Baptist News Global
Sections
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Curated
  • Storytelling
    • Faith & Justice >
      • Charleston: Metanoia with Bill Stanfield
      • Charlotte: QC Family Tree with Greg and Helms Jarrell
      • Little Rock: Judge Wendell Griffen
      • North Carolina: Conetoe
    • Welcoming the Stranger >
      • Lost Boys of Sudan: St. John’s Baptist Charlotte
      • Awakening to Immigrant Justice: Myers Park Baptist Church
      • Hospitality on the corner: Gaston Christian Center
    • Signature Ministries >
      • Jake Hall: Gospel Gothic, Music and Radio
    • Singing Our Faith >
      • Hymns for a Lifetime: Ken Wilson and Knollwood Baptist Church
      • Norfolk Street Choir
    • Resilient Rural America >
      • Alabama: Perry County
      • Texas: Hidalgo County
      • Arkansas Delta
      • Southeast Kentucky
  • More
    • Contact
    • About
    • Donate
    • Planned Giving
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Advertising
    • Ministry Jobs and More
    • Transitions
    • Subscribe
    • Submissions and Permissions
Donate Subscribe
Search Search this site

The foolishness of WWJD

OpinionTerry Austin  |  May 6, 2021

Charles Spurgeon, a famous British preacher in the latter half of the 1800s, used the phrase, “What would Jesus do?” in a sermon. If you’ve ever read any of Spurgeon’s sermons, you know he had a knack for turning a memorable phrase. A few years later, the phrase found its way into a novel by Charles Sheldon called In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do? The purpose of Sheldon’s book was to inspire people to a higher moral standard of living.

One hundred years later, a Christian youth group in Michigan started a movement using the initials “WWJD,” representing the interrogative, “What Would Jesus Do?”

Terry Austin

You know the rest of the story. The idea took off, and for the past 20 years, people still ask the question, “What would Jesus do?” How many WWJD items have you owned over the years?

Asking the question WWJD is the easy part. Answering the question is another matter.

To be honest, it doesn’t really matter how we answer the question. Once we do, we will be confronted with a task we can’t perform. For example, your child is seriously ill, and doctors are concerned she might not survive. What would Jesus do in that case? We know what Jesus would do in that situation because we know about the little girl he took by the hand and raised her from her deathbed (see Matthew 9:18-26).

If people are lined up waiting for food because of pandemic-induced lost jobs, what would Jesus do? Once again, we know what he would do. We saw it once (or twice in Matthew’s Gospel). He multiplied food and fed everyone.

I’m confident Jesus didn’t heal every sick child, and he didn’t end famines and feed every hungry person. What did he do then? I don’t know. We’re never told that he walked away from sick and hungry people.

You and I can’t raise dead people or multiply food. What do we do? I don’t have the authority to forgive a person’s sins, reveal their internal struggles, expose a hateful heart. These are the things Jesus did, and we can’t do any of it.

We do try to make WWJD helpful. We’re confident Jesus would feed the hungry, so we volunteer to help feed people a Thanksgiving meal. We’re pretty sure he would care for the sick, so we load our prayer lists with sick people. We know he would care for the homeless, so we work at the homeless shelter once a week. He would care for the poor, so we drop a few bucks in the hat of the man begging at the street corner.

“Honestly, I don’t think Jesus would do any of those things.”

Honestly, I don’t think Jesus would do any of those things. I can’t see him ladling gravy on the turkey at a Thanksgiving meal, keeping a prayer list for the sick, putting in a few hours a week at the homeless shelter, or handing a beggar a few bucks.

Asking the question, “What would Jesus do?” does not provide any helpful information. It’s time to rethink. A better approach is to stop trying to do what we think Jesus might do and start being Jesus. Let me try to explain.

I have a great deal of respect for my father. I grew up wanting to be like him. This desire has continued my entire life. I often have said that my goal in life is to be half the man my father was, and that’s a lofty goal. I not only learned how to live from watching and listening to him, but I also inherited many of his characteristics. After all, he was my father.

Daddy was well known among Baptists in Colorado. When I returned to Colorado after graduating from seminary in Kentucky, whenever I visited a church, people would say, “You must be Bill Austin’s son.” In my world, that was the greatest compliment I could receive. As I got older, it became obvious there is a lot of my father in me. I don’t need to think about what Daddy would do consciously; many times, I just need to be myself.

“A better approach is to stop trying to do what we think Jesus might do and start being Jesus.”

In Galatians 2:20, Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.” Paul said it is not him living but Christ “in me.”

