What will jesus do

If the end is near, why give so much sage counsel? If human life is nearly over, why preach in such detail the right way to live? Since both kinds of literature—apocalyptic hysterics and stoic sayings—can be found all over the period, perhaps they were merely wrenched together.

The leaders of the African-American community before the civil-rights era, for instance, had to be both prophets and political agitators to an oppressed and persecuted people in a way not unlike that of the real Jesus and all the other forgotten zealots and rabbis whom the first-century Jewish historian Josephus names and sighs over.

They, too, tended to oscillate between the comforting and the catastrophic. Malcolm X was the very model of a modern apocalyptic prophet-politician, unambiguously preaching violence and a doctrine of millennial revenge, all fuelled by a set of cult beliefs—a hovering U. But Malcolm was also a community builder, a moral reformer genuinely distraught over the sexual sins of his leader , who refused to carry weapons, and who ended, within the constraints of his faith, as some kind of universalist.

When he was martyred, he was called a prophet of hate; within three decades of his death—about the time that separates the Gospels from Jesus—he could be the cover subject of a liberal humanist magazine like this one. As the Bacchae knew, we always tear our Gods to bits, and eat the bits we like. Certain kinds of truths are convincing only in a narrative. Anyone watching Hamlet will find his behavior completely understandable—O.

It has the hypnotic flow of dramatic movement. The story works. But, as a proposition under scrutiny, it makes intolerable demands on logic. If Jesus is truly one with God, in what sense could he suffer doubt, fear, exasperation, pain, horror, and so on? A lamb whose throat is not cut and does not bleed is not really much of an offering. None of this is very troubling if one has a pagan idea of divinity: the Son of God might then be half human and half divine, suffering and triumphing and working out his heroic destiny in the half-mortal way of Hercules, for instance.

If God he was—not some Hindu-ish avatar or offspring of God, but actually one with God—then God once was born and had dirty diapers and took naps. The longer you think about it, the more astounding, or absurd, it becomes.

To be really believed at all, it can only be told again. So the long history of the early Church councils that tried to make the tales into a theology is, in a way, a history of coming out of the movie confused, and turning to someone else to ask what just happened. Jenkins explains what was at stake in the seemingly wacky wars over the Arian heresy—the question of whether Jesus the Son shared an essence with God the Father or merely a substance—which consumed the Western world through the second and third centuries.

Was Jesus one with God in the sense that, say, Sean Connery is one with Daniel Craig, different faces of a single role, or in the sense that James Bond is one with Ian Fleming, each so dependent on the other that one cannot talk about the creation apart from its author? The passion with which people argued over apparently trivial word choices was, Jenkins explains, not a sign that they were specially sensitive to theology.

People argued that way because they were part of social institutions—cities, schools, clans, networks—in which words are banners and pennants: who pledged to whom was inseparable from who said what in what words. There are other potential problems with the simple-sounding question. Can we really know WJWD? The life of a first century Judean carpenter, let alone messiah, is hard to compare to that lived by western teenagers today.

But there may be a time when it's exactly the right thing for you to do. That bracelet will mislead you," Gempf suggests.

Moreover, the Bible offers very little detail about Jesus's daily life when he wasn't preaching or performing miracles. And what little it does tell us defies all expectations - hanging around with prostitutes and trashing the temple. Is that the kind of behaviour church youth leaders want to encourage? Sarah Wynter, editor of Youthwork magazine, suggests that the question isn't the whole point of the wristband anyway.

But wearing a wristband is something they feel they can do to make some kind of a stand. Jesus Himself asked His disciples this very same question. Because He knew that what they believed about Him would have a significant bearing on how they would live their lives for Him see Matthew Likewise, if we believe Jesus for who He claims to be God incarnate -- John and for what He did on Earth died for our sins -- John , then we can truly accept Him as our Lord and Savior.

He will then come into our life and reveal Himself to us in Spirit, allowing us to genuinely ask the question "What would Jesus do? The question "What would Jesus do? Learn about Jesus and pursue a life-changing relationship with Him that will bring everlasting joy, peace and purpose into your life!

Yes, I want to follow Jesus. I am a follower of Jesus. I still have questions. God , the Father, sent His only Son to satisfy that judgment for those who believe in Him. Jesus , the creator and eternal Son of God, who lived a sinless life, loves us so much that He died for our sins, taking the punishment that we deserve, was buried , and rose from the dead according to the Bible.

Soon, Tinklenberg's idea caught on with other churches, and moved into the mainstream. The acronym has since been printed on T-shirts, mugs and banners, and has even been listed as an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Several film projects were directly connected to Sheldon's messages. Like Garrett Sheldon's version of the original, these gave a modern-day application to the Reverend's ideas. A more complete way of saying the phrase might be, "In light of all that I know about Jesus' character and commands, how would He direct me to respond in this situation?

As with Janie Tinklenberg's youth group, the phrase serves as a reminder not to respond impulsively. It's a tool we can use to stop, think, and pray about a situation before we react. We're not perfect like Jesus is, but we can follow His perfect ways. Ideally, if we decide to do what Jesus would do, we'll show more wisdom and experience more peace, whatever the outcome is.

Planning to let the WWJD phrase be our guide is often not the easy path to take. In fact, we need to ask ourselves two further questions before moving forward:. The New Testament abounds with passages that summon us to imitate Jesus.

The Apostle Paul considered it to be a believer's highest calling, and directly addressed the principle throughout his letters to churches. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus" Philippians It sounds simplistic, but to be able to answer the WWJD question correctly, we have to be familiar with what Jesus did during His life and ministry.

Reading and studying the four Gospels is the perfect first step toward responding like Jesus. Jesus often reminded the disciples that He was the Son of God, and that "whatever the Father does the Son also does" John God's commands in the Old Testament were the basis for Jesus' teachings in the Gospels - quoting related passages gave context to His listeners.