Is "What Would Jesus Do?" The Best Question for Decision Making?

In 1896, Charles Sheldon, the minister of the Congregational Church in Topeka, Kansas, wrote a novel entitled, “In His Steps.” That novel popularized the use of the question “What would Jesus do?” as a tool for making moral decisions. This question stuck around among Christians after that time and then enjoyed a big resurgence in the 1990’s through church youth groups. It has remained very popular ever since.

As surprising as this may sound, though, I think the popularity of this question overshadows an even better question that we could ask when facing moral dilemmas. Now, don’t me wrong—“What would Jesus do?” is certainly a fine question. It’s a far better question than “What would feel the best?” or “What would offer the path of least resistance?” Nevertheless, I think the question suffers from some drawbacks—some that stem from our response to the question, and at least one that stems from the question itself. What are these drawbacks?

1. We often assume we already know Jesus well enough to answer the question

Many people would say they’ve got a good grasp of what Jesus was all about—at least in His personal interactions, anyway. “He was all about being nice and polite, right? Inviting children to sit on his lap and what not.” If we already know Jesus so well, there doesn’t seem to be any need to take another, closer look at His example before we decide what He would do. But this is precisely where we take a massive wrong turn.

In this day, when only 32% of regular churchgoers read the Bible everyday¹, we’d better pause and think before we claim to know Jesus well. Have you ever read one of the Gospels all the way through? How about all four of them? They don’t all contain the same stories, so it’s important to read them all. If you haven’t done so yet, are you sure you know Jesus well enough to state what He would do?

If we try to decide what Jesus would do without cracking open the Bible and thinking long and hard about the question, the decision we reach could be far off the mark.

2. We over-emphasize some of Jesus’ actions and teachings and neglect others

Let’s face it—Jesus was a complex individual. We would not have predicted that all of His sayings or all of His actions would have come from the same person. The same Jesus who said He was gentle and lowly in heart (Matthew 11:29) also said that He came to cast fire on the earth and wished it was already kindled (Luke 12:49). The same Jesus who took children in His arms to bless them (Mark 10:13-16) also chased other people with a whip because they desecrated a holy place (John 2:13-17).

It takes great care and deliberate effort not to create a one-sided caricature of Jesus, but many times that’s exactly what we end up with in our minds. We tend to highlight the sayings and actions that we’re comfortable with and all but ignore the ones that make us squirm. But if we don’t consider the full range of Jesus’ words and deeds when we try to follow His example, how confident can we be in our declarations about what He would do?

3. The question runs the risk of downplaying the uniqueness of Christ

When we ask “What would Jesus do?” there seems to be an assumption that we can think along exactly the same lines as Jesus; that we can weigh exactly the same considerations that He would. But for all the ways in which Jesus was similar to us, He was still different from us in some highly important ways. On some occasions, He took the actions that He did because He knew the inner thoughts of others (think of the healing of the paralytic in Matthew 9) or because He knew the future (think of Christ’s delay in traveling to Bethany before raising Lazarus in John 11). And I hardly need to mention Christ’s ability to do miracles!

Those differences present some difficult hurdles to jump in our efforts to decide what Jesus would do in our present-day situations. I don’t know the inner thoughts of others; I don’t know the future. How do I know that Jesus wouldn’t have made a very different decision than me based on His knowledge of information that isn’t available to me?

A better question

“What would Jesus do?” can be a fine question IF the preceding drawbacks are kept in mind. Obviously, we want to imitate our Lord as much as we can! But I think there’s an even better question that deserves more of our attention. It is not “What would Jesus do?” but rather “What did Jesus command?” Or even better yet, “What did Jesus and His hand-picked representatives command?” We’ve got to bring the writings of the Apostles into our decisions; after all, they are the ones whom Jesus commissioned to make disciples and “teach them to observe all that I have commanded you (Matt 28:20).” He promised that the Holy Spirit would guide them into all truth (John 16:13), so we have it from Jesus that we better listen to what the Apostles had to say.

Commands offer us much greater clarity than an example ever could. The example from a person’s actions can be difficult to apply from one situation to another—even when we know that all of a person’s actions were morally perfect, as in the case of Jesus. But commands, by their very nature as directives, point us very clearly in the right direction. Yes, we will still have to sort through some questions about the precise steps that we should take, but commands make the general outline of the path very clear.

So as you make your decisions, I would encourage you to give your primary focus to the commands of Jesus rather than His actions. Actions can be helpful illustrations of a command, and thus we can and should learn from them, but commands offer greater clarity. So lock in on the commands of Christ and His Apostles!

References:

1. https://factsandtrends.net/2019/07/02/how-many-protestant-churchgoers-actually-read-the-bible-regularly/

Tips for Bible Reading

            At the start of a new year, many Christians make a renewed effort to read their Bibles. This is a fantastic desire and one that is absolutely worthy of your greatest effort! There are perhaps no other New Year’s resolutions that would have greater long-term benefits for your life. But most important, to live faithfully as a Christian, you’ve got to know what your Master wants you to do! Reading the Bible is the way to discover God’s will for your life, so it’s a vital habit.

