W.W.J.D.

Scriptures: “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is –His good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2

When the WWJD movement caught on in the 1990s, I was pretty excited. Kids were wearing T-shirts and bracelets; there were bumper stickers on cars. Everywhere you looked, it seemed to pop up. It was a great learning and evangelizing tool at the time.

But as time has gone on, I have come to realize that WWJD doesn’t cover everything as I hoped it would. In fact, there are situations and circumstances I can’t imagine Jesus either being in or reacting to. But does that mean I avoid as many circumstances as possible that I can’t imagine Christ being in? That is an impossible task, but it gives me pause to wonder about some things.

If Jesus were walking on the earth today, I’m certain He would be on His Father’s business. He’d be preaching to the masses, healing the sick and mentally ill, bringing restoration to the wounded and disenfranchised and communing with His Father on a daily basis.

But would Jesus do anything entertaining? Would He attend concerts, Christian or not? Would He visit the internet, open a Facebook account, go to movies or listen to the radio – secular or not?

WWJD doesn’t cover these hard questions for me.

There are puritans among us who choose not to watch, listen or read anything unless it is labeled as “Christian”. But is that what we should do? Is that what Jesus would do? Maybe. I don’t know. The bible says nothing about Jesus “entertaining” Himself . We read about his work, how He went away to pray and commune with the Father alone, and how He dined with various people, both sinners and believers.

In today’s world with entertainment of all forms, movies, iPods, video games, internet, skateboarding, magazine subscriptions, DVDs coming out our ears, places to eat, sports to watch or join – what WOULD Jesus do? Would he avoid them all? Or would he find a fine balance in this world?

It’s a tightrope walk. If you choose NOT to live as a puritan – and choose to watch TV, flip through a fashion magazine, listen to hard rock music, our toughest job is to find the balance between what is and how much is ok.

I’m not a puritan in the very least. I enjoy TV, music, movies, playing Frisbee, riding my bike, watching various DVDs. However, I don’t have a great memory, so it is a lot of work for me to memorize scripture, the lyrics to music, even the fact that I have a dinner date with friends next week.

So I find myself at a crossroads when I want to learn the lyrics to a secular song. I have to take a lot of time to memorize an entire CD because I enjoy listening to it. But I always feel guilty, because I can’t help but think to myself, “So you are willing to spend hours learning lyrics to a secular hard rock CD, but you haven’t tried to memorize any new scriptures in a while.”

So I pause and wonder – Would Jesus spend ANY time with secular entertainment, such as music, movies or books?

Again – I have to answer that question with: “I don’t know.”

After all, Jesus rubbed elbows with the sinners in the world. He showed them love. He went into camps of lepers where no one dared to go, and He healed them. He found Himself in culturally undesirable places for the purpose of showing them who He was and introducing them to His Father.

The fine balance I find walking is being in this world, but NOT being “conformed by it”. It all comes back to relationship and priorities. I still don’t know if Jesus would be entertained by anything in this world. But as believers, I think it’s all about having a close relationship with Christ, moderation in all the things we do, and the discernment to stay out of trouble with the things we choose to “entertain” ourselves with.

Prayer request: For all of us to continue to draw closer to Christ.

Prayer: Father, we ask You to guide us closely in Your ways, and make Yourself known to us when we begin to stray from the path You have carved for us. Open our ears; fine tune our hearts, minds and souls to hear the Holy Spirit more clearly and more directly so that we may always remain close to You in all we do. Amen