Paul didn’t have the opportunity to read the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ activities and actions. He talked with the apostles and heard the stories, but he was not in a better position to answer the WWJD question than us. Yet he understood something we seldom remember: “Christ lives in me.”

I’m not saying Paul’s description of a believer’s relationship with Christ is the same as mine with my father — every analogy breaks down at some point — but there is similarity. When a follower of Jesus enters a room, Jesus himself is there.

Jesus didn’t come to show us how to live. He came to live in us. We are his presence in today’s world. Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

When I’m in the room, Jesus is in the room. Don’t misunderstand; I’m not saying that Jesus and I are identical. What I am saying is that Jesus is living in me. Consequently, I don’t need to ask what Jesus would do. I just need to be Jesus. If I can approach life like this, suddenly I know what Jesus would do; it’s the same thing I do.

“I don’t need to ask what Jesus would do. I just need to be Jesus.”

Jesus “in me” means I love others and relate to others as one who loves them. Jesus doesn’t toss a few coins to a beggar. I know that because that’s not how any person treats someone they love. Jesus talks to people, gets to know them, spends time with them, opens up to them. I know that because I know how we treat those we love. Jesus doesn’t keep a prayer list because when someone came to him with a need, he went with them to see what they could do (see Mark 5 and Jairus’ daughter). I know that because that’s how we treat people we love.

When Jesus did something, it seems everyone involved was uncomfortable. When learning that his friend Lazarus was nearing death, Jesus stalled for several days. When the adulterous woman was slammed down in front of him, he talked about sinners throwing stones at others, and everyone walked away stunned. When the crippled man was lowered through the ceiling, Jesus forgave the man’s sin. When Peter swung his sword to defend Jesus against the Roman soldier, Jesus healed the wounded man’s ear.

People were excited when Jesus came to town, but after he spoke and touched people, it seems many were left scratching their heads because they were caught off guard. It seems he challenged every norm, both religious and secular. He continually gave people more than they sought and asked them to give more than they could afford.

Next time you ask the question, “What would Jesus do?” if your answer doesn’t make you uncomfortable, then you probably have the wrong answer.

“If your answer doesn’t make you uncomfortable, then you probably have the wrong answer.”

Yet we pride ourselves on doing the things that allow us to remain in our comfort. For example, if we’re walking down the street and approached by a beggar, someone telling us they’re hungry and haven’t eaten in a while, our first reaction might be to say something like, “I’m sorry, I don’t have any money on me,” as we keep moving. We can always feel good by assuming they’re lazy and won’t work.

Then we stop and think, what would Jesus do? So, we stop and pull out a $5 bill, or if we want to give more than money, take them to the nearest restaurant and buy them a meal.

But think with me for a minute. If Jesus had your resources in that situation, what would he do? Would he give $5 or buy a meal for the hungry man? What if he lived in a house with a kitchen filled with food? What if he had thousands of dollars in the bank? What would he do? If he did something that made everyone uncomfortable, what would that be? What if you decided to be Jesus in that moment?

Certainly, I’m not going to pretend to know what you should do or even to presume to know what Jesus would do, but what are some things that would make us uncomfortable? Perhaps we could take the hungry man to the nearest Kroger and load him up with a week’s worth of groceries.

The one thing I know for sure is that Jesus always did the most loving thing. That’s what I mean when I say we need to be Jesus. Being Jesus means we love people. Don’t get sidetracked by trying to love everyone; love those in your world. You can’t love every person you see, but you can love more people than you are now.

Doing nice things is easy; loving people is hard. Doing kind acts brings joy; loving people can be dangerous. It ultimately cost Jesus his life.

Terry Austin says from his first day of life he was taught to love the church. He has lived out that passion in various ways as a pastor, church consultant, author and critic. He is currently a full-time writer and book publisher and actively engaged with house churches.

 

Related articles:

Preaching the ‘red letters’ often makes congregations red in the face | Opinion by Mark Wingfield

A wind-up Jesus | Opinion by Bill Leonard

If Jesus came to church today | Opinion by Jonathan Davis


OPINION: Views expressed in Baptist News Global columns and commentaries are solely those of the authors.
Tags:WWJDservicemissionCompassionTerry AustinWhat would Jesus do
More by
Terry Austin
  • Get BNG headlines in your inbox

  • BNG dinner will bring together Anthea Butler and Beth Allison Barr for a conversation on race and gender

    Two of the most prominent voices speaking to the American church about race and gender will appear together at the Baptist News Global dinner during the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s General Assembly in Dallas this June. Get your tickets now!

