WWJD-Part 1

“And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine:”  Matthew 7:28

Jesus had just ended His Sermon on the Mount with a warning of building one’s life upon anything other than His words of wisdom and truth.  A few years ago there was a phrase made popular in Christian circles, particularly among young people which stated “What Would Jesus Do?”  It was shortened to “WWJD” and bracelets and other novelty items were made with “WWJD” imprinted on them as a reminder to stop and think what Jesus would do in a given situation.  The popularity of “WWJD” has since diminished like most other fads, Christian or secular.  Unfortunately for many all it was, was a fad.  Many who wore the “WWJD” bracelet didn’t have a clue to what Jesus would do because they did not heed Jesus’ words and apply them to their lives.  To know what Jesus would do requires the knowledge of what Jesus said and then making application of His words to our daily lives.

We should first ask the question “What did Jesus say?”  If we are students of the Bible, and we have diligently studied Jesus’ words, then we must examine our own actions and motives to verify that we are indeed doing what Jesus said.  Oswald Chambers wrote, “As we concentrate on what He said, we can stake our immortal souls upon His words.  It is a question of spiritual concentration, not of sentimental consecration”.  We must focus our thoughts and efforts upon Jesus’ words so that living them out becomes as natural as breathing.  A superficially emotional devotion cannot produce a long-lasting determination to obey the Lord in every area of our lives.  To be half-hearted in doing the will of God is like being on a roller coaster ride, up and then down, up and then down, and never being able to progress to the next level in spiritual maturity.  Christian growth requires hearing and doing what Jesus says.

In I Corinthians 3, Paul recognized that the Christians at Corinth were still “babes in Christ” because they had not been doing what Jesus said.  Paul was frustrated with them because they were stagnant in spiritual growth and were not able to progress in Christian maturity.  He told them, “I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able”.  To hear Jesus’ words and then obey even in the trivial, seemingly insignificant matters more than likely will cause one to be labeled “a fanatic”.  Webster’s Dictionary defines a “fanatic” as one who is “excessively and unreasonably enthusiastic; overly zealous”.  The world may also describe Christians as “peculiar” in the sense of being strange or weird.  Even scripture calls Christians “peculiar”, but the meaning is quite different from its common usage today.  We know that the meanings of words change over time.  Paul wrote to Titus (2:14) that Christ desires to redeem and “purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works”.  The term “peculiar” is translated from the Greek “periousios” which means “being beyond” or “being special”.  I like that.  I like being thought of as “special” to Christ.

If the world desires to call a Christian a “fanatic” or a “peculiar” person because of his or her determined desire to follow Christ and obey His word, then they have paid the Christian a huge compliment whether they realize it or not.  I wrote in a previous blog that one time someone told me that I was “too Christian”.  I don’t know how that person meant it, but I took it as a compliment.  But before I or any other believer begins to get a little “proud” of our efforts at obedience to Christ, I remembered years ago something that my uncle said.  He was teaching Sunday School, and the lesson was on Romans 12.  He said, as a Christian, if you are faithful to attend church, you give generously to support the work of the church, you help others, and you are completely devoted to Christ, then you have only done your “reasonable service”.  The world has no problem with being fanatical about a sports team or some other eternally insignificant pursuit.  These worldly past times and endeavors, which are not wrong when kept in a proper perspective, can become ways by which people try to fill the void in their lives that only a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ can fill.  The names that the world calls us is really not important.  What is important in the outcome is to hear Jesus say to us, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).

Next time:  WWJD-Part 2