To do what Jesus would do, means we must know Jesus
Remember the whole WWJD trend that swept the Christian subculture around 10 years ago? What Would Jesus Do. The WWJD that I remember were woven bracelets that people (not just Christians . . . I imagine that some of our fellow WWJDers were still in need of a Savior!) simply wore around their wrists as a reminder to live as Jesus would. Perhaps they were intended to provoke spiritual questions from strangers. Here is a quote from a WWJD website. "Do you have a desire to share the Hope our Savior offers with others? What Would Jesus Do?... Jesus boldly proclaimed the Good News. Our wearable messages offer you the opportunity to boldly proclaim the Good News!"
I am not sure exactly what these little bracelets sought to accomplish, but I think our skewed view of Jesus translates into a skewed understanding of attempting to do what Jesus would. Hang with me, I am hoping to pull this all together shortly. Side note: I am not trying to discourage anyone who wore one of these bracelets or still wears one. I faithfully wore a WWJD bracelet in college for a few semesters and felt naked without it on. I just want to encourage everyone to study their Bibles to examine the life of Christ. Too many misconceptions of our Messiah have been passed on. If we don't know the real Jesus we can't do what Jesus would do. Plain and simple. That being said, let us attempt to look at some of the characteristics and attributes of Jesus and seek to live in that manner.
1. Grace: All throughout the Gospels you see Jesus welcoming nonreligious people and speaking words that they could understand. In John 2, He demonstrates his first act of grace by turning water into wine. In John 8, Jesus offered grace and forgiveness to the woman caught in adultery and sends her home. We need to stop holding past failures against people. Revenge is not something we earn because someone did us wrong. Just as grace is given to us not based on anything we have done, we need to extend this grace to others. Next time you see that "idiot driver" trying to drive as far down the "Right turn only" lane only to merge at the last second, let them over. Stop reminding loved ones of their past mistakes. When we extend grace we do what Jesus would do.
2. Truth: Just as Jesus was graceful to the woman in John 8, he was also truthful. "Go and sin no more." He didn't tell her not to worry about her sins. Jesus affirmed truth by telling her she needed to repent. Jesus is the Truth. (John 14:6) We are told to walk in the truth (3 John 1:3), love the truth and believe the truth (2 Thess. 2:10, 12). When we share Christ with others we must share the WHOLE truth. We need to tell people that God is love, but if we stop there we have told a dangerous half-truth. People feel that God is obligated to save them. We need to tell people that God is a just judge, too. God will punish those who do not repent and continue to persist in sin. The words we say must be truthful. When we lie we speak the Devil's language. God has given us truth for our benefit. He knows what is best for us and and to know the Truth we must meditate over the Bible. Truth is not subjective. In John 17:17, Jesus said God's word is truth, so we would be foolish not to adamently affirm the Scriptures.
3. Anger: Remember when Jesus went into the temple and overturned the tables of the money-changers? (John 2) In Matthew 23, Jesus calls the Pharisees "hypocrites", "blind fools", "whitewashed tombs", and "brood of vipers." I think it is OK for us to get angry and upset when we see churches and ministries belittling God. What about people who aim to make money off the church? There are plenty of those folks around and it should cause your blood pressure to rise. We must remember Ephesians 4:26 and not allow the anger to produce sin, but a quick look at most Christian retail stores or "Health and Wealth Prosperity Gospels" should cause a righteous indignation to well up inside of us.
4. Suffering: "Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered." (Heb. 5:8) Jesus made himself nothing and humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. He was ridiculed by his family. He was not accepted in his hometown. The religious leaders hated him. He was crucified on a cross. Jesus embraced much suffering in life. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:19 that his lifestyle as a follower of Christ is foolish and pitiable if there is no resurrection. It Philippians 3, Paul says that whatever gain he had, he counted as loss for the sake of Christ. He says that he suffered the loss of all things, but counts them as rubbish in order to gain Christ and share in his sufferings. Suffering deepens our hope of the resurrection. Suffering will show others the superior worth of Christ. Following Jesus is a painful journey at times, but suffering will allow us to be weaned from this world, which will cause us to lean on Christ all the more.
5. Hang out with non-Christians: In Luke 5, Jesus feasted with the tax collectors and sinners. In John 4, Jesus engaged in a conversation with a Samaritan woman who had a bit of a sleeping around problem. Luke tells us in Chapter 19 of his gospel that Jesus came to seek and save the lost. After Jesus calls Matthew (Matt. 9:9-13) he responds to the Pharisees by telling them that he has come to call sinners, not the righteous. How many non-Christian friends do you have? I'm not advocating leaving your Christian friends. We need other called believers to encourage and exhort us. But we can't forget about those who are perishing. Interact with non-Christians. Go out to lunch with co-workers. We need to spend some time with the lost and share the Gospel with them.
6. Empathize with people: In John 11, after Lazarus has died, both Martha and Mary approach Jesus and say, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Jesus responded by being deeply moved and greatly troubled and with weeping. Notice he did not say, "Martha, don't worry . . . Lazarus is in a better place now." Jesus is God. He could have told her exactly which mansion Lazarus was in up in Heaven. But look at what Jesus did. He shared in Martha and Mary's loss. We always look for the right things to say. We often over-spiritualize situations. Let us weep with others as they weep and rejoice with them as they are honored. (1 Corinth. 12:26)
7. Love people: Jesus loved his people. Jesus wept for those who had unrepentent hearts. Jesus had a real love that was evident through Him healing the sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed. In Matthew 15, Jesus had compassion on the crowd of 4,000 plus and multiplied the loaves to feed the people. As His disciples rebuked the little children from coming to Him, Jesus welcomed them. We need to love our families and friends and church more. We need to love those who are lost. We need to open our homes. We need to open our wallets. Jesus loved people with words and with his life. To be like Him we must to the same.
