WIJD?

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Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
Wednesday: What is the psalmist’s closes friend? (Psalm 88)
Psalm 88:18 You have taken my companions and loved ones from me; the darkness is my closest friend.

And here's the question of the day:
Thursday: What creature is God describing in Job 40?

And here's the reflection of the day:
I was having a conversation with someone the other day about the whole "WWJD" movement. You know, "What Would Jesus Do?" I don't know the origins of the movement; I DO know that I've seen a million little bracelets with the initials "WWJD" written on them pretty much everywhere I go.

That is the consummate question, isn't it? What would Jesus do, if he were in our shoes?

Well, the Apostle Paul is here to try to rescue us from our quandary. Philippians 2 is about as close to an answer to WWJD? as we're gonna get from Scripture.
. . . be like-minded with Christ
. . . be one in spirit and purpose
. . . do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit
. . . in humility, consider others better than yourselves
. . . look to the interests of others as well as your own
. . . do not seek to be equal with God so make yourself nothing
. . . have a servant-nature filled with obedience
. . . exalt God to the highest place
. . . do everything without complaining or arguing

Philippians does an excellent job of marrying theology with ethics, beliefs with actions. There should be no room for Christians in the church are not willing to walk the talk. There shouldn't be room for those kinds of Christians in the church, but really, the church is full of those kinds of Christians. (The church's track record isn't exactly spotless, is it?)

Perhaps Paul meant for Philippians 2 to be a call for accountability in the church--accountability for not just church members, but also for its leaders who think leadership is about power and not servanthood.

I imagine "WWJD?" has done a lot for personal (and maybe even corporate) Christian ethics. I do hope that those who wear those bracelets (or tshirts or bumper stickers or drink from those coffee mugs) see a significant improvement in their Christ-likeness in the areas I listed above.

But the conversation with my friend didn't stop at the effectiveness of "WWJD?" She mentioned hearing someone else say that the question is not "What would Jesus do?" but rather "WIJD?". . . "What is Jesus doing?"

"WWJD?" may be best left in reference to personal ethics. Perhaps "WIJD?" may be a better statement to guide a congregation's ministry. The truth is, there are a lot of things Jesus would do in terms of ministry; maybe the more important question for a congregation to ask is, "What is Jesus doing around us and how can we get on board with that ministry?"