W.W.J.D.

If you´re somewhat acquainted with christian affairs I´m sure you´ve bumped into four letters, W.W.J.D., the abbreviation of “What Would Jesus Do?” Now, that´s a good question. But there´s a better question (handily fitting the same abbreviation): “What Will Jesus Do?”

Why is that better? Because the body of Christ is us, we´re supposed to, called upon, to do His work in this world we live in. Together, that is. The idea is, for anyone taking a look at the Church, they should get a pretty clear picture of what Jesus Christ is all about, between Jesus and his church there should be a striking likeness. So at the end of the day, maybe I should be able to say: “Now that was a Christ-like day!”

Has this ever happened? Nope. Not one single day of my life have I been able to say such a thing, for I´m not completely ruthless with the truth, you know. Then again, neither was a toenail on Jesus feet quite the same thing as the man himself. The point is that the toenail should be a toenail every day of the week, in every particle, and should be quite proud of being a toenail on the feet of the Lord. Ultimately, it´s all about it being Jesus toenail. There´s some degree of comfort in this, though I´m not quite sure what I´m supposed to be or where I fit in on Corpus Christi. At times I seem more busy sawing myself off that body than anything else, but there´s little point in telling you about such things.

Back to the big picture. Is the Church a good image of Christ these days? No. And hard to say any time and place there this has been so. In a particular city hit by spiritual awakening, in a specially blessed monastery, a holy hermit´s cave, some of that glory reflected, but otherwise so much of hipocrisy and self-anointment. So much uglyness.

But there is one instance where the image of Christ and Church match somewhat, where at least I can see the resemblance. We´re in the garden of Gethsemane with Jesus (Matthew 26 and Mark 14, please do read it!). Where we truly share his agony, and I dare say victory. Abandoned, struggling, fearing. Yet refusing to bow under the pressure, trusting in our good Father and putting it all in his hands. This is being done everywhere and in every time in the church of Christ, a prayer never silenced in even the most corrupt parts of the spiritual enterprise we´re never sure whether to call Zion or Babylon, the Church. We´re in the garden. W.W.J.D.?

Pray. And persevere.


PS. There´s this line in a Swedish psalm that goes roughly: “He entered your struggle on earth.” That is Christ entering your struggle. But it could equally justified be said that we enter into Christ´s struggle on earth, or in Gethsemane. There is this together-ness in the church which we need, and shall need. There be some that imagine themselves powerful enough to cope being christians without the aid of the church. That can only be because they have not entered that struggle, for it is one where together-ness is our supreme weapon. Together in Gethsemane, with the Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Peter, James and John, all the saints, and the not-so-holy but still redeemed. It can seem like a lonely place, but that´s just because we´re huddled up so close together it´s hard to tell where I stop and the other begin. And finally, how do I go about becoming a part of all this? By becoming a member, sharing in that together-ness. And letting no one tell you that it´s just a social club. We´re the body of Christ.