What Would Jesus What?

I have seen of late the co-opting of yet another Christian self-help mechanism. ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ has been the latest entry into the mass-marketed approach to Christianity whereby the body has tried to find a trendy way to encourage people to a more Godly life. As a rule, I am not a bumper-sticker mentality type of person, so this latest trend has passed me by as did “Let go and let God,” and others. Nonetheless, I think it encouraging that people truly consider Christ as a model and guide for daily life, and if such mechanisms can help others to keep this foremost in their minds as they go about their business, I can wholeheartedly support it. I, like most, need all the help I can get.

In Contrast to me, at least, the left in our society today seems wholly given over to the bumper-sticker mentality. If you see a car plastered with more than one sticker, you can be sure the person is of the more liberal persuasion. There is a mental quirk to their thinking that makes them feel the need to express their opinion on the back of their vehicle. This ‘in-your-face’ attitude seems to stem from a belief that if they put these mottoes on the back of their cars they will actually influence others. Either that, or they just want to attract attention to themselves and let everyone to know how they feel. Other than ruining their paint-job, and their cars’ aerodynamics, it seems to me they do little more than communicate the owners’ sense of desperation.

I have come up with a verb for this: Badging. I suppose we all badge ourselves to some degree or another. Christians have come up with the Fish-badge as a substitute for the bumper-sticker. Which leads me to a pet peeve of mine: Badge-wars. I realize for some people it is important to delineate their positions on the backs of their cars, hence the liberal sticker-shock approach, and the Christian, more subtle, fish-badge. What bothers me about this is the not-so-subtle Darwin-fish being eaten by the Truth-fish. I know this is in reaction to the co-opting of the Fish-badge by the left, with the Darwin-fish-with-feet-badge. The WWJD Fish-badge has been around for a while now. There seems to be an inherent antagonism, even in the subtle, passive-aggressive, Fish-badge approach. But I digress.

That the WWJD movement has been successful is evidenced by the burgeoning of similar copycats. A few minutes nosing about the internet reveals quite a list. What Would Jesus–do, think or do, really do, buy, eat, drink, brew, pasteurize, watch, wear, play, see, hate, give, listen to, rap, view, drive, test drive, tax, vote for, surf, download, blog, podcast, Twitter, wiki, major in, do at Harvard, do about copyright, do with a lawyer, do for a Klondike bar, do with his kidneys, want for Christmas, say about Christmas, say to those who defame His people, deconstruct, think of rendition, think of body piercing, stalk, shoot, kill, stuff and mount? Who Would Jesus—blame, bomb, torture, assassinate? Would Jesus—support war, drive a stick? How would Jesus call? Where Would Jesus Bank?

The beauty of America is the opportunity for offense. Much of the motivation for some of these copycats is to stick it in the face of Christians. We who believe in the love of God and the brotherhood of men, how could we condone (fill in the blank) when Jesus would obviously do, what? For many of these people Jesus has devolved into a political tool, or a rhetorical tool. A tool which some of them have no clue as to what He actually did do, and so it’s easy for them to manufacture a Jesus in their own image, a Jesus that would, of course, never drink a latte at Starbucks.

I think the one question which cries out for an answer is what would Jesus really do? (But to answer that, we have to understand what Jesus is about.). Jesus, according to the scripture, is coming back, one more time. That’s it, finito, done deal. He doesn’t come and go as we please. In fact, the roll of Christians is to be Him in His absence.

So if he were to do anything, he would have to be here, which means it’s the end of the age, and everyone is on their knees in awestruck realization, or it’s his first coming, as a man, and then what? What would Jesus do if he came to earth the first time, now? Because that’s the only real two options. If you’re curious about what He’ll do when he comes the second time, ask a Christian. Hopefully you’ll get an answer.

But what would happen if Jesus would be manifest to our age? What would He do? And how would we respond?

I think, mainly, He would disappoint. There wouldn’t be some great media event at his birth. As some Liberals smugly point out, His birth was under a cloud of illegitimacy, to an unwed mother and an older guy father. An obscure couple giving birth in a cowshed, and, probably, the angels would appear to some Palestinian day laborers. He would grow up in obscurity, and when He did start His ministry, it would only be some weird Jewish cult lead by an itinerant faith healer. There wouldn’t be any Christians, of course, since He hadn’t been here yet, so the world would be some polyglot of paganism.

The one hallmark of His ministry when he was here the first time was our complete misunderstanding of why He was here to begin with. Until the advent of the Holy Spirit, after Jesus went to be with the Father, the disciples were, to put it mildly, clueless. They were like most of us, and the WWJ__ crowd, mainly interested in ourselves and our own agendas. Jesus kept talking about this kingdom that He was going to establish, and all the guys were really excited. So much so that when a couple of them told their Mom about it, she got really excited too, and wanted her boys up there with the king. When Jesus talked about his death, it confused them, because they figured, what, with this new kingdom coming, He’d be around for a while. And being raised from the dead? Dude, what are you talking about?

