“What Would Jesus Do (WWJD)?” is a phrase that became incredibly popular back in the 1990’s. It was something that was placed on jewelry, bumper stickers, t-shirts, art, and so much more back then. Once utilized primarily by many Christians, it was a tool that was meant to demonstrate how Christ would act in any given situation.
The greatest thing that Jesus Christ represented in this world was unconditional love and that was the underlying message that WWJD was meant to portray. Two decades ago, I would have been one of those you would have seen out there sporting the paraphernalia that had this slogan on it. In fact, I did it quite often actually. Ironically though, I rarely demonstrated that in any of my actions back then. Instead, I was frequently consumed with addictions, selfishness and self-centeredness, which were the exact opposite traits of Christ.
Also during that time frame, I often got in heated arguments with others when I saw doing them doing things I felt was unloving. The words “What would Jesus do” came out my mouth more times than not to place greater weight behind how I felt. While it may have helped me win many of those arguments, the sad truth was that I was being a hypocrite. Not only was I just as guilty of all the same unloving actions I was condemning in others, I also generally offered only conditional based love to people. In other words, there was a price tag usually attached to my love.
Jesus Christ never attached any price tag to the love he offered the world. Instead, he freely gave it to each and every individual he came across, no matter who they were, what their background was, or what they had done. That is something I truly am striving for these days, but back then I wasn’t. Although I sported the WWJD slogan on most days in some fashion, I was far from living the life that Christ once did. I realize today that I utilized this WWJD phrase because it was the in-thing to do and it made me feel like I was being a good Christian. It also garnered me positive attention from other fellow Christians. While I’m not religious nor am I solely a Christian anymore these days, I still do consider myself a follower of Christ. To me, Christ was a man who died having dedicated his entire life to serving God’s will and being a vessel of unconditional love. And that is the root of the spiritual journey I find myself on today.
You won’t find me sporting the WWJD phrase anymore or any like it, because I believe it’s more important to live it through my words and actions. You also won’t find me asking someone else that question of “What would Jesus do?” either these days. On some level, I believe I was judging others when I was did it with great frequency.
The only thing I really want in life today is to live a life like Christ once did, which is one that’s filled with nothing but unconditional love for everyone. I want to do what Jesus did each and every day of his life and to be that, I know it’s not going to come from wearing a WWJD message or pushing it in someone else’s face. Instead, I need to become a living example of it by allowing my Higher Power to guide me that way one day at a time…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson