What would Jesus do?
by Brian Snider
reprinted with kind permission.
Why do you wear a WWJD bracelet? Is it because you really want to do what Jesus would do?
If so, please keep in mind that doing what Jesus would do may not produce the results you expect. Instead of being looked upon with admiration as someone who is an outstanding example of righteousness, you will, with all certainty, become a pariah and an outcast in this world, especially among your religious friends.
"If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." John 15:19
The answer to what Jesus would do will not be found by looking at a wrist reminder, but will be found in the pages of scripture and through the influence of the Holy Spirit. From the scriptures, you should be able to discern these simple facts about living life as Jesus would live.
First of all, Jesus would not participate in a marketing fad that reduces the severity of God to just another trinket. Like popular 'christian' t-shirts that mimic beer slogans - "This Blood's For You" - these bracelets are surely an offense to a Holy God. If you really want to do what Jesus would do, take your WWJD bracelet off immediately and repent of falling prey to such worldly foolishness.
"(He).....was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Hebrews 4:15
If you really want to do what Jesus would do, live a sinless life....cancel your subscription to cable TV and the filthy magazines that come into your home. It's doubtful Jesus would take much pleasure in the offerings from Hollywood so stay out of the theater and the movie rental store.
Spend long hours in fasting, prayer and tears for a lost and deceived generation. Pray especially for those who claim to be Christian and yet are self-deceived and are on the road to an eternal hell.
"Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" Matthew 23:33
Speak the truth, even though the world (especially the religious world) will hate you bitterly for it. Seminaries and churches today are apostate - they ordain women, teach ungodly doctrines like evolution, tolerate and encourage homosexuality and promote fellowship with such blasphemous systems as the Roman Catholic Church. Cry out against these evils.
Condemn in the strongest language anyone who transgresses the pure word of God. Be prepared to face persecution and to die for your preaching. Be sure that religious people will be responsible for your death, though they will deny that they seek to kill you.
"For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." John 12:43
Be especially hard on preachers who are men-pleasers, more concerned about public opinion than preaching God's unvarnished truth. Do not fear men, even those who appear to be something by human standards, but rather fear God.
"He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." John 12:48
The Promise Keepers and similar ecumenical organizations would have Christians believe that fellowship is more important than doctrine. Warn those who participate in this type of wickedness that God demands strict obedience to "every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God," even if you're standing alone. In fact, you will be.
Stand up for the gospel, not by wearing a bracelet, but by preaching on street corners and in public. Create controversy everywhere you go by warning men of the imminent judgment of God and the necessity of repentance.
"Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not." Matthew 25:41-43
Renounce the passing pleasures of this world and give your life wholly for others.
Condemn so-called Christian atheletes who claim to follow Jesus and yet blaspheme his name by spending their Lord's day earning wealth and glory for themselves. Also condemn Christians who can't wait to get home from the church house to spend the day wallowing in major league filth. Staring goggle-eyed at a program full of gutter talk, half-naked women and beer commercials is definitely not something Jesus would waste his Sundays on.
"And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought...." Luke 19:46
Stand in front of the local Christian bookstore and cry out against them for claiming to be "a ministry" yet peddling everything from ungodly "christian rock" to books that teach you how to better pray to Mary. Warn those shopping there of being deceived by the philosophies and vain deceits of men. (Colossians 2:8)
Remind everyone you know that the final generation on earth will be as the days of Noah, when only one family was saved. False prophets, false religion and false signs and wonders will be the hallmark of these days. Of course, no one you warn will believe that they are in danger of being deceived, which will only serve to confirm that these are the days he warned us about. Instead of the biblical warnings of apostasy, people today much prefer the human teaching that we are in the midst of a "last-days revival." The Bible also reminds us that these will be days of itching ears.
Go where Jesus would go. It's doubtful Jesus would spend much time huddled in a Sunday School classroom with those who look, dress and act exactly like him. Instead, he'd probably be found among the poor and downcast - those overlooked by middle class churches in the suburbs. He wouldn't be very welcome, or even recognized, by most evangelical churches, because his teachings and methods would be so opposed to their own.
Jesus would surely frequent nursing homes, homeless shelters, hospitals and jails. Rich people (America's middle class) are not a very receptive market for the message "take up your cross and follow me." In the gospels, the Savior went to those who most needed to hear the message of God's redemption and forgiveness of sins. The same would be true today.
"Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets." Luke 6:26
Have the kind of friends Jesus would have. Not religious leaders, popular
preachers or those who write Christian bestsellers, but those who love truth so
much they'd forsake everything this world counts dear to be included in God's
eternal kingdom.
We could go further, but this should serve to illustrate the hypocrisy of those who would ask the question "What Would Jesus Do?" as if they were willing or able to provide a correct response.
So many people today imagine Jesus as the greatest do-gooder of all time. They miss the point! Jesus was GOD, wholly unlike you and me. Few mortals, it seems, have any concept of the life Jesus lived, nor are they able to translate his deeds and actions to today.
Jesus was an outcast among the religious elite. He was despised, hated and murdered by them. Why can't Christians understand that the intervening 2,000 years have not served to change the makeup of the religion of man. Were Jesus alive today, the spiritual offspring of the pharisees (the religious elite of Christianity) would hate and malign Jesus just as the Jews did 20 centuries ago.
If you really want to live out the answer to the question, "What Would Jesus Do?", you will become as those who were closest to him... "we are made as the filth of the world, [and are] the offscouring of all things unto this day." 1 Cor. 4:13
Rather than asking the question "What Would Jesus Do?," a better question for most people to ask themselves would be: "What Would Jesus Have ME Do?"
"Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." John 6:28-29
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