Vicky: What would Jesus do?

May 2014 be full of hope, joy and peace! 

In the ’90s if you were around the Christian world you may remember there was a craze that started: wristbands with the letters WWJD. What Would Jesus Do? It was big and in the end it became a cheesy sentiment. And yet it is so profound. 

After Jesus’ death and resurrection He hung out with His friends before ascending to heaven. His final words are important to us today. In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus said “All authority has been given to me on heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” 

So what is key in these verses?

1. Jesus, as a human, through the cross, took back the authority to steward the earth well, to be all that it was be, that we as humanity had given to the devil in the Garden of Eden. 
2. We are asked to be proactive, to Go! In the original Greek this means, “As you go”. Therefore as you are going about your day-to-day life, you should… 
3. make disciples. A disciple is a learner, a follower. Jesus is looking for learners and followers of Him. Where Jesus was at that time, the concept of disciple was part of the culture. Someone would learn from their teacher and put it into practice. 
4. We make these disciples in every people-group on earth. 
5. We baptise them into a Trinitarian God. 
6. We teach them to observe ALL that Jesus taught. 
7. Jesus is with us! 

When we consider this commission, WWJD is very relevant! But it’s not just what would Jesus do – it’s what would Jesus think, what were His ways? My biggest prayer is, “Lord, show me Your ways.” In Psalm 103:7 it says about God “He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel.” 

Moses had a close friendship with God. He took the time to build this closeness and didn’t observe God’s miracles from afar as the Israelites did. We all know many things about the Queen, but most of us do not know her personally. Therefore we don’t know what she thinks, what her motivations are, how she handles people. We don’t know the Queen’s ways! It is the same with God. We can be a follower of Jesus, and - just like the Israelites - know His acts but not His ways. 

Our God, who is love, wants us to know Him intimately. That is why Jesus came. Jesus not only went to the cross and enabled us to have a close personal relationship with God, but He became human, so we could relate to God. In the gospels we have stories of Jesus that are so precious in enabling us to know the ways of God, and lead us into greater friendship with Him, showing us how to live on earth. 

As Christians we may unintentionally add stuff to what it means to follow Jesus and be His disciple. I encourage us all in 2014 to determine to know Jesus and His ways. That in every interaction, every circumstance, every place, we ask ourselves the question – WWJD and WWJT (What Would Jesus Think?) and WWJF (What Would Jesus Feel?) until our friendship with Jesus and our intimate knowledge of Him becomes such that we don’t need to ask the question, we just know in our core how He would feel, what He would think and what He would do. And as lovers, friends and followers of Him we will say, “Ok Jesus, I’ll do that for you!”

afterTHOUGHT (Jan '14)

2014 by Andy Oxley.  

Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised but there seems to be more and more anti-Christian feeling around these days.

I often hear disparaging remarks, even on some of my favourite TV programmes, about the Bible or faith in general. These usually take the form of derision about recorded miracles or Biblical stories. Of course some well-known scientific figures have set themselves above any form of faith, espousing atheism as something desirable. 

Some may say the wider Church has only itself to blame, having been a poor witness. There are never ending scandals involving priests and child abuse, ministers proving corrupt in various ways and so on. Whilst this is true, the immense impact for good of Christianity in the world is usually ignored. A huge majority of the faithful go largely un-noticed.

None of this is new of course. The Romans tried to hush up the resurrection immediately after it happened, with little real success. Unscrupulous people have been attaching themselves to the Church ever since, with self motivations as varied as can be imagined. The Church has been persecuted with zeal and enthusiasm ever since. If you doubt that we are in a spiritual battle, perhaps you might think again?

I have been wondering what all the above has done to my faith; that's the thinking behind this article (see, there is some). I'm sure I'm not alone that over the years my faith has taken a big battering. I listen to all the gainsayers - and how can one help it as they are SO vocal? I cringe when various scandals involving Christians are revealed. I stoop under the battering of personal life events. The list of negatives is long.

I still believe though! I believe in the authenticity of the Bible, I not only believe in God, but in Jesus as His son and I believe in all the Biblical miracles and all the Biblical stories. I believe God created the whole THANG (thang is what young people say, innit?) Yes, I believe the whole shebang, and I don't care what anyone thinks about that, either. I have considered the negatives and the alternatives (hard not to, when they are rammed down one’s throat) but I still believe. Possibly I’m a bit thick?

Perhaps us Christians should learn to apologise for our obvious stupidity in holding onto belief in stuff which is patently daft. I have started to practice an apologetic look in the mirror, it's a sort of sideways look with downward pointing eyes and a slight stoop. I'm getting quite good at it but it's not genuine - probably because I don't feel apologetic about my faith. I'm actually rather proud of it, and even more proud of the person on which it is grounded. I call Him my father. Sorry, I really am (not).

Maybe Christians should begin a defence of our beliefs and faith. We could gather long lists of historical evidence, scientific theory, miraculous events, biographies of Christians, etc, to 'prove' we are not so stupid after all. But you know, speaking for myself, I really can't be bothered. I've got this (obviously distorted) view that my faith does not need to be defended. It's more than capable of defending itself.

If anyone needs to duck under the barricades of their defences it's actually the folk who choose not to believe. If you consider the energy and tirelessness with which some of them pursue their unbelief, it does seem very like defensive behaviour, after all. Why bother defending yourself against something or someone who does not exist? Surely that's daft. 

As for me, I believe as above. All of it, too.