By Steven Norris
I am product of having grown up in evangelical church youth groups of the 1980s and 1990s. Ubiquitous in the youth groups of the day were little canvas bracelets that contained the phrase WWJD? This stood for the question, “What Would Jesus Do?” We all knew that we were supposed to act like Jesus, so it made sense that we should ask the question regarding all of our decisions. What I didn’t know was that we were about 100 years late to the party.
In 1896, Charles Sheldon, an American Congregationalist minister, wrote a novel entitled, In His Steps. The story centered on Reverend Henry Maxwell and a challenge he placed before his congregation. In the middle of a church service, a homeless man stumbled into the sanctuary. He asked the congregation, “How can you claim to follow a man who served the destitute while you lead lives of luxury and self-indulgence?” Then the man put the question even more bluntly: “What would Jesus do?” Then, he collapsed and died a few days later.
At the end of the next week’s sermon, Rev. Maxwell asked for volunteers to participate in an experiment. The minister read from 1 Peter 2:21, “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” Maxwell believed that this was not rhetorical flourish, but that God actually expected followers of Jesus to follow Jesus.
Therefore, he proposed that these volunteers ask themselves, “What would Jesus do?” before every decision for one year. Among the members who accepted the challenge were Ed Norman, senior editor of the local newspaper, Rachel Winslow, a professional singer, and Virginia Page, a wealthy heiress. The rest of the novel chronicles the changes that occurred in the individual lives as well as the congregation as a result of that simple commitment. (If you have never read it, I strongly recommend it.)
Years later, philosopher and spiritual writer, Dallas Willard, picked up the same question with a bit more nuance. He wrote, “As Jesus’ disciple, I am his apprentice in kingdom living. I am learning from him how to lead my life in the Kingdom of the Heavens as he would lead my life if he were I.”
It would be easy to dismiss such notions as quaint or naive. However, I truly believe that this is the heart of what it means to claim the name “Christian” — originally meant as an insult meaning “little Christ.” As Willard clarifies, we aren’t trying to be Jesus (he did just fine without us) or even mimic Jesus. We are seeking to ask ourselves, “If Jesus lived in my circumstances — with my family, my job, my neighbors, my resources, my talents, and my set of friends — how would he live?”
I am deeply convinced that a truly Christian ethic must wrestle first and foremost with the question, “What would Jesus do?” Quoting the Bible well or being able to win in public debates with those who think differently just isn’t enough. A truly Christian ethic is about living and acting in Christlike ways. Anything less is a fraud and an insult to the name.