What Would Jesus Do?
Remember those bracelets? I may be dating myself, but back in the ’90s a church leader from Holland, Mich., began a grassroots movement to help teens remember their commitment to the moral imperative to act in a manner that would demonstrate the love of Jesus through their actions.
The movement actually traces back to author Charles Sheldon, whose book “In His Steps” was first published in 1896. In this novel, the Rev. Henry Maxwell, minister of the First Church of Raymond, is encountered by a homeless man who, a printer by trade, had lost his job and was questioning why so many Christians ignored the poor. Through this interaction with this “tramp,” Maxwell challenges the congregation to live out the true purpose of Jesus by embracing his principles and values, and to answer each challenge by answering the question: “What would Jesus do?” As a result of this promise, the characters tackle the apathy of their faith and transform into more Christ-like disciples.
Skip forward to modern day Livingston County and I wonder, for a group of self-proclaimed Christians such as Mike Detmer and those that represent him, where is Christ in their recent posts targeting children and their allies?
What would Jesus do?
In Matthew 22:35, a question is posed to Jesus: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus responds: “You shall love the lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.” In verses 38-40, Jesus adds: “This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
The point of Christianity is to be Christlike, is it not? There is a popular quote attributed to Mahatma Ghandi. While its authenticity is frequently argued, I quote it nonetheless: “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
Whoever said it, I understand what they meant. While I would not make a sweeping judgment about an entire religion, I can say that while everyone falls short of the glory of God, some fall quite a bit shorter than others.
That proof came out recently when the “Mike Detmer for state Senate” campaign tried to secretly rouse its base through a messaging platform that has been widely billed as a haven for right-wing extremists (Washington Post, Newsweek, ABC News, Bloomberg, AP News, Axios, NBC, New York Times, Politico, Vanity Fair, Forbes, Insider, Guardian, Rolling Stone, ProPublica, Business Insider, etc.). He called on his followers to expose and harass participants in a community project by incorrectly and shamelessly attempting to equate the lived experience of a transgender child in a book recitation to the ridiculously long leap to boys being allowed in girls locker/bath rooms.
Is the Detmer campaign so hollow regarding real societal issues that they must manufacture nonsense, all the while attempting to ruin the reputation of valued (and scarce) educators, community leaders, parents, and students? Why?
I think without something false to fight, this campaign would be forced to address the REAL issues facing this region.
Maybe they’re addicted to outrage?
In the book of Luke, Jesus heals a chronically ill woman on the Sabbath, much to the outrage of the synagogue official. Jesus then rebukes them and asked whether “she not have been released from this bond (chronic illness) on the Sabbath day?”
You see, outrage doesn’t equate to righteousness as Jesus commanded his followers to fulfill the Great Commission — to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you (see above). And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Jesus spoke kindly and healed people; he walked alongside and comforted people that no one else would. When Jesus spoke harshly, it was to the religious elite, those who declared their holiness and pretended they had reached a higher spiritual understanding.
Does anyone know where I can get some Lana Theis for state Senate signs?
