Doing the Work of Christ

“Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes in Me will do the works that I do also. And he will do greater works than these, because I am going to My Father.” (rf. Jn. 14:12 MEV)

 

            Years ago, a movement swept through the Christian community via a very effective marketing strategy using four simple capital letters, WWJD. Of course, those familiar with the movement remember the acronym stood for “What Would Jesus Do?”. It challenged us to ask ourselves what Jesus’ response would be in every given situation. It seemed at the time to be an effective way of keeping us on the right track as based on the classic work by Charles M. Sheldon, entitled In His Steps.

            A few years later, a subsequent book was released from author, Dr. Richard Spillman, calling Christians to Do What Jesus Did (DWJD). Many Christians “talk a good talk”, as the saying goes, even having the best of motivations in what we would like to do or see done. Yet, when it comes to actually doing the work of Christ, that is, making disciples, ministering to the sick and needy, spending time with the outcasts, feeding the poor, binding up the broken-hearted, we fail miserably as we focus our time and energies on things that benefit ourselves. This is highly convicting, especially for theological conservatives. We place high value on the Scriptures and, yet, when it comes to “social justice”, helping the poor, downtrodden, and hurting in society, Christian conservatives can often be seen as more interested in constructing churches and “saving souls” than in restoring lives. We criticize others for being “politically correct” when, in fact, we can easily find ourselves striving for theological correctness rather than being Biblically obedient.

            When Jesus said to “follow Me” (rf. Mt. 4:19; Mk. 1:17; 10:21), He wanted Christians to use His example of knowing truth and displaying love as our standard; this is a both/and, not an either/or concept. Jesus wanted His disciples to be doctrinally sound and socially just in all their dealings people, speaking truth as well as showing love and compassion. After all, the love of Christ was central to everything that Jesus did. He even charged Peter to do the same with the flock under his care after Jesus had departed (rf. Jn. 21:15-17).

            This “follow Me” principle is not time-bound. The key is our willingness to accept the challenge and fulfill our role as His disciples. How we complete our task and the faithfulness with which we execute it will be the measuring stick He uses to judge how well we have served Him when we at last stand before Him (rf. Mt. 24:45-46).

            May this be your call of encouragement to “Do What Jesus Did”, to review what it means to be a servant and disciple of Jesus and how we can by His Spirit be vessels of truth and love to a world that desperately needs both.