WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?

HAVING AN ARGUMENT WITH MY SIXTEEN YEAR OLD REMINDED ME OF THIS JOURNAL ENTRY I WROTE A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO. IT SEEMS A TIMELESS TRUTH.
What Would Jesus Do?




I’ve heard the term; What Would Jesus Do? In fact, it is a big market term these days for Christian entrepreneurs. It is sold on T-shirts, bracelets, and stickers, all in the hope of influencing our teenagers into better behavior. They supposedly hear this yelled at them by their parental unit, contemplate their actions and change them accordingly. However, when I tried this tactic, suddenly Jesus becomes the all to human man. The name dropping backfires on my intent to bring about the corrected behavior in my teen. Instead all too clever children, shoot back what they think Jesus would do, or has done. Here are a few of my favorites:
A friend of mine looked at her son’s disheveled appearance, hair unkempt and a hole in each knee of his jeans. She innocently asks him to walk a couple of feet behind her so no-one will no he is hers. He blurts out, “Jesus loves us just the way we are.” True, She thinks, but then he doesn’t have to put up with the stares of neighbors that know she drives a Porsche and can afford to dress her child properly. Is that sirens she hears? The child neglect unit maybe?
Another friend’s son came home with alcohol on his breath. She scolded, “How could you drink?” She then reminded him of his Sunday school teachings. “ What would Jesus do?”
“ Well,” he replied, “ Jesus drank, in fact mom, his first miracle involved alcohol. Remember, he turned water into wine! In fact he did it for his Mother!”
My best loved one was; as entering my teenage daughters room and discovering that it was very close to being the worlds third largest dump, I yelled out at her, “What’s wrong with you? Were you born in a barn?”
She very quickly replied, “Jesus was born in a barn and he turned out okay didn’t he?”
I can envision it now, Mary, yelling at Jesus when she finally found him in the temple, “What were you thinking running off like that?”
Jesus rolling his young eyes at his earthly parental unit and responding, “Making sure future teens have an excuse.”
Aahhhhh! Wait, I think I have it. I tell my child, “ If you don’t straighten up, no i-pod, no cell phone, no computer, No Technology! JESUS had no technology.” That brings about complete silence.

Bless All, Therese M. Guy