When I was a freshman in high school I told my parents about my aspirations to be a minister. My mother disapproved but still felt the need to offer me some guidance. Over the years this guidance took many strange forms, including a key chain. The key change was a bizarre piece of “spiritual guidance” for two reasons: first I did not have any keys, second, it had only the letters “WWJD”
Of course I came to find out the keychain suggested the question “What would Jesus Do?” I wasn’t really sure what the question was supposed to do. I was always under the impression that the general Christian idea was to be as similar to Jesus as possible, or at least do what he said.
All this is well and good, but there is a little problem. See, everyone is under the impression Jesus was all sunshine and salvation. We always talk about Jesus as our kind and loving savior, always patient, the prince of peace.
In several places in the bible we can see Jesus being a relative badass. I am of course not finding fault with Jesus Christ (never a good idea since that one guy), but perhaps the path of our savior was not quite as peaceful as we tend to think
The Gospel of Matthew has a particularly contradictory account of Jesus.
NOTE: While some of you may not be in the moods to read a bible passages, give these a try (Jesus uses an M16 to take out some Pharisees…its pretty BA)
12And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,13And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
34 ‘Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. 37Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
Ok so I lied about the M16, but hear me out. Jesus is still pretty in your face for a Prince of Peace. He goes into a temple and not only yells at everyone, but kicks them out, throws them out of their seats and wrecks up the place. Today he would probably be charged with disturbing the peace (ironically), vandalism, and possibly assault.
Earlier in Matthew Jesus made clear that he is not necessarily all about peace. He has come deliberately to shake things up. He has every intention of turning the world upside down.
Again, I am not finding fault with Christ, but maybe it is not the best idea to go though life planning to act like him. We can’t all go around messing with churches because we don’t like the way they do things (although some people do that anyway).
My point here is that Jesus, the Son of God, or God himself, whatever you want to call him but he’s a big deal. Jesus has authority that none of us do. To presume it is acceptable for us to act like Jesus is to be rather arrogant. To presume that we have the authority to lead others to salvation also seems pretty self-righteous. Like Jesus says, if the blind lead the blind both will surely fall into a ditch.
So if we are going to follow Christ we should probably use some digression. Recognize where it is ok to act like Christ and where we do not have that authority. But in The Bible Jesus makes it pretty clear what we should do and what we shouldn’t do; he comes right out and says it. So rather than trying to model ourselves after Jesus (an impossible task) we should have some humility remember what Jesus has told us to do. Maybe if we can do that we can finally stop being judgmental of others and there would be a little more peace to go around.
Filed under: Christianity, Jesus Christ, Philosophy, Religion | Tagged: Authority of Christ, BA, Bad ass, Gospel, Jesus Christ, Judgment, M16, Matthew, Peace, Prince of Peace, Son of God, Sword, Temple, What Would Jesus Do, WWJD
When I think back to my days as a child (like I every really grow up) I was given a “WWJD” bracelet and was never told what it meant. Apparently in elementary school your suppose to know what the acronym means. Anyways, When I found out that my pretty bracelet was actually asking me a question. “What would Jesus Do?” I didn’t really know. I figured well he must have been a good guy since all these people seem to like him so much. So I guess I’ll just be nice to people.
But as I got older and I learned about those passages you referred to I suddenly had a hole new view of this Jesus guy. It really gave me allot more respect for him. Knowing that he caused a scene, made and up roar to get something done. I realize saying my bedtime prayer at night wasn’t really going to get the job done. Praying is grand don’t get me wrong. But sometimes praying isn’t going to do it. Action is sometimes necessary. Making a scene is sometime the only way for things to become real to other people.
I have been to many churches in my life everything from Southern Baptist to Unitarian and it’s amazing how maybe different ways people interpret the bible. Some dance, sing, run around, and speak in tongues. While others sit quietly listen to the sermon and go home.
I have found that in churches and pretty much every other area of the world. Making a scene is discouraged and even becomes a reason for dismissal from an organization that was suppose to be your support system. Because it isn’t the Godly thing to do. But as we can plainly see acting out is exactly the Godly thing to do. Now obviously I don’t mean you can just pick a fight with someone cause they took your cookie. But civil acts of disobedience is sometimes a good thing. ie. Petitions, rallies, etc…
Then theres the other side of the story.
Who’s to say how a person should act or speak? There is only one being that can tell you how you should live and it’s Jesus.And even Jesus lets us screw up and make mistakes cause that’s the only way your going to know that it was wrong. That’s why he has promised to forgive all your Sin’s. Sin happens. Everyone sin’s every day if they like it or not. So who’s to say what we did was wrong? Not some guy walking down the street trying to sell you your salvation, or even your mister or pastor whatever the case may be.
I believe that you should take thier views on what Jesus (or God or whatever you what to call him/her/it) thinks you should do then mold that all together and find whatever is best for you. Not what someone else says is right. Only you can make the choices.. God only gives you the strength and knowledge to make your decision. I think allot of people forget that part. God only shows you the way.. your the one to choice the path that’s right for you.
Earlier in Matthew Jesus made clear that he is not necessarily all about peace. He has come deliberately to shake things up. He has every intention of turning the world upside down.
That’s exactly what he came to do. He preached a kind of “scandalous grace”. He hung out with the undesirables of society. He taught about the evils of materialism.
When he preached “turn the other cheek”, he was talking about forcing the other person to treat you as an equal.
While, yes, there will always be the question of authority, I think Paul in Ephesians said it well when he said we are to “imitate Christ”… and yes, I do think that that does include calling out churches that are perverting Christ’s message….my beef in particular is with those who preach a “prosperity gospel.”
We can lead others to salvation, depending on exactly what you mean. Sharing our faith, our story with others can open their hearts to the message of Christ. The important thing, though, is to do it in love. “Turn or Burn” and the Phelps’ of the world have it so wrong…. You can be confrontational without being an ass.
I look forward to more of your work…
Christian
Question: In Matthew 10, Jesus is quoted as saying, “… and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” What cross is he referring to, exactly? I ask because if one reads it as the cross that became the symbol of Christianity, then there may be a bit of a problem. Correct me if I’m wrong here, but didn’t the cross become that symbol because of the crucifixion? If so, then isn’t the then living, breathing Jesus referring to a symbol that does not yet exist? I’m perplexed.
It is pretty hard to tell what Jesus is talking about sometimes. Maybe its the 2,000 year generation gap or something. The Romans were not shy about crucifying people long before Jesus so it would be reasonable to assume that the cross had some meaning already. In fact, one of my professors claims that they Christians got a lot of flack for having a cross as their symbol as it typically meant the most painful death imaginable.
The other possibility is that Jesus knew ahead of time that he would be crucified. There are several points at which Jesus makes known that he is going to meet a less than happy end.
The statement does seem like it would be an anachronism though. I am not entirely sure what he means.
I love your site!
I have a huge picture of Jackie Kennedy Onassis above my fireplace. It is a lithographed print that Andy Warhol did back in the late 70’s. Sometimes when I am going through a rough patch, I will look up at her picture and think “What Would Jackie Do”? And I just know she would kick off her oh so fashionable shoes and say “pour me a martini darling and let us not worry about all that”
Just kidding. I think Jesus would take a rope whip to our butts just like he did to the moneychangers in the temple.
Thank you very much!