Freedom Isn't Free...dom?

I can't believe I'm actually going to write a post complaining about the ultra-obnoxious 1990s WWJD hysteria.

But I ran across a published statement by a minister recently that brought it up again in my throat like so much, well... you know. The assertion went like this: "The freedom you enjoy is encased in the Person of Jesus. Whatever He would do in a situation, is what you have the freedom to do. Yes, He associated with sinners, but did not become like them."

That second sentence helps us to understand his main point, which is that we have to be careful with the whole freedom shtick, because people might run off and do whatever they want. True... Jesus did not sin like the sinners. But that does not mean he didn't join them in their non-sinful activities, right?

I think all this brings up a very interesting hypothetical scenario. What if Jesus really were "in my shoes?" (The "in my shoes" part is important, because that is part of the original question in Charles Sheldon's classic book "In His Steps". But I guess WWJDIMS? is not as catchy.) What if Jesus were writing The Core Blog, or pastoring The Core, or married to my wife, or working at the Bellwether instead of me? Let's call him Jesus of Bartlesville (my childhood hometown.)

If this were the case, that means Jesus grew up in a normalish midwestern Christian family, cares more about creative and intellectual pursuits more than athletic or business pursuits, enjoys analyzing things to death, and chews his nails... sometimes. Naturally, he would do things differently if he were Jesus of Bartlesville, than he actually did as Jesus of Nazareth.

But how different? Would he still become a carpenter? Probably not... because my dad is not a carpenter (at least not a serious one.) Would he still speak Aramaic? Doubtful. Would he still walk everywhere he went? Possibly. Would he still have long hair, a thick beard, and wear a blue sash over a white tunic? Um... moving on.

But that's not even the most interesting part of the scenario. Not only do I have no way to know what Jesus would do in my shoes, I don't know how many different things he might do. Of course each human being can only respond one way to each situation he or she encounters. We don't get "do-overs" or alternate universes to play out every option.

So Jesus of Nazareth handled each situation in exactly one way. But how many ways could he have handled them that might have still been consistent with his character and purpose? Might he just as easily have said to the Gentile woman asking for healing, "I know you are a Gentile, but I sense that you have faith, so be healed!" instead of the bit about giving the children's bread to the dogs?

My point is... the one-dimensional perspective of freedom stated at the outset is very constricting. In essence, it is not freedom at all. Back when the Ford Model-T was the thing, people used to say, "You can get it in any color you want... as long as you want black." This is the concept of "freedom" held by millions of Christians, and I believe it has caused them a great deal of anguish as they struggle to figure out the precise will of God. I write in depth about this in my post "OK God, this is the part where you tell me what I'm supposed to do".

The fact is, we can't assume that God has only one right answer for every problem (just some problems.) Furthermore, we don't know what Jesus would do in our shoes. If it helps you to think about Jesus as you go about your life, that's great... I think that would be good for all of us. But perhaps we should replace WWJD with two much wiser questions:

1) WDJD: What did Jesus do? - If we're going to live Christ-centered lives, we have to pay attention to what he did do... and what is doing in the present, and will do in the future.

2) WITHSTMTD: What is the Holy Spirit telling me to do? - This takes two forms: understanding God's requirements of all people as stated in his Word, and maintaining an intimate relationship with him, so that you can hear his voice clearly, IMHO.

I guess I've made my point... while drinking a lot of water... better visit the WC.

BFN
TTYL
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