This is not an exhaustive list of all of our Savior's attributes. Just a sample of a few character traits that we should gladly embrace. Let's show the world the real Jesus. Let us examine the Bible daily and seek to be more like Christ. Blessings to you this weekend!
I am not sure exactly what these little bracelets sought to accomplish, but I think our skewed view of Jesus translates into a skewed understanding of attempting to do what Jesus would. Hang with me, I am hoping to pull this all together shortly. Side note: I am not trying to discourage anyone who wore one of these bracelets or still wears one. I faithfully wore a WWJD bracelet in college for a few semesters and felt naked without it on. I just want to encourage everyone to study their Bibles to examine the life of Christ. Too many misconceptions of our Messiah have been passed on. If we don't know the real Jesus we can't do what Jesus would do. Plain and simple. That being said, let us attempt to look at some of the characteristics and attributes of Jesus and seek to live in that manner.
1. Grace: All throughout the Gospels you see Jesus welcoming nonreligious people and speaking words that they could understand. In John 2, He demonstrates his first act of grace by turning water into wine. In John 8, Jesus offered grace and forgiveness to the woman caught in adultery and sends her home. We need to stop holding past failures against people. Revenge is not something we earn because someone did us wrong. Just as grace is given to us not based on anything we have done, we need to extend this grace to others. Next time you see that "idiot driver" trying to drive as far down the "Right turn only" lane only to merge at the last second, let them over. Stop reminding loved ones of their past mistakes. When we extend grace we do what Jesus would do.
2. Truth: Just as Jesus was graceful to the woman in John 8, he was also truthful. "Go and sin no more." He didn't tell her not to worry about her sins. Jesus affirmed truth by telling her she needed to repent. Jesus is the Truth. (John 14:6) We are told to walk in the truth (3 John 1:3), love the truth and believe the truth (2 Thess. 2:10, 12). When we share Christ with others we must share the WHOLE truth. We need to tell people that God is love, but if we stop there we have told a dangerous half-truth. People feel that God is obligated to save them. We need to tell people that God is a just judge, too. God will punish those who do not repent and continue to persist in sin. The words we say must be truthful. When we lie we speak the Devil's language. God has given us truth for our benefit. He knows what is best for us and and to know the Truth we must meditate over the Bible. Truth is not subjective. In John 17:17, Jesus said God's word is truth, so we would be foolish not to adamently affirm the Scriptures.
3. Anger: Remember when Jesus went into the temple and overturned the tables of the money-changers? (John 2) In Matthew 23, Jesus calls the Pharisees "hypocrites", "blind fools", "whitewashed tombs", and "brood of vipers." I think it is OK for us to get angry and upset when we see churches and ministries belittling God. What about people who aim to make money off the church? There are plenty of those folks around and it should cause your blood pressure to rise. We must remember Ephesians 4:26 and not allow the anger to produce sin, but a quick look at most Christian retail stores or "Health and Wealth Prosperity Gospels" should cause a righteous indignation to well up inside of us.
4. Suffering: "Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered." (Heb. 5:8) Jesus made himself nothing and humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. He was ridiculed by his family. He was not accepted in his hometown. The religious leaders hated him. He was crucified on a cross. Jesus embraced much suffering in life. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:19 that his lifestyle as a follower of Christ is foolish and pitiable if there is no resurrection. It Philippians 3, Paul says that whatever gain he had, he counted as loss for the sake of Christ. He says that he suffered the loss of all things, but counts them as rubbish in order to gain Christ and share in his sufferings. Suffering deepens our hope of the resurrection. Suffering will show others the superior worth of Christ. Following Jesus is a painful journey at times, but suffering will allow us to be weaned from this world, which will cause us to lean on Christ all the more.
5. Hang out with non-Christians: In Luke 5, Jesus feasted with the tax collectors and sinners. In John 4, Jesus engaged in a conversation with a Samaritan woman who had a bit of a sleeping around problem. Luke tells us in Chapter 19 of his gospel that Jesus came to seek and save the lost. After Jesus calls Matthew (Matt. 9:9-13) he responds to the Pharisees by telling them that he has come to call sinners, not the righteous. How many non-Christian friends do you have? I'm not advocating leaving your Christian friends. We need other called believers to encourage and exhort us. But we can't forget about those who are perishing. Interact with non-Christians. Go out to lunch with co-workers. We need to spend some time with the lost and share the Gospel with them.
6. Empathize with people: In John 11, after Lazarus has died, both Martha and Mary approach Jesus and say, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Jesus responded by being deeply moved and greatly troubled and with weeping. Notice he did not say, "Martha, don't worry . . . Lazarus is in a better place now." Jesus is God. He could have told her exactly which mansion Lazarus was in up in Heaven. But look at what Jesus did. He shared in Martha and Mary's loss. We always look for the right things to say. We often over-spiritualize situations. Let us weep with others as they weep and rejoice with them as they are honored. (1 Corinth. 12:26)
7. Love people: Jesus loved his people. Jesus wept for those who had unrepentent hearts. Jesus had a real love that was evident through Him healing the sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed. In Matthew 15, Jesus had compassion on the crowd of 4,000 plus and multiplied the loaves to feed the people. As His disciples rebuked the little children from coming to Him, Jesus welcomed them. We need to love our families and friends and church more. We need to love those who are lost. We need to open our homes. We need to open our wallets. Jesus loved people with words and with his life. To be like Him we must to the same.
This is not an exhaustive list of all of our Savior's attributes. Just a sample of a few character traits that we should gladly embrace. Let's show the world the real Jesus. Let us examine the Bible daily and seek to be more like Christ. Blessings to you this weekend!
posted by billy newhouse at
5:38 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home