OK, this question is becoming cliche, but it was the thing that popped into my mind today, so it is, by default, the topic of conversation.
What would Jesus do?
The last time I was in America, I saw that phrase everywhere. On the surface, it seems simple enough, even if it is becoming a bit overused and, I hate to say it, almost obnoxious. We will touch on that a little further down the line, though.
I look at what Jesus did on a pretty frequent basis. Jesus, if you have heard anything of his reputation, doesn?t do anything too surprising. Jesus healed sick people. Jesus encouraged people that had made mistakes in life and wanted to correct them. Jesus got angry at leaders that held their congregations to standards to which they themselves did not adhere. Jesus gave comfort to people that had lost a loved one, occasionally by returning the loved one to them. Jesus paid taxes. Jesus held a job. Jesus liked kids, and told people off when they tried to send them away. Jesus was a single guy who had other single friends and, on occasion, had dinners with them. Jesus held his ground when people told to shut up because he was rocking the boat. And when it came time to be accused, Jesus simply stood there and told the truth.
What surprises me, looking at the church that follows him, is what Jesus didn?t do. Jesus didn?t get angry with people that were doing self-destructive things, even when these things were forbidden by Mosaic Law. Jesus didn?t run for public office. Jesus didn?t avoid people that followed a different set of beliefs. Jesus didn?t, it appears, avoid anyone. Jesus didn?t ask anyone to pass a law against things that were against the Law and the Prophets. Jesus, as far as I can see, never asked anybody for a dime/drachma/mite.
I wonder, occasionally, why people seldom ask, ?What would the Buddha do?? Neither do you hear people ask what Krishna, nor Mohammed, nor Vishnu, nor Confucius would do. I don?t think I have ever heard anyone ask what Darwin or Einstein would do. Maybe it is because they wouldn?t have done anything in particular, or perhaps it?s because no one who follows those people as their primary source of inspiration expects to be able to adhere to that standard. I?m in the dark on that question.
I do, however, know this. If there were more people in the world that really looked at what Jesus did, and then tried to emulate that, the ?Christian Community? would find itself a lot less harried than it is today. Ask yourself, though. If you knew someone, some Jesus Freak, that really behaved in the same way that Jesus did, even without the miraculous stuff, would you want to spend more time with that person, or less?
So I asked myself this question. ?E., since you are on this ?What would Jesus do? kick, what would Jesus do in Iraq, if he were on the Coalition side??
Sometimes I really don?t like the questions I ask myself.
Jesus would do what he always did. He would comfort the mourning, heal the injured, and be angry at those who thought that God had a list of people ?that just need killin?? to use a phrase I once heard in Texas.
Would Jesus have invaded Iraq? I can?t answer that one. That question goes to the very heart of the nature of God, the justification of war, the nature of violence, and the definitions of Good and Evil, which are all waaaaaaaaaaaaay out of my league.