  • Featured

    • Intolerable cruelty is killing us

      Opinion

    • Another racist mass shooting and our failure to tend Jesus’ sheep

      Opinion

    • Baptists in Ukraine continue their humanitarian work amid devastation

      News

    • Sadly, I agree that a complementarian seminary shouldn’t offer women degrees in pastoral theology

      Opinion


    Curated

    • Welsh First Minister ‘regrets’ that Franklin Graham is coming to Wales

      Welsh First Minister ‘regrets’ that Franklin Graham is coming to Wales

      May 20, 2022
    • Willow Creek announces major layoffs amid post-COVID struggle

      Willow Creek announces major layoffs amid post-COVID struggle

      May 20, 2022
    • Ohio House passes bill requiring colleges give students 3 days of absences for religious observation

      Ohio House passes bill requiring colleges give students 3 days of absences for religious observation

      May 20, 2022
    • ‘Conversion therapy’ ban falls short in Minnesota Senate

      ‘Conversion therapy’ ban falls short in Minnesota Senate

      May 20, 2022
    Read Next:

    ‘It’s still the economy, stupid’

    NewsMark Wingfield

    More Articles

    • All
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Curated
    • Author considers how to mourn what’s lost when the faithful leave church

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • What I learned about Polish hospitality toward Ukrainians: There but for the grace of God

      OpinionPatrick Wilson

    • As joblessness rocks South Africa, fake pastor diplomas are in demand

      NewsRay Mwareya and Nyasha Bhobo

    • Why breaking up is so hard to do for United Methodists: Connectionalism

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • Stop using Jesus to disguise your predatory patriarchy

      OpinionJessica Abell and Stephany Rose Spaulding

    • Becoming UNSTOPPABLE Christians

      Paid Promoted Content

    • Oklahoma legislators say life begins at ‘fertilization’

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Sadly, I agree that a complementarian seminary shouldn’t offer women degrees in pastoral theology

      OpinionAnna Sieges

    • Baptists in Ukraine continue their humanitarian work amid devastation

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Intolerable cruelty is killing us

      OpinionKris Aaron

    • Louisville police training quoted Bible verse to say officers are God’s agents of wrath

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Another racist mass shooting and our failure to tend Jesus’ sheep

      OpinionEmily Holladay

    • Transitions for the week of 5-20-22

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Learning about change from Henry Ford

      OpinionBob Newell

    • ‘It’s still the economy, stupid’

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Hymn stories: ‘Christ is alive! Let Christians sing’

      OpinionBeverly A. Howard

    • Pennsylvania Baptist church licenses transgender man for ministry

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Gifts of hospitality in the midst of grief

      OpinionSara Robb-Scott

    • Bubba-Doo’s gets a new sign

      OpinionCharles Qualls

    • Buffalo massacre is more evidence of white Christian nationalism, sociologists say

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Why American democracy is threatened in Ukraine

      AnalysisRodney Kennedy

    • Displaced by the war in Ukraine, some African students battle to continue their education in Germany

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • Conservative or liberal? Jesus widens our political landscape

      OpinionRussell Waldrop

    • Does the Johnson Amendment have any teeth left?

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Letter to the Editor: A response to Laura Ellis on abortion and Christian Realism

      OpinionLetters to the Editor

    • Author considers how to mourn what’s lost when the faithful leave church

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • As joblessness rocks South Africa, fake pastor diplomas are in demand

      NewsRay Mwareya and Nyasha Bhobo

    • Why breaking up is so hard to do for United Methodists: Connectionalism

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • Oklahoma legislators say life begins at ‘fertilization’

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Baptists in Ukraine continue their humanitarian work amid devastation

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Louisville police training quoted Bible verse to say officers are God’s agents of wrath

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Transitions for the week of 5-20-22

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • ‘It’s still the economy, stupid’

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Pennsylvania Baptist church licenses transgender man for ministry

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Buffalo massacre is more evidence of white Christian nationalism, sociologists say

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Displaced by the war in Ukraine, some African students battle to continue their education in Germany

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • Does the Johnson Amendment have any teeth left?

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Brian Dawkins says he’s blessed

      NewsMaina Mwaura

    • Bailey and Perrin named Vestal Scholars

      NewsBNG staff

    • Professor writes book to explain his journey from inerrantist to historicist

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • SBC presidential candidate wants ERLC leader fired for joining 75 other pro-life leaders in urging compassion for women who have abortions

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • $100 million gift to Samford is state’s largest to higher education

      NewsBNG staff

    • No formal name change proposed for SBC, and entities report back on use of NDAs in annual Book of Reports

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Accountability to God increases sense of well-being, study finds

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Campbellsville University custodian receives degree after stopping education in the 1990s

      NewsLinda Waggener

    • Progressives need to stop letting Christian nationalists set the agenda, author asserts

