During the 1990’s, the slogan WWJD became extremely popular among Christian believers. Everywhere you looked, there would be bracelets, stickers, bumper stickers, and apparel emblazoned with those 4 letters.
In an article written by Heather Adams, she says that the slogan, “What Would Jesus Do grew out of the Biblical concept of the “Imitatio Christi,” or the “Imitation of Christ,” one of the teachings stressed in The Roman Catholic Church. Thomas a Kempis wrote a book with the title Imitation of Christ in the 1400s. John Wesley later built on the foundation of this theme, adding a social welfare component.
Inspired by Kempis’ book, the preacher Charles Spurgeon peppered one of his sermons with the phrase “What Would Jesus Do?” in 1881 in London. The Reverend A.B. Simpson composed a hymn that year using that phrase as the name. But Reverend Charles Sheldon was the one who introduced it to a wider audience.
We live in a society, where people say, Jesus would do this, and Jesus would do that. In their attempt to bring relevance and importance to their agenda, they often misrepresent what Jesus would do in that situation.
I wonder how many times over the years has the simple phrase, WWJD, been corrupted by the hearts and minds of the individual saying it, because of a personal feeling or personal belief, that may have not even lined up with scripture?
I feel we are better served by not allowing the question, What Would Jesus Do determine our response to situations, but rather, looking to scripture to see what Jesus DID Do.
This thought came to my mind while I was attending our District Youth Convention in Charleston, WV.
Bro. Drew Galloway was ministering in the evening sessions, and he was speaking on John 4, where the Bible says that Jesus must needs go through Samaria. Many Jews would not go through Samaria, because there was a mutual dislike between Samaritans and Jews. But Jesus, in this moment, instead of choosing the route to avoid Samaria, said, I need to go through Samaria.
Jesus needed to go through Samaria, because there was woman there that needed an encounter with the Messiah. His journey didn’t make sense to many, his route wasn’t the recommended route, but He knew there was going to be an intersection at Jacob’s well, where a woman’s life would forever be changed.
It was in this scripture, a distinct and purposeful answer is made to the question, What DID Jesus Do?
He chose the route that most would never choose.
He chose the route that many would bypass.
He chose to have an encounter with a soul that needed Jesus in their life.
As motorcycle ministers, this resonates deeply with me.
We have been called to take the road most would never step foot on.
We have been assigned a calling, that may take us into territory that most don’t want to venture into.
The highways and hedges are not for faint of heart.
Those places beyond the normal scope and reach of the church, is where Jesus often found Himself, and it’s where I believe ASR should find itself.
Where is the Samaria of Azusa Street Riders? It’s right in the middle of a subculture that most Christians would avoid at all costs.
But as for me, I must needs go through Samaria.
Because, I know if I do……if you do……, Jesus will go with us, and lives will be forever changed because of it.
Jeremiah Hayes
