WDTHTDWJ?

I was amused by a joke a friend sent me.  Two guys walk into a store.  They see a hat priced at $17.95 with WWJD on it.  One asks the other, “What does that mean?”  The other replies, “‘What would Jesus do?’”  To which the first guy says, “Well, for one thing, he wouldn’t pay $17.95 for that hat!”

It’s been a long time since I saw that logo anywhere.  Like all fads, its time has apparently passed.  Still, the question of what Jesus would do in this or that situation remains valid, still more the apparent concern behind the logo–that Christians act like Christians in all situations.  My friend has taken the concern to heart.  He therefore tends to think more in terms of WWJHMD:  ”What would Jesus have me do?”  He has a good point.  As I told my Bible study class recently, “Learning Jesus is one thing.  Letting Jesus is quite another.”

As a pastor, I’ve been thinking about a different version of the logo: WDTHTDWJ–”What does this have to do with Jesus?”  Probably wouldn’t sell, would it?  Wouldn’t fit on a bracelet!  Nevertheless, as American churches race to catch up with what’s hip, to co-opt the culture–only to find what used to be cool is already out of date–I think my slogan worthwhile.

Chairs instead of pews?  Sure.  But what does it have to do with Jesus?  A huge multimedia screen and strobe lights for worship?  Okay.  But what does it have to do with Jesus?

I’m not condemning chairs, screens, or lights.  I use ‘em all in and out of church.  I’m only asking whether the things we use, the things we do, have Christ as their goal.  Do they help bring people into a saving relationship with God through His Son?  Do they contribute to building people up in Christian faith, hope, and love?  Do they send people out into the world as His servants?  Preaching, teaching, music–what do they have to do with the true and living Christ?  For that matter, what does feeding and sheltering the homeless have to do with Christ?  Are these the ongoing expressions of His love in the world or merely the evangelical’s current cause celebre? 

I don’t mean to suggest that any church activity I’ve mentioned is unworthy or trivial.  As far as I’m concerned, at least, all these are important.  I’m only asking if we ever pause to ask whether and what these things have to do with Jesus?

Paul wrote, “We take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5)–not captive to the culture, to statistics, or to the tenor of the times.   We harness church worship and activity neither to old tradition nor the youth market, but to Lord.  What compass are we using?  Do we pause to check our bearings now and then?  Is all submitted to the scrutiny of the One who walks among the golden lampstands, ala Revelation, the Lord of both Church and churches?

If not, why not?  Perhaps we’re afraid we’ll see how cluttered and encumbered we are, how much we groan and strain, not beneath the yoke of Christ, but in the chains of consumerism–or competition or copycat Christianity.

I’m realistic enough to realize that no church, including mine, can be completely free of culture.  We are in the world, not Heaven.  We will always struggle and we will always make mistakes.  So it must always be in the space between between the Now and the Not Yet.

But the challenge for your church and mine remains–to be in the world but not of the world.  It seems to me that, if we wish to pick up that gauntlet, we start by asking…

WDTHTDWJ?