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • In reelection year, Texas governor proposes statewide voucher program for private schools

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • There’s a path for Ukrainian refugees to the U.S. but the process remains too slow

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • After days of unrest sparked by religious clashes, Ethiopians are beginning to get back to normal life

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • What I learned about Polish hospitality toward Ukrainians: There but for the grace of God

      OpinionPatrick Wilson

    • Stop using Jesus to disguise your predatory patriarchy

      OpinionJessica Abell and Stephany Rose Spaulding

    • Sadly, I agree that a complementarian seminary shouldn’t offer women degrees in pastoral theology

      OpinionAnna Sieges

    • Intolerable cruelty is killing us

      OpinionKris Aaron

    • Another racist mass shooting and our failure to tend Jesus’ sheep

      OpinionEmily Holladay

    • Learning about change from Henry Ford

      OpinionBob Newell

    • Hymn stories: ‘Christ is alive! Let Christians sing’

      OpinionBeverly A. Howard

    • Gifts of hospitality in the midst of grief

      OpinionSara Robb-Scott

    • Bubba-Doo’s gets a new sign

      OpinionCharles Qualls

    • Conservative or liberal? Jesus widens our political landscape

      OpinionRussell Waldrop

    • Letter to the Editor: A response to Laura Ellis on abortion and Christian Realism

      OpinionLetters to the Editor

    • The Beloved Community and the heresy of white replacement: How ‘Beyoncé Mass’ gave me hope after the Buffalo massacre

      OpinionRobert P. Jones

    • The Holy Spirit: An advocate, comforter and encourager for times like these

      OpinionBarry Howard

    • The air of gathered worship: A 12-Sunday challenge

      OpinionPaul R. Gilliam III

    • Choose Life: Putin reminds us how bad theology can turn nuclear

      OpinionJillian Mason Shannon

    • I’m disappointed with the world but still wanting to hope

      OpinionRuss Dean

    • Racism from the perspective of a white man

      OpinionTerry Austin

    • ‘The Religion of the Lost Cause’ is back, and it may be winning

      OpinionBill Leonard, Senior Columnist

    • What is a Baptist?

      OpinionH. Stephen Shoemaker

    • Assessing the damage Twitter has done to American Christianity

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • In our dystopian world, I’m leaning into the Korean concept of han

      OpinionSusan M. Shaw, Senior Columnist

    • Letter to the Editor: Wingfield is wrong on ‘performative Christianity’

      OpinionLetters to the Editor

    • Do or donut; there is no try

      OpinionBrett Younger

    • Will we be silent as stones or voices of light?

      OpinionPhawnda Moore

    • It is a lie

      OpinionDwight A. Moody

    • Welsh First Minister ‘regrets’ that Franklin Graham is coming to Wales

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Willow Creek announces major layoffs amid post-COVID struggle

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Ohio House passes bill requiring colleges give students 3 days of absences for religious observation

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • ‘Conversion therapy’ ban falls short in Minnesota Senate

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Don’t buy Alito’s assurances: here’s what happens next after Roe falls

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Leading Psychologist Bridges Trauma Healing and the Black Church

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • For some people, religious leaders might be most effective at communicating the importance of COVID-19 vaccination

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Former pastor in 2 states pleads guilty to child sex charges

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • A rabbi who ‘speaks to Christians’ condemned them on Twitter. It cost him his job.

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Deadly explosion damages historic church, Baptist offices in Cuba

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Faith on the ground in Buffalo: Voice Buffalo executive director Denise Walden

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • What Is Antisemitism? Evangelicals Favor Different Definitions

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Russian Religious Communities Opposed To Ukraine War Face Pressure And Censorship

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Pope’s recipe to heal his painful knee? A shot of tequila

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Why Not All Pro-Lifers are Celebrating

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Montana pastor J.D. Hall, Pulpit&Pen founder, charged with DUI, carrying weapon

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Grove City board accepts full CRT report, says college promoted CRT

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • What you need to know about the antisemitic ideology behind the Buffalo shooting

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • What is ‘personhood’? The ethics question that needs a closer look in abortion debates

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Interfaith group asks Starbucks to drop vegan milk surcharge

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Cuba hotel explosion badly damaged major Baptist church

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Op-Ed: Conservative Christians will regret overturning Roe. They’re sacrificing religious liberty to do it

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • The Global COVID-19 Summit left children off its agenda. The church should not.

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Deconstructing? There’s a coach for that.

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • No more murder charge for women in Louisiana abortion bill

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    Conversations that Matter.

    © 2022 Baptist News Global. All rights reserved.

    Want to share a story? We hope you will! Read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here.

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • RSS