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I am a child of the 90s. I grew up with Walkmans, Tamagotchis, and neon-colored windbreakers. I also grew up in the craze of the “What Would Jesus Do?” bracelet.
Every stylish Christian kid had at least one WWJD bracelet next to their cassette of DC Talk’s Jesus Freak (played at ear-piercing volume in your Walkman, with bass boost) and their puka shell necklace. For many, these bracelets became more than a reminder of acceptable behavior—they were a fashion statement!
What could be so wrong with that?
I think the most basic way to answer this question is not only to ask what Jesus would do, but why we should model Christlike behavior. At its core, WWJD assumes personal action. When we are faced with an ethical or moral dilemma, we ask, “What would Jesus do?”
The result is a good deed or good work. The connection to the dangerous prosperity gospel—which has attempted to infiltrate the gospel of grace by turning it into a gospel of works—is undeniable: If I do what Jesus would do, God will bless me. Essentially, if we model Christlike behavior, God will bless our efforts.
Now, don’t miss what I am saying. Indeed, we should behave in a way that reflects what we believe, but even more, we should reflect what has been done for us.
This brings us to the follow-up question: Why should we model Christlike behavior? This question gets to the core of the biblical gospel. Instead of looking back at our good works, we should look back at what has been done on our behalf. Our behavioral change comes out of a heart change.
Here are a handful of things to consider when you ask “WWJD?”:
- Your ability to do anything Jesus would do is only because He has given you a new heart. Ezekiel 36:26 says we will be given new hearts as a result of the new covenant made in Christ’s blood. Our sinful hearts of stone will be removed and we will be given new hearts sealed with the Holy Spirit.
- Apart from a new heart, all your works are dead in and of themselves. Paul says in Ephesians 2:1-3 that we are dead in our sins and trespasses. In our dead state, we carry out the desires of the flesh, and one of the strongest desires of the flesh is validation. As dead people, we find validation in doing good works, even though everything good we do as dead people only results in dead works with no value. But there is hope. Paul says in Ephesians 2:4-9 that God—being rich in grace, mercy, and love—has made us alive in Christ. The gospel is the message that God, in Christ, has brought dead men and women to life by grace through faith in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.
- Having been made alive in Christ, we are to be imitators of Christ. Ephesians 5:1-2 says to be imitators of God and walk in love as a sacrifice to God, who has made you alive in Christ. Additionally, Paul writes to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” We are to follow in the sacrificial love of Jesus, who gave His life as a ransom for our sins to give us a new heart. In his grace, God also gave us strong men of the faith like Paul who model Christlikeness. They were imperfect and struggled with sin, but we are encouraged to follow them as they strive to follow Jesus.
- Imitating Christ results in the fruits of the Spirit. Paul writes in Galatians 5:22-23 about the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These fruits are the byproduct of imitating Christ. They also become the salt we, as believers, are to season the earth with. In this, we work out our faith with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13).
- The fruits of the Spirit are worked out in our good deeds. Paul says in Ephesians 2:10 that we are created in Christ Jesus for every good work. Additionally, James 2:17 says faith without works is dead. He continues in the next verse to say, “I will show you my faith by my works.”
WWJD is not simply about behavioral modification, but a reminder that God is at work within us. Simply asking what Jesus would do and doing that thing does not earn favor with God. Instead, when we understand that we should model Christlike behavior because He died to give us a new heart and bring us to life, we will desire to demonstrate our faith in Jesus by modeling Jesus through our words and deeds.
