Those only are Christians who follow in the footsteps of Jesus. To be a Christian is to be a Christ-one, a Christ-man—one who does as Jesus would do, under every circumstance. Therefore, it is most proper for the Christian to continually ask himself, “What would Jesus do?” The Word exhorts us to be “imitators of God,” and contains the promise that “righteousness . . . shall set us in the way of His steps.” The concluding words of Jesus to the rich young man were: “Come, follow me.” Again, to him who was worrying about the faults of another, He said: “What is that to thee? Follow thou me.” And again Jesus says: “If any man serve me, let him follow me.” “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” And still again the Scriptures say: “He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked.” Finally, Peter’s exhortation to the elect (1 Peter 2:21) is: “Hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow His steps.” This is sufficient to show that the Christian should seek, in his every act, to do just as Jesus would do were He in his place.
The question about what Jesus would do here upon earth nowadays, has been well ventilated, both in England and in the United States, by means of a book written by the Rev. Charles M. Sheldon, and entitled, “In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do?” So great was the demand for this publication that over three million copies of the book were sold in this country and in England alone. It was also translated into almost all of the modern languages. We cite these facts merely to show that this question of what Jesus would do is very close to the human heart. And it is right that this should be the case. However, notwithstanding the great amount of good that this book has unquestionably done, in bringing forcibly to the minds of the people the great and important question, “What would Jesus do?” much harm has also been accomplished, owing to the fact that Mr. Sheldon has represented Christ as willing to do, were He upon earth these days, many things that Christ would surely never do.
Now, the only way of ascertaining what Jesus would do in any given case, is to consult the record of what He actually did do when here upon earth. The Christian must interpret life as Jesus interpreted it; he must live as Jesus actually lived; he must, as Peter expresses it, “follow His steps.” If he does not follow the steps of Jesus, he is not a true Christian, but a hypocrite. But Mr. Sheldon evidently does not believe that it is necessary for the follower of Christ to follow the exact pattern set before the world by the Master; for, in an article submitted by him to the leading monthly journal of the United States (having a circulation each month of about eight hundred thousand copies), he plainly said: “The question is not what would Jesus have done in Palestine two thousand years ago? But what would He do here and now in my place?” Being desirous to know what Mr. Sheldon really meant by the sub-title of his book, we wrote him, asking him why he had represented the Christians (in his book) as persons keeping Sunday instead of the seventh-day Sabbath, which Jesus kept, and why he further represented them as engaging actively in politics,—mixing politics and religion,—when Christ, the example for all Christians, had plainly refrained from having anything whatever to do with any political faction, saying (John 18:36), “My kingdom is not of this world . . . now is my kingdom not from hence.” His459reply to our letter was identical with the statement found in this article, just quoted.
This attempt to draw a distinction between what Jesus did, or would have done, “in Palestine two thousand years ago,” and what He would do “here and now in my place,” is evidence sufficient that Mr. Sheldon has not grasped his subject. Had he given the matter sufficient study, he would have found that no such distinction could possibly exist between Christ’s actions at one time and at another. Here is the simple proof: Speaking of Jesus Christ, it is said in the Word (Heb. 13:8) that He is “the SAME yesterday, and to-day, and forever.” And why are His actions the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever?—Simply because He, like His Father, is no respecter of persons; as it is written (Rom. 2:11), “For there is no respect of persons with God.” The only possible difference between the Palestine of two thousand years ago and the United States or the England of to-day, being in the habits, customs, and relations of the persons concerned in each case, it is evident that Jesus would act precisely the same to-day were He upon the earth in human form, in England, in the United States, in France, Germany, China, or Japan, as He did in Palestine two thousand years ago. He would be governed by the same great principles of the Law of Ten Commandments, which He then obeyed, and by those of the golden rule, which He himself enunciated. He is the SAME yesterday, and to-day, and forever.
Among some of the things which we know that Jesus did—things that the Christian of all ages must do in order to be true to his calling—are the following:—
He had no other gods before the Lord.
He made no graven image unto himself, nor did He bow down to any.
He took not the name of the Lord in vain.
He remembered the Sabbath day to keep it holy. He labored six days, but kept the seventh, according to the Fourth Commandment of the Decalogue. For, said He (Matt. 5:17): “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am come not to destroy, but to fulfill.” And to assert that this fulfilling of the law by Christ annulled the Decalogue, would be as foolish as it would be to assert that the keeping, or fulfilling, by any law-abiding citizen, of the laws of California, for instance, annuls said California laws.
He honored His father and His mother.
He did not kill.
He committed no adultery.
He did not steal.
He bore no false witness against His neighbor.
He did not covet.
He “went about doing good.”
He did not attempt to reform the corrupt society of his day by getting His disciples and followers to go with Him to the polls. He kept entirely out of politics, not because it was impossible for Him to have entered them, and with success. The constant fear of the Roman power that He would go into politics and become a king of this world, proves that He would have had plenty of backing, so far as this world is concerned, as do also the various attempts, on the part of the people, to make Him king. His only reply to such propositions was: “My kingdom is not of this world. . . . Now is my kingdom not from hence,” indicating plainly that the time would come when His outward kingdom would be “from hence,” in this very world. Although He was the poor man’s philosopher, and the friend of the people, we never read of His having used, in any temporal way, His influence over the people. He sided with no political party—not even with the prohibitionists of His day. He opposed the saloon, not by the use of the ballot, but by talking and living Christianity before the people.
No! the good, old-fashioned Christianity of Jesus Christ is not dead! It is not in need of being yoked up with politics in order to save the world, as Mr. Sheldon would have us believe. Let us take Christianity as Christ left it, pure and simple, and not that pseudo-Christianity which is dependent upon “the powers that be” for its energy and life. Of those who finally overcome all that is evil in this world, it is said (Rev. 14:4): “These are they which follow the Lamb WHITHERSOEVER He goeth.” The elect who will stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion, in the heavenly city, are those, and only those, who follow Jesus “whithersoever He goeth.” And remember that Christ never changes. In the expression “whithersoever He goeth,” the verb is in the present tense. Yesterday, to-day, to-morrow, and eternity are all one to Jesus. He is ever the SAME. His actions are ever the SAME. And though it is recorded (John 21:25) that “there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written,” we may be sure that each one of those unrecorded acts of the Master was, in principle, the SAME as those that are recorded.
Knowing, therefore, what Jesus actually DID when here in person upon earth, the Christian may easily know, by referring to the Word, just what Jesus would now do, were He here in your place, in my place. Do you know what Jesus did? If so, you know what your duty is at all times, under all circumstances.