I want to start a whole new series of short blogs with questions that challenge me to know Jesus better. The “What Would Jesus Do” Question is often asked as the prologue to a highly prescriptive conclusion, i.e., “therefore, you should do this because Jesus would have done this!”
I don’t have too much trouble with that approach if, in fact, Jesus faced exactly the same situation, BUT I have a big problem with people who want to have all the answers as to what Jesus would do in every situation based on their own presumptions of understanding God.
Again, I don’t intend to be prescriptive, but I do think I can stimulate you to think more about who Jesus is by asking some of the questions that I ask myself. I’ll share with you what I think—briefly—but then I’d like to hear from you too.
If Jesus were quarterback for an NFL team or a point guard for an NBA team, would he always be talking about God?
I can’t think of any time when Jesus did NOT talk about God! He started at least by twelve years old at the temple in Jerusalem. He talked about God when he ate, when he was in the synagogue, when he was in boots, when he was on trial, when he was with crowds, when he was by himself.
People often didn’t like it when Jesus talked about God. It made them uncomfortable the way he was so familiar with God. It disturbed them that he seemed so confident in his relationship to God. He spoke with authority about God and that really bothered other people who thought they owned God’s authority.
Jesus also spoke about God in contexts that many people considered inappropriate. He talked about God in the presence of children (danger of indoctrination). He talked about God in the presence of the poor, the sick, and the needy (could be charged with lack of compassion). He talked about God to religious people who did not understand God the way he did (danger of proselytism). He talked about God in the presence of people with alternative lifestyles (danger of being politically incorrect). He talked about God in business environments (danger of mixing secular with spiritual).
There are certainly lots of verses in the Gospels in red, and most of them are God-talk. Even the talk about being a good neighbor, Jesus says, is really all about God.
My answer is YES. If Jesus were a quarterback or a CEO or a carpenter or a nurse or a teacher or a policeman or a government employee or a sanitation engineer, He would be talking about God.
Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also” (John 8:19)
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