A gospel-centered church in Austin, Tx

*Providence Church (and this blog) is a very communal affair, so … Here are some thoughtful words from Grayson Walker, who is a younger guy in our church trying to sincerely follow Jesus and live out his faith:

Do you remember the Christian fad circa 2001? I do. All the “Christian kids” were wearing them. They weren’t like today’s trendy Silly Bandz. There were no fancy shapes or stretchable “fabrics”. Instead, kids wore simple bracelets — the letters WWJD stitched neatly into them, usually in white. Surely you remember them.

It seems like the aptly named “W.W.J.D.” bracelets had become the cultural mark of young Christians. After all, we seemingly bought into this vision: If only we can remind ourselves ‘What would Jesus do?’ in everyday situations we’ll conquer sin. Of course, that was shortsighted. Whenever we de-emphasize the death and resurrection of Jesus, we lose the very power of the gospel to change us.

For example, one day I wore many of my bracelets. On my way to school I remember acknowledging their presence on my wrists and thinking, “Today is going to be a great day because, as soon as I become aware of any urge to sin, I’m going to make a special effort to remind myself ‘What would Jesus do?’ But something odd happened. Even after asking that simple question I found myself sinning. And then I sinned again, and again.

Simply asking ‘What would Jesus do?’ didn’t solve my struggle with sin, even when I tried really hard. And that is just the point: Christianity isn’t simply about recognizing our sin and asking God to enable us to be more like Jesus. That’s part of it, but Christianity is more about recognizing our sin and then remembering that God did in Jesus what we never could. It’s about recognizing that we’re totally incapable of being enough “like Jesus” to merit God’s love and forgiveness.

Scottish theologian Sinclair Ferguson, in his book The Christian Life, says it like this:

The great mistake many of us make is to look only at our sin and failure, and then ask, a little despairingly, What can I do? But our need is not to do, it is first of all to understand what God has done; to see that what he has made us through his Son is a man or woman who has died with Christ to sin’s dominion and has been raised with Christ to newness of life (emphasis added).

These comments help clarify the biblical intent behind the incarnation: God didn’t come to earth in Jesus just so we’d have someone perfect to imitate. Instead, God came to earth in Jesus precisely because we can’t be the person we’re required to be. On our own, we cannot ever “do” what’s required because we all have sinned and fallen “short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23).

Imitating Jesus’ human life is still our aim, however, “for God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life” (1 Thess 4:7 NIV). But we can’t expect perfection. If we do we’ll inevitably lose hope because we will never measure up. We will fail repeatedly and start thinking “something is wrong” or “isn’t working” and, in the end, we won’t be able to live with ourselves.

As Christians, however, we accept and believe by faith that life is less about “doing” and more about “what’s already been done.” We recognize that, in Jesus, God freed us from the burden of constantly having to ask ourselves whether we’re “doing” enough. Accordingly, we no longer “load life on our shoulders as we once did, hoping we [can] exercise enough control over people and situations to make things work out okay. Instead, we live with the peace of knowing that a God of wisdom, power, and grace has already written the final chapter of our story.” (Paul Tripp, Forever: Why You Can’t Live Without It)

Indeed, we are “dead to sin and alive to God” (Rom 6:11). Ferguson contends that Paul’s teaching here suggests “in effect, that even when we sin we do not separate ourselves from Christ. We may distance ourselves from a sense of his presence, but we remain one with him.” It’s this reality which truly motivates, says Paul, because in Christ our victory over sin has already been assured (1 Cor 15:57)!

Because our victory over sin is already assured we no longer ask ‘What would Jesus do?’ Instead, we ask, ‘What is Jesus doing?’ In asking this, we: (1) proclaim the gospel reality that God is currently at work in and for us (Gal 2:20; Rom 8:28); (2) move from a place of fear and complacency where we’re preoccupied with falling short of God’s glory to a place of assurance and hope where we’re able rest in the God who comes to seek and to save the lost (Rom 3:23; Lk 19:10); and (3) begin to see that it’s not so much our personal effort that transforms us into the image of Jesus, but rather life in the Spirit (2 Cor 3:17‐18).

So, let’s stop living in the paralyzing light of the fear of not measuring up to what Jesus would do, and instead start living in light of the hope we have because of what Jesus is doing, in us, right now! If we do, we’ll begin to enjoy the kind of life which ultimately produces the fruit that leads “to sanctification and its end, eternal life” (Rom 6:22).