W.W.J.D.

When I was in junior high my father took my two brothers, two of our friends and me to a 3-day Christian Rock festival in Minnesota.  3 days, 3 stages and a circus tent full of audio adrenaline….and yes Audio Adrenaline was also there.  I remember making a checklist of all the bands I wanted to hear.  The list came from our exposure to Z Music Television from our GIANT satellite dish.  That year there were countless emerging Christian bands of all different styles.  One of those bands was Big Tent Revival, author of the hit song What Would Jesus Do?

Now I’m not sure if Big Tent spurred the whole W.W.J.D. movement into action but it’s safe to say that their audio-hit-sensation probably didn’t hinder it in any way.  (To this day I can still play the whole tune, intro and all.)  There were hats, shirts, cds, bracelets, pencils, banners, heck I even saw a WWJD VW bus!  This was movement was as catchy as the flu in a public school.

Fast forward a bit….ok, a lot, to present day.  I still hear people spouting the ol’ What Would Jesus Do anthem, some very seriously and but some sarcastically.  I’ve noticed how this phrase has changed from that of a message of encouragement and such to an imposition of moralism; used as a verbal knife to jab in the side of others when they are not performing up to strict religious or moral expectations.  I’ll admit I’ve had this phrase used on me a time or two and in my general disgust with the people wielding it I end up removing myself from their ever-so-awesome presence.

So I get to thinking.  Cedric, says I, what does this triune God of yours do?  A pretty relevant question if everyone is always asking what He would do….or insinuating that they already know. 

Well, there’s all this carrying people’s stuff an extra mile, washing people’s feet, forgiving and healing people that I’m constantly being “preached” about, but is that all God ever did?  What about Jesus’ Olympic Gold medal in Temple Table Tossing?  How about God kicking the peeps out of Eden and putting an angel with a fiery sword on guard to keep out any squatters?  Was Sodom and Gomorrah just a bedtime story?  Wandering lost in the desert?  Slavery under the Pharaoh?  The ten plagues?  Flooding and destroying the earth?  Are we getting both sides of the coin yet?

I’m a little confused (not really, I’m being facetious).  You’re shoving all this WWJD Law in my face about what I should and should not do and thus imply that the Law is what my Savior is all about (side one of the coin), and after attempting to bury me in guilt and despair you neglect to inform me of the Gospel of Christ, the grace He gave to us all that wipes our sins out (side two of the coin).  So here’s my conclusion: 1)WWJD is a pile of crap.  Jesus is the only one who could do what He did; you can’t do it, I can’t do it, don’t try to guilt me into trying to be my Savior with your sarcastic slogan….I can’t save anything or anyone...including myself. 2)God/Jesus wasn’t warm and fluffy all the time like WWJD implies He is.  Read your stinkin’ Bible and find out.  3) The Law of which you so ardently preach with your WWJD does not mean a thing without the Gospel.  Yes, as born sinners we do deserve a sinner’s death, we deserve to carry our shame, our guilt, our despair, our death, but Christ’s selfless sacrifice paid our debt, forgave our sins, and claimed us as his own.

So please, don’t try to integrate your works-based moralism into my faith; they are non-compatible and quite frankly it’s insulting.  Instead of “doing,” why don’t we perform the opposite, rely.  Let’s rely on the fact that it is by grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone that we are saved.  Let’s rely on the fact that our salvations lies solely in Him, not in anything we do.  Let’s rely on what the Bible says and not what our emotions want.  Instead of living under the Law, let’s use it to remind us to rely on the Gospel.