But let’s take a look at some of the things that the WWJ__ mockers tend towards, shall we? One of the foci of their anger is the oppressiveness of, well, whatever powerful people they think are bad. Like, say, the government, which is, by the way, really weird, since this same group seems to think that Government is the answer to all the problems, but I digress. Let’s see, what was Jesus response, back then, to the oppressive governments He was subjected to, hmm?

Jesus lived in one of the fringe provinces of the early Roman Empire, not to be confused with the Roman Republic. Sandwiched between the progressive and forward thinking despots of Rome, and the continually evolving Persian/Parthian/Babylonian despots, Israel was a hotbed of revolt and desire for independence. The Roman system was based on conquering and subjection, and they had to constantly suppress those elements, all over the empire, which chafed against the ruling authority. This got so bad in Israel, that some 40 years after Jesus was crucified, Rome stomped the snot out of the Jews, and dispersed them to the nether regions of the globe. This was reversed some 1900 years later with the re-establishment of the Israeli nation.

Where was Jesus in all of this? He was supposed to be the Messiah, the Savior of the Jews. Was He out there on the front lines, picketing against the Roman Trade Organization? Was He shouting down the local Roman officials at town hall meetings and press conferences? Was He organizing protest marches? What did Jesus do against what could arguable be considered the most oppressive government in history?

“Consider the lilies of the field…” He was out in the booneys giving self-help talks to people who were so clueless they didn’t even bring food with them. He was telling stories to little children. He was hanging out with whores and IRS agents.

Even the people closest to Him, the disciples, were clearly disappointed in Him. They thought He was going to establish this ‘Kingdom’ right away, and they would be in on the ground floor of the new regime. Some historians even argue that the motivation of Judas, in betraying Jesus, was to push Him into action, to force Jesus’ hand and get him on the road to the throne.

What would Jesus do? Moreover, what would we do? We would also be disappointed in Him, because He would not fit into our agendas, and we would ultimately reject Him, every one of us. He was on a Path that not one of us could follow, and that had nothing to do with what we consider to be really important. We would see Him abandoning us in His own quest, and so we would abandon Him. Even the women at the foot of the cross must have had a flutter in their hearts when He was mocked, and asked, ‘Why don’t you save yourself?’ The thought must have flashed through their minds, ‘Yes, He will come down!’

But our agenda isn’t Jesus’ agenda, which is really the message of the WWJD movement. It is not asking how Jesus would be like us, but how can we be more like Jesus. In stark contrast is the WWJ__ movement, which essentially presupposes Jesus to already be in concert with the promulgator of the latest version.

There are those in the WWJ__ crowd who are Christians, though. And I think their agenda is fairly consistent with the WWJD-ers. They are merely trying to apply the idea to a specific area. They are trying to encourage Christians to look at their interaction with reality in terms of how Jesus interacted. It points back to Jesus as the author and completer of our faith.

The secularists are a different breed altogether. They point to themselves as the authority on Jesus. Their view of reality is held as the standard, and the response of Jesus is shaped by their wisdom. For them, Jesus is the tool they wield to further their cause, He is a known quantity they can employ to further their movement. He is a battering ram, destroying the façade which covers the hypocrisy of Christianity, to tear down oppression in government, in society, in institutions and corporations, whatever.

For Christians, Jesus is the savior for which all other things are laid down. He is a knowable person, who, as the follower understands more about Him, can guide them in love in all situations. He is the cornerstone of their faith, and is about tearing down the walls of our sin, breaking the chains of death which are the results of our own selfish desires.

When the centurion came to Jesus to get his servant healed, Jesus didn’t tell him to stop being a soldier in the army of the oppressor. He marveled at the soldier’s faith, and healed his servant from afar. When Jesus shared a meal with the tax gatherer, He didn’t tell the man to quit his job supplying the empire with money. He never told slaves to rebel against their masters. He never agitated for throwing off the yoke of Roman subjugation. Ultimately He was obedient to His Father’s plan, submitting to man’s capricious rule, to the death penalty, cruel and quite usual for that time and place. What an awful disappointment.

The things which were foremost on people’s minds at the time, Jesus blew off. “The poor you will always have with you.” What? “You will have trouble in this world.” Huh? “I came not to send peace, but a sword.” Whoa, dude. “You can have no part in me if you do not drink my blood and eat my flesh.” Is this Hannibal Lector?

Jesus ignored the everyday concerns of our urgency, looked us in they eye, knowing our hearts, and said, “I love you.” We screamed and yelled, “What about the WTO?” while He sat before the judge, silent. All His followers fell away. All of us, at some juncture, reject Him. When we sin, we reject Him. The beauty is that what He did do, brings us back from disaster, from condemnation, from punishment.

The difference is that Christians understand that the root problem in the world is sin. They recognize that it’s not what Jesus would do, but what He did do that truly matters. The message to the world is, “What Did Jesus Do?” And the answer to that question is the beginning of the understanding of what we should do in every situation we encounter.