I know you’ve heard it. “What Would Jesus Do?” (WWJD). I heard it again this morning. We’ve sometimes made Christianity into a religion that asks this litmus test question for everything. Would Jesus say such-n-such? Would he go to this event? Would he read that book? On one level it makes sense: before you do anything, just ask, “What would Jesus do?”

But, in fact, WWJD is what Michael Horton calls “easy-listening legalism.”  It makes Christianity all about me, about self-improvement and my performance. It’s a slippery way of replacing Jesus as “Savior” with Jesus as “example.” Of replacing sin and redemption with moral improvement. But, in fact, it is self-righteousness, not Christianity!

The gospel is not about you or me. It’s about Jesus Christ and what he did for us when we couldn’t and didn’t measure up. The moral law of the Bible shows our need for a Savior – it demands behavioral purity. So what do Christians typically do with the imperative to “Be ye perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect?” They go to the nearest Christian trinket store, buy a WWJD bracelet, rededicate themselves to moral improvement, and join a church that preaches “try harder” and “keep your chin up” sermons.

But… now that I think about it, WWJD might just be what the doctor ordered. If it leads us to the point of despairing of our utter inability to live up to Jesus’ example – “wretched man that I am!” (Rom 7:24) – and causes us to cry out as a spiritually dead person to the only One who brings life to dead people, then it’s all good. Maybe what we need is a fresh encounter with the law in fire-hydrant force so that it pushes us towards realizing our need for God. Bring on the WWJD bracelets, tattoos and earrings!

Christianity refuses to be reduced to self-improvement, and it is not Pharisaism. It is not a navel-gazing exercise that goes about looking inside of us for the answer. The good news is something – Someone – outside of us. It’s not something we do, but what God did for us when we couldn’t. The answer to our deepest sins, hurts and brokenness is healing that comes from God (the power of God and the righteousness of Christ, Romans 1:16, 17).

If WWJD bracelets show us our need for Jesus Christ, bring us truck-loads of those glow-in-the-dark things! But don’t confuse Christianity with moralism: “What would Jesus do” with “What has Jesus done” – by living and fulfilling the law that we couldn’t live – by dying the death we deserve to die. Christianity is different from every other religion. At its core, it is not about you becoming a better you; it is what Jesus did for you before you got on the treadmill of “try harder” and “do more” religion.

May God give us his rest and refreshment these few Sundays before Lent. And this Sunday, may we know and experience a wonderful sense of his real presence in word and sacrament.

In His love,
Chuck