WWJD?

In His Steps: What would Jesus do? is an 1896 book by Charles Sheldon written on a weekly basis for his Sunday night services. The original 10 cent publication sold over 100,000 copies and the book has gone on to sell over 50 million. In the 1990s, the initials were picked up by a Christian movement to focus minds on the Christian imperative.

Why bring this happy clappy idiom up now, I hear you ask. Because I increasingly ask myself: WWJD? I am fortunate in having the opportunity to visit many old churches in Europe and view some truly beautiful frescoes while scratching my follicly challenged head to understand the meaning or even identify some of the saints venerated. As I stand in front of one of these ‘craven images’ such as the Dormition of Mary or the Danse Macabre, I have to ask: what would Jesus think?

More relevant perhaps, what would Jesus think now? Would he support the evangelical churches of America in their almost Messiah like admiration for a Presidential candidate with all the facets that could qualify him as the Antichrist? Would he bless the people of Israel in their response to the October 7th attacks? Would he endorse the decision of an Arizonan court to reinstate an 1864 law essentially banning all abortions? Would He bring peace to the Ukraine where supposedly sane men – why is it nearly always men – are talking about using nuclear weapons, only tactically of course? Closer to home, would he send immigrants to Rwanda? 

The honest answer: I don’t know, but I am certain that He would have a response. All of the above complex ‘complicated’ issues are close to insoluble for frail humans but Jesus made it simple. He embraced, metaphorically, a Samaritan woman. He told us to love our neighbour without any caveats. Our neighbour does not need to be straight, white or even Christian. He told us to love our God and to love our neighbour – simple; far too simple for politicians who find the easiest way to win is to divide and thus conquer; far too simple for those who would rather condemn than care; far too simple for those church leaders who prefer confrontation rather than getting on their knees and asking God for guidance and even, perhaps, just a little bit of forgiveness.

WWJD: 

• He would turn to the robber on one side, a man whose previous life would not have made him a prime candidate for heaven, and tell him he would be in paradise with Him that very night; 
• He would make sure his mother had a son and his favourite disciple a mother; 
• He would descend to hell and rise again to cook fish for his disciples on a beach in Galilee;
• He would remind us to be kind to foreigners for we are all foreigners somewhere, not just the Israelites in Egypt;
• He would call out the hypocrites and 
• He would ask his Father to forgive us for we know not what we do.

God wants to give us love, a love we thrust away because we are far too busy fighting each other to turn to Him and bask in His peace. God wants to forgive us but perhaps first we need to learn how to forgive ourselves; and WWJD: he would love us if we let Him.

Sheldon wrote a sequel called ‘Jesus is here” in which he characterised Jesus as “Just an average man, only different”. Perhaps we could all aspire to be “just an average person, only different”.

David Owen, Trustee