In the late nineties, in the United States it became fashionable among Christians to wear bracelets, key rings and clothes with the inscription WWJD, which are the initials of the English words of the following question, translated into Spanish: 'What would Jesus do? 'On one occasion, I was invited to preach in a multitudinous event where the motto of the meeting was that acronym. Those who spoke before me referred to holiness and recommended that young people think well before doing something wrong and warned them that doing what does not please God brings consequences. The young people listened with their heads down and some cried. There was a climate of tension and shame. As I prayed with open eyes, waiting for my turn, the Lord told me: Until now, it has been spoken as if the question was 'What things would NOT Jesus do?', Instead of asking what things he would have done. When I had to speak, I read the passage in Luke where Jesus himself announced with what mission he had come to earth:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and to give sight to the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the favor of the Lord. "Luke 4.18-19.
Then I talked about what Jesus did and what he wants to do today on earth through the new generation. We talk about transforming society, impact, love and sacrifice. When finished, the enthusiasm among the youth was evident.
Sins of action and sins of omission
It is a pity that the church has emphasized for so long only what Christians should not do, what we call sins of action. Little has been taught about the sins of omission, which are those sins that have to do with what we do not do. If we make a list of the sins of action, of the bad things that we should not do, the list is long as toilet paper. If we write down the sins of omission, that is, the things we should do and do not do, we hardly remember a few: tithing, praying, reading the Bible, going to church and obeying parents. These are essential things, without a doubt. But, does that end what the Christian should be doing? What would Jesus do in our midst?
I am convinced that doing the work of Christ contributes enormously to our sanctification; When I start doing what Jesus did, I have much less time to do those things that I should not do and that Jesus never did. When I start to stay, to not do what God wants me to be doing, it is easy for temptation to find me available. That's what happened to David.
Let's go some years later, long after his brave confrontation with Goliath. Chapter 11 of 2 Samuel relates that David had to go out in campaign against the enemies of the people of God, but he stayed. The king should have gone with the army but he was very comfortable in the Jerusalem palace watching TV. One afternoon (!) When getting out of bed, he began to walk around the roof of the palace and from there he saw a very beautiful woman who was taking a bath. First he looked at her with one eye, then with two, and then he took a picture. He had her brought and, taking advantage of being the king and that the woman's husband was not there, he slept with her. A shame for a man who knew so much about God.
But where had everything started? David was not where he needed to be. I was wasting time in the palace instead of doing what God wanted me to do.
God wants holy children. Holiness is the beauty of the Christian and the Christian. Because holiness is just a reflection of the beauty of Christ's character in our lives, we are saints when we do what Christ did. It is unfortunate to see Christians who think that being a saint is not smoking, not drinking, not dancing or saying bad words. These characteristics are a minimal expression of what holiness is. The holy person is happy because he is doing the will of Daddy God, who is "pleasant and perfect" (Romans 12.2). Mother Teresa of Calcutta was a saint, Martin Luther King, Martin Luther and Hudson Taylor were saints, like all those who wholeheartedly give themselves to do what God asks of them and that makes them look more and more like Jesus.
God wants something more than just do not get in trouble with the Christians around us. He wants an obedient heart and total faith. He is more interested in the hearts of his children than in his abilities and knowledge. He wants proof-proof lives. He wants Christians to maintain joy and hope in difficulties; to preserve peace and self-control in the midst of tensions. God wants something more than charisma and popularity; He is looking for true holiness. That which has to do with the purity of heart and of which we can talk in a low voice only HE and us. Holiness that has to do with what the Saint had done in our place.
I want to get away from those things that offend my Lord. But I also do not want to offend him by not doing what he asks of me.