            Many Christians who make this renewed effort also set the goal of finishing the entire Bible in one year. Though the timing of such a project is not the most important detail, it is an important goal to seek to read through the entire Bible. I don’t wish to load anyone down with guilt, but it is a great shame and embarrassment to the Christian community that so many adult Christians have never read the entire Bible. I realize the causes for this situation are diverse—including legitimate reading difficulties for some—but for a good number of folks, misplaced priorities are the likely culprit.

            It is also true, however, that many Christians have never received advice on how to read the Bible—particularly for a project like reading the whole book! I hope to give you such advice in the rest of this column. My prayer for you is that you will embrace the goal of reading the entire Bible and that with the following thoughts in mind, you’ll be successful—whether it takes you one year or five!

Use a translation that makes for good reading.

            Your first criterion for choosing a translation should be accuracy—does it accurately express the meaning of the original Hebrew and Greek in English (or Spanish or German)? Even with this criterion in mind, however, not all translations are created equal! Some of them provide a more pleasant reading experience than others—which is important when you’re trying to read longer portions of the text.

            I preach from the English Standard Version (ESV) because I think it is a highly accurate translation in modern English. But I must confess that it’s vocabulary and style are a bit clunky in some places. It doesn’t always have a great flow to it. In my opinion, the gold standard today for pleasant reading with good accuracy is the Christian Standard Bible (CSB). I use the CSB for my own daily reading plan, and I enjoy it a lot.

            A smooth style and flow for reading really are helpful, so keep this thought in mind. But whether you grab the King James, New King James, NIV, NASB or something else—just keep reading!

Don’t be afraid to skim!

            This advice may sound strange coming from a pastor, but I think it’s true. Feel free to skim through the text when you might otherwise get bogged down and be tempted to give up. While it is good to give careful attention to what you’re reading, the main goal of reading through the whole Bible should be to get a big-picture understanding of the main storyline.

            Think of this process like advancing through a college curriculum. When you take freshman classes in college, your classes have names like, “Introduction to (such and such)” or “Survey of (such and such).” You’re given a big-picture understanding of your subject first; only in later years do you work to master the details.

            Reading through the Bible is like your “Introduction to the Bible” class. Yes, get all the details you can, but focus on grasping the overall storyline. And if you hit a point where you feel like putting your Bible on the shelf, it is far better to skim than to give up.

Follow a “Star Wars” approach for your reading plan.

            What on earth do I mean by that statement!? Think of the order in which Episodes 1-9 of Star Wars were released. We learned the middle of the story first in Episodes 4-6, which also introduced us to the main character of the entire saga, Luke Skywalker. Then, the beginning of the story was released in Episodes 1-3, with the end of it all being finally revealed in Episodes 7-9.

            When you set out to read the Bible, consider reading the middle of the story first, which would be found in the Gospels. Yes, it may seem odd to start in the middle, but the Gospels will help you get very familiar with the main character of the entire saga—the Lord Jesus Christ. Also, the Gospels are easier to read than the first few books of the Old Testament. Starting with slightly easier reading can help you build momentum toward your goal of reading the whole Bible, and that momentum can help you keep going when you hit sections that are more difficult.

            After you’ve read the Gospels, go back to the beginning of the story and read the Old Testament. Portions of the Old Testament are challenging, but since you’ve read the Gospels, you’ll at least know where the overall story is headed—toward Jesus Christ! Finally, finish the project by reading the remainder of the New Testament. You’re understanding of it will be greatly enhanced by the knowledge you gained from the Old Testament!

Listen to a recording of the Bible.

            We have a great resource today in audio recordings of the Bible. These recordings are a great help to anyone who finds reading especially difficult, and they’re a tool that allows anyone to get the Bible on their mind while doing other tasks. Use them while you’re running an errand to Dodge, while you’re on the tractor, while you’re driving to a ball game, or anytime that you have an opportunity to listen.

            You can find good audio recordings for free on the YouVersion Bible app. This app also allows you to access many different translations of Scripture for free. You likely have your smartphone with you all the time, so download this app and turn your phone into a Bible!

If you’ve read through the Bible before, read through it again chronologically.

            If you’ve read through the Bible before and you’re setting out to do it again, let me encourage you to read it this time in the order in which the books were actually written. Our English Bibles do not print the books in the order in which they were written—they group them together by similar themes or shared authorship (e.g. the letters of Paul are all grouped together).

            Instead of just reading cover-to-cover or even following my “Star Wars” approach, find out the order in which the books were written and read them that way. It is very informative to read the Old Testament Prophets, for example, in the context of the events during which they were actually written rather than simply leaving all their writings until the end of your Old Testament reading.

            You can search online for a chronological list of the books of the Bible, or you can also purchase a special Bible that has the books printed in chronological order. For several months now, I’ve been reading through the Day by Day Chronological Bible from Holman Publishers and I have really enjoyed it. Whether you find a list for free or purchase a special resource, the chronological reading approach will sharpen your understanding of the overall storyline of Scripture.

May God bless you in your efforts to know His Word!