "I hate Walmart" -- 2,120,000 "I love Walmart" -- 5,920,000 I'm sure these numbers do not represent the actual number of people that hate/love Jesus and Wal-Mart. The significance of these numbers is to show that any popular figure -- whether it be a person, a shopping center, a Tickle-me-Elmo toy, or whatever -- is going to be loved and hated at the same time. Woe it is to be popular. Popularity of a figure is the result of an aggregate sum of many individuals whom each find that the figure matters to them first. Then those individuals learn enough about the subject until they form opinions that lead to decisions. These decisions usually involve sharing what they have learned or not sharing at all. In other words, in order for something to gain popularity people have to first care, then they investigate, and finally they share. How do movies become popular? Interests are peaked, the movie is watched, and the word spreads. Still that doesn't explain what exactly makes it so popular. So then we come back to the question -- why is Jesus so popular? In order to understand what makes something popular, I think it's important to understand why it is loved and why it is hated, and if it's a person then what do they say and do that makes them so popular? There could be hundreds of books that could be written about this subject, so I'll just keep it relatively short and try to summarize answers from my personal life. Why does Jesus peak my interest? I believe that the intricacies of the universe is enough evidence in itself to reveal that it was created by a supreme being, namely God. I've heard many explanations from different sides, and creation is the only one that makes sense to me. I also believe that everything is created for a purpose, and that everything happens for a reason. Jesus claims to be the son of God, performed miraculous acts, and taught many life lessons for all. Therefore, I decided to find out more about Him. Why do I think people turn away from Jesus? I think the main reason for me is that Jesus is misrepresented. People who call themselves "Christians" are supposed to be followers of Jesus, but I believe many often misrepresent who He is. On the extreme cases, there are people who stand in the streets trying to scare people into believing -- "Believe or burn in eternal damnation!". There are gay bashers who condemn homosexuals, self-righteous Christians who strut around in "holier-than-thou" and judgemental attitudes, blatant hyprocrites who say one thing and do another, gossipers in the church, and the closed-minded "I'm right, you're wrong" Christians -- the list goes on. A second reason is perhaps that it is more comfortable to live a God-less life. There are too many "restrictions" of do's and do not's that come with following a God that limit the way people want to live their lives. I definitely fell in this category for a while, but slowly realized that what I wanted were mostly short-term, temporary gains that were usually unhealthy and self-destructive. I realized the "do's" and "dont's" that come with following God hardly ever result in short-term gains, but always end in long-term gains. I relate these spiritual to-do's to physical to-do's. Gotta eat, sleep, and exercise right to stay physically healthy. Gotta follow Jesus to stay spiritually healthy. A third reason why I believe people are turned away is that they feel that they aren't good enough for God -- that God would not be for them. They feel so far that there's no chance of redemption and no reason for God to love them. I learned that this presumption is false. Why do I love Jesus? At first, I questioned His existence, but many historical sources and verify His presence on Earth. Secondly, I didn't really understand the purpose of His life. The Bible says He came as a savior, to die for us and wash away our sins, but I didn't understand what that really meant. As I started to investigate more, I began to learn what love, grace, and redemption was really about. I started to see how selfish I was and how my sins were hurting myself and others. I ultimately needed saving from myself, which I knew is already offered on the cross for everyone in the world. It also occurred to me that God meets people where they are in their lives. Every leader has to meet a new follower where they are. A drum teacher can't expect to teach someone that knows nothing about drums to play without starting at the student's level. God met us at our level in the form of a human (Jesus Christ) to identify with us, to be tempted like us, to teach us the way to true happiness, and to offer redemption to his people. Although I still recognize that I'm grossly flawed, I feel more at peace with myself knowing that God has unconditional love for me, and that I am forgiven through having a relationship with Him through Christ. This growing relationship has taught me to be more patient, more understanding, less selfish, more open-minded, more accepting of others, and less anxious. Do I still make mistakes? Definitely. Do I still have problems come my way? Of course. Am I perfect? Definitely not. Have I grown? Yes. I will always be in the investigation stage because getting to know someone is an endless journey, but I've learned enough to make a decision, and that is to follow Him. | 
