What would Jesus do?

Did you wear a WWJD bracelet in the 1990s?

With its origins in sermons by the 15th century German-Dutch theologian Thomas à Kempis and the 19th century Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon, and the 1896 novel In His Steps by Charles Sheldon, WWJD stands for “What would Jesus do?”

The bracelets were introduced by a church youth leader who wanted to remind the teenagers about the importance of following Jesus. They became a worldwide phenomenon.

As important as WWJD is, there is an equally important question to ask: WWYD? What will you do? The scriptures are clear about what we are to do. The foundation of the Judeo-Christian tradition teaches in Deuteronomy, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”

The book of Leviticus instructs, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus combined these two commandments in his answer to the scribe who asked, “Which commandment is the first of all?”

Pretty much all of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount is a directive about what we should do. The question is, will we?

In a 2023 interview, Rev. Russell Moore, former president of the public policy division of the Southern Baptist Convention and now editor-in-chief of The Christian Century, told of many pastors who, having quoted from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, were confronted by parishioners asking, “Where did you get those liberal talking points?” When pastors would say, “I am literally quoting Jesus,” they would often hear something like, “Yes, but that doesn’t work anymore. That’s weak.”

We saw that same kind of backlash in the response to Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of the Diocese of Washington, during her sermon at the Service of Prayer for the Nation on the day after the presidential inauguration. Although she preached primarily from the Sermon on the Mount in her message about unity, she was labeled as a radical leftist. One U.S. congressman called for her to be deported. The U.S. House of Representatives drafted legislation condemning her sermon. In today’s bitter political climate, it is all the harder to do the right thing, to do what Jesus would do, to do what is required of us. When you are rejected for citing scripture, living out the mandates of scripture becomes even more challenging. And, yet, the scriptures repeatedly call us to live according to the words of the prophet Micah, “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

The Pirkei Avot, a collection of Jewish Rabbinic ethical teachings, says, “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly now. Love mercy now. Walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neitherare you free to abandon it.”

WWYD?

Philip Gladden is a retired minister who lives in Wallace.