WWJD

I grew up in the WWJD generation. Even if you didn’t, if you were around in the 90s, you might recall. WWJD was stamped on T-shirts and pins and slap bracelets and bumper stickers. The booming question of "What would Jesus do?" was asked from pulpits and at youth revivals and even made its way into popular Christian music.

I took those words very seriously. I wanted to do what Jesus would do. I was taught that this was the way of the Christian, to follow in the steps of Jesus Christ. To live as He lived. To love as He loved. To teach what He taught.

Only, oddly, when I actually tried to live that out, the Church turned against me.

I guess WWJD only means don't have sex and don't have an abortion and don't support gay people. Which is weird because Jesus didn't really talk about those things at all. What He did say was feed the hungry and clothe the naked and welcome the stranger - which I did, by supporting recently arrived asylum-seekers from the border and advocating against Trump's racist border policies (this was the last time he was president). And I was unfriended, scolded for "helping illegals", and told to "pray and repent" and to fall in line behind Trump.

Apparently, if you do the things Jesus actually said to do, you are "woke" and a "liberal" or a "leftie". 

If you actually follow the words of Jesus when He said to "love your enemies" and "turn the other cheek", you're too soft.

If you actually follow the words of Jesus when He said to "love your neighbor as you love yourself", you're a socialist or a communist.

If you actually defend the poor and oppressed as God says a couple thousand times to do in the Old Testament, you are accused of "having a victim mentality" (someone said that to me recently) or betraying America's interests. "We have to help Americans first," Christians have said to me (I believe JD Vance said something similar recently). I haven't seen that in the Bible, though.

I don't recognize the Christianity much of the church is following today. It doesn't look anything like Jesus (who wasn't white, or American, btw). It doesn't look at all Biblical. 

For example, Feeding America estimates 1 in 6 children in the United States are at risk for going hungry due to poverty and/or food insecurity. That's 12.5 million children. What would Jesus do? Would Jesus cut their school lunch programs (sometimes the only food they have all day), judge their parents for being "lazy", and take away their food stamps?

I have a hard time seeing Him doing that.

Or what about the 650,000 homeless people in the US. What would Jesus do for them? Would Jesus take money away from homeless services, and make housing or helping the homeless illegal (as some laws are trying to do right now)? Would Jesus criminalize homelessness?

I can't see that either.

Or what about our immigrant and refugee communities? What would Jesus do for them? Would Jesus take funds away from these communities, make them feel unwelcome, and blame them for everything that goes wrong? Would Jesus strip away their protections, kick them out of the country, or send them to torture chambers?

No, I'm pretty sure we can say He would not.

People might say reading this, well, but, it isn't that easy.

Isn't it, though? Maybe we've just made it too difficult.

I can't feed 12.5 million children, but I can donate a little extra to my kids' school when I pay for their hot lunches, so that other kids can have some, too. I can advocate for policies which help support low-income families and I can donate to the local food banks. That sounds more like something Jesus would do, doesn't it?

My home isn't big enough for 650,000 people. But I can support homeless shelters, I can vote for policies that help prevent homelessness, and I can advocate for safer, more affordable housing in my community. I can even carry food bags or restaurant gift cards in the car that I can hand out to people begging on the street. That sounds more like what Jesus would do, doesn't it?

I've done my fair share of welcoming the stranger, but there are so many ways we can do this. Welcoming our immigrant and refugee neighbors personally, making sure they have what they need to assist with their transition, and getting to know them, is a great place to start. We can also advocate for fairer immigration policies and better treatment of immigrants and refugees. We can support immigrant services and refugee resettlement programs. We can share stories within our circles regarding the immigrants and refugees we know, to help break down myths and lies regarding who they are.

Perhaps the reason why these issues have become so muddied is because we've allowed societal ideas about individualism and capitalism to infiltrate our sense of morality. Our morality, though, if we are Christian, should be based on Jesus. And there are some things which are very clear - the intrinsic value of each and every human being, the command to love, and the command to care for the most vulnerable among us. The least of these, as Jesus called them. In Matthew 25, Jesus even seems to link our treatment of others to our eternal destiny. These are not issues to take lightly.

So, what would Jesus do? If we are serious about calling ourselves Christian, we should take this question seriously.

And, I don't know who first said this, but: If we err, may we err on the side of love.

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