In His Steps - But in Different Shoes

When a man named Charles Sheldon wrote a little book called In His Steps in 1896, a movement was born, ushering in a selfless method of living and thinking, and inspiring a famous motto: What Would Jesus Do.

If we study the gospels we discover what Jesus did. His actions, parables, and teachings have weathered the ages remarkably well. You could even call them timeless. There is nothing ancient or parochial about taking time to share the good news of salvation with strangers (John 8:11-12), or in loving your neighbor as yourself (Galatians 5:14), or in declaring the truth of God’s saving grace and condemnation of darkness (John 3:15-21).

The point I’m trying to make here is that thinking what Jesus might do in any given situation is an excellent habit to get into, but knowing what He did is equally essential to developing a right mind in Christ. We must not neglect our studies of the gospels. In them we see how Jesus interacted with people (aka sinners). Better to know than to guess.

Especially illuminating are His responses to sinners and to the religious leaders of the day.

Jesus displayed remarkable tenderness toward sinners. Matthew 9:36 shows us a Jesus moved with compassion for a crowd, seeing them as lost sheep without a shepherd. Often when He saw a crowd, Jesus would heal the sick and teach the lost the way to righteousness. In John 8:7 we are treated to a revelatory story of a sinner caught in the act and Jesus displaying incredible mercy. Instead of condemning her and permitting the men of the city to stone the woman, He suggested the sinless ones cast the first stones, knowing full well that no one could claim perfection. Throughout the gospels Jesus displays this degree of love and forgiveness towards sinners with repentant hearts.

But Jesus was not all teddy bears and hugs.

Throughout the gospels we are treated to accounts of our Savior condemning the hypocritical dogmas of the Sanhedrin, the religious leaders of the day. In fact, this was a common issue; they were so devoted to their traditions of men that they were resistant to the proper and true teachings of the Son of God. (Sound familiar? It should; this is a common issue in today’s church, with its obsession with following new age doctrines of men while viewing Christ’s teachings as passé.)

In reading the gospels, I find a Jesus I would love to hang out with. I find a Christ worth following. I find a love worth sharing. As Christians, we have a great name to live up to, a name we dishonor when we act superior, condemn fellow sinners, or fail to take moments to love the lost sheep of this world. Read about and remember how Jesus would stop and take the time to share His light with whomever He met on the road.

We be representin’! So let’s know who we be representin’. Thinking ‘What Would Jesus Do’ is important. Knowing ‘What He Did’ is key to doing His will.

Guilty on One Count of Misdemeanor Christianity

‘You will be hated by everyone because of My name. But the one who endures to the end will be delivered,’ (Matthew 10:22).

In this frightening verse Jesus is giving us the heads up: Expect persecution when you become a Christian. While I am quite certain members of the body of Christ have always suffered to some extent (10 of the original apostles were martyred), fifty years ago—and for a century-and-a-half before that—a ‘good Christian man’ was normally treated with respect. Christians were considered upstanding members of society, people who were honest and respectable, full of integrity and good works. Most of the persecution that went on occurred behind the scenes, in quiet, and only by the most hateful malcontents.

Today Christians are being marginalized, with the full support of mainstream media and the government. Disgusting spectacles are being made of the believer. Our God-given and constitutionally-protected religious liberties are being trampled on. Christian store owners are being forced to offer abortifacients (pills that can cause abortions), ministers are pressured to perform same-sex marriages no matter their Christian conscience; the right to pray or even acknowledge God in public schools has been ripped away, replaced by compulsions to accept the theory of evolution; and Christians are mocked and caricatured in movies and TV as silly, ignorant, extremists. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There is a government sanctioned machine targeting Christians. It is called the IR-you-know-what, and it has for years been delaying tax-exempt applications filed by Christian groups, launching unlawful investigations into the exact nature and affiliations of these groups, demanding to know not only what their activities entail (um, charity?), but what exactly is said during their prayer meetings! Prompted by the nefarious Freedom from Religion Foundation, with the goal of wrapping duct tape over the mouth of every Christian in America, the IR-you-know-what is attempting to prevent the discussion of political issues—even from a biblical perspective—from the pulpit, Sunday school, church websites, etc. Such is the fervent heat placed on Christian organizations that pastors are now afraid to remark on anything even remotely political, even subjects that are first and foremost moral, such as abortion. They fear to discuss them even from a biblical standpoint!

I could be wrong, but I suspect that the media and the government are only partially to blame. We believers are—on the whole—not what we used to be.

Fear of persecution, of revilement, of mere dislike has diminished the modern man of God by prompting him to compromise certain tenets of his faith, one after the other, making him a small believer. Big believers follow Paul’s admonition in Galatians 1:10. ‘For am I now trying to win the favor of people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ.’

As proof of the extent to which fundamental Christian tenets have been compromised, look no further than any interview with America’s number one ‘Christian’, the self-help guru of Lakewood Church. Every step of the way this man negotiates with unbelievers to strike best-life-now deals, rewriting whole sections of scripture to make it fit into his reformed Christianity, the Doctrine of Self-Glory.

 

What matters more to you, the things of God, or the favor of fickle, ungodly people who not only refuse to serve God, but try to convince you that their path to damnation is the intellectual way to live? We will all one day give an account to our Savior. Personally, when He asks me if I was faithful or if I made compromises, I would hate to have to confess that ‘I was weak; I valued their approval over yours, Lord.’

What have your persecutors done for you? Remember what Christ has done for you, and then stand fast in the faith (1 Thessalonians 3:7-8).