What would Jesus do?

The phrase "What would Jesus do?" (often abbreviated WWJD) became popular in the United States in the 1990s, becoming the personal motto of thousands of Christians, who used the phrase as a reminder of their belief that Jesus is the supreme model for morality, and to act in a manner of which Jesus would approve. The initialism WWJD is sometimes also used by Christians to mean "Walk with Jesus daily".

History

Though variations of this phrase have been used by Christians for centuries as a form of imitatio dei, the imitation of God, it gained much greater currency following Charles Sheldon's 1896 book, In His Steps. Sheldon's novel grew out of a series of sermons he delivered in his Congregationalist church in Topeka, Kansas. Unlike the previous nuances mentioned above, Sheldon's theology was shaped by a commitment to Christian Socialism. The ethos of Sheldon's approach to the Christian life was expressed in this phrase "What Would Jesus Do", with Jesus being a moral example rather than a Saviour figure. Sheldon's ideas coalesced with those that formed into the Social Gospel espoused by Walter Rauschenbusch. Indeed Rauschenbusch acknowledged that his Social Gospel owed its inspiration directly to Sheldon's novel, and Sheldon himself identified his own theology with the Social Gospel.

In this popular novel (it had been translated into 21 languages by 1935), Rev. Henry Maxwell encounters a homeless man who challenges him to take seriously the imitation of Christ. The homeless man has difficulty understanding why, in his view, so many Christians ignore the poor:

"I heard some people singing at a church prayer meeting the other night,

'All for Jesus, all for Jesus,

All my being's ransomed powers,

All my thoughts, and all my doings,

All my days, and all my hours.'

"and I kept wondering as I sat on the steps outside just what they meant by it. It seems to me there's an awful lot of trouble in the world that somehow wouldn't exist if all the people who sing such songs went and lived them out. I suppose I don't understand. But what would Jesus do? Is that what you mean by following His steps? It seems to me sometimes as if the people in the big churches had good clothes and nice houses to live in, and money to spend for luxuries, and could go away on summer vacations and all that, while the people outside the churches, thousands of them, I mean, die in tenements, and walk the streets for jobs, and never have a piano or a picture in the house, and grow up in misery and drunkenness and sin."

This leads to many of the novel's characters asking, "What would Jesus do?" when faced with decisions of some importance. This has the effect of making the characters embrace more seriously Christianity and to focus on what they see as that religion's core—the life of Christ.

In 2005, Garry Willis wrote "What Jesus Meant," in which he examined "What Would Jesus Really Do" (also a book review in Esquire Magazine).

Accessories

In the late 1980s, several youth ministers at churches in Holland, Michigan began putting the "W.W.J.D." inscription on buttons and bracelets, and the theme was picked up by locally-based merchandisers. These bracelets and others like them became popular, especially among young people, including Christians of both liberal and conservative varieties. They were occasionally worn as a fashion statement by people who did not necessarily take the question to heart. The inscription has also appeared on mugs, rings, bumper stickers, bookmarks, key rings, etc. with some variants featuring the letters in the shape of the Christian ichthys symbol. This contemporary cultural form of consumption is part of a wider sociological phenomenon, which sociologists of religion have emphasized frequently occurs when an item or idea is decontextualized from its original setting and reshaped as a product in consumer culture. The original socialist ethos of Sheldon's slogan has metamorphosed into a product for consumption.

Parodies and variations

The expression has inspired countless variations, serious and not. Most commonly, they substitute another well-known figure for "Jesus". For example, the movie South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut featured the song "What Would Brian Boitano Do?", sarcastically holding up U.S. figure skater Brian Boitano as a role model. The slogan "What Would John Denver Do?" was used in a Denver public school by students protesting overt endorsements of Christianity by school officials. "What Would Yoda Do?" is used by Star Wars fans, and "What Would Mal Do?" is used by Firefly fans. A book What Would Buddha Do? used Buddhist answers to everyday problems. The online comic The Order of the Stick offers the Norse variant, "What Would Thor do?", while in the online comic Beaver & Steve, Steve asks himself "What Would Beaver Do?" After George W. Bush's daughter Jenna was seen drinking, the slogan was parodied with the phrase "What Would Jenna Drink?". On the animated program the Simpsons, Homer was surprised to hear that the “J” stood for Jesus, thinking it stood for "Jeppetto". On the animated program Family Guy in the episode North by North Quahog, Jesus drove a car with a front license plate that read "WWID?" Also, as parody of both klondike bar's ad campaign and the phrase, WWJDFAKB, or "what would Jesus do for a klondike bar?" has been seen on various places such as T-shirts. And in more recent years, bumperstickers have appeared with "What Would Scooby Doo?". "What Would Jack Do?" references the television action-dram 24, where the often quick-reacting Jack Bauer takes decisive, often lethal, action. Also, singer Marilyn Manson has parodied the expression with "We Want Jesus Dead", which is unusual one few parodies which is not stated in the form of a question.

Another variation is to expand the initials with different words, such as "What Would Jesus Drive?" (part of an environmental campaign) or "We Want Jack Daniel's." Another variation is "Who Wants Jelly Donuts?" Some critics of George W. Bush's foreign policy, especially military intervention in Iraq, have modified the question into "Who Would Jesus Bomb?"

Non-Christians have sometimes posed the question in its original form to Christians whom these critics believe are not living up to the principles of their religion.

A more recent parody is WWCRD, which stands for, "What would Christopher Reeve do?" This is often used by stem cell research advocates. The irony is that the original statement would be used by evangelist Christians who are stereotyped to be against stem cell research. Christopher Reeve was the popular actor who played Superman in the early Superman movies, but later was paralyzed during a horseback riding accident. He then became an advocate of stem cell research in hopes that it could help people like him overcome their paralysis.

Yet another parody is WWFSMD, which stands for "What Would the Flying Spaghetti Monster Do?" It is used as a slogan for the parody religion and appears on clothing and promotional images offered at the religion's website.

A parody was sparked within the past year by the song "Craig" on Stephen Lynch's latest album, The Craig Machine, released October 4, 2005. The song is a comical biography of a man named Craig, invented by Lynch, who is Jesus Christ's oft-neglected, hugely jealous, wild child of a brother--instead of wine, Craig turns water into beer. The line, "And now the question for you is not 'What would Jesus do?' but 'Where will you be when the Craig Machine comes partyin' through?' " sparked Lynch fans everywhere to state WWCD? or "What would Craig do?" Lynch's personal photographer Cara Waugaman, who doubles as webmaster for Lynch's largest unofficial fansite, reportedly has a line of WWCD? bracelets in the works.

External links

• In His Steps
• Cave, Damien, "What would Jesus do -- about copyright?" (Christian merchandise intellectual property violations.)
• Snider, Brian, "What would Jesus do?"
• What would Jesus drive?
• Profile of Sheldon from the Congregational Church, Topeka, Kansas [1]
• James Smylie, "Sheldon's In His Steps: Conscience and Discipleship," Theology Today, Volume 31, number 1 (July 1975) pp. 32-45.