What DOES Jesus Do?
Content
THREE CHRISTIAN SAYINGS THAT SOUND WISE (But are the Lies of the Devil) By Jeffrey D. Dean, Sr.
There are many major “sayings” or “cliché’s” in Christianity that sound very wise until you closely scrutinize them. I am going to look at three such phrases and do just that, in an effort to shed some light on how modern Christians believe they are wise but are becoming fools, day by day, one “saying” at a time.
“WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?”
You often see this on bumper stickers on the backs of cars. You also see WWJD on necklaces, clothing, hats, just about anything warn by the Christian. When we were a part of a home schooling group here in this region, the leader of the group asked everyone to read a book (I will not mention the name of the book for fear of promoting it). Apparently this book is credited with starting the entire WWJD movement to begin with. When you read the forward of the book it becomes apparent where the author is at, spiritually. He encourages his readers to try and “guess” what Jesus would do in any given situation and actually suggests that this is the “road to success” for any Christian! This sounds very wise doesn’t it? I mean, if, during your lifetime when you encounter trials and tribulations if you would just stop and try to “figure out” or “guess” what Jesus would do, IF he were in your shoes, then proceed to handle that situation as HE would handle it, how can you fail? It’s a GREAT theory, one that is intrinsically FLAWED! Why? Because you being a HUMAN BEING cannot POSSIBLY FIGURE OUT INTELLECTUALLY what JESUS would do in any given situation, for Jesus’ actions were all SPIRIT (LOVE) DRIVEN and MOTIVATED! I’m amazed at the suggestion that you should try to “figure out” what Jesus would do and imitate him, and I’m most amazed that this suggestion comes from Trinitarians! How does the author of this concept, (and those who recommend the book to others) expect us, mere mortals, born into sinful
fleshly bodies, to be able to figure out what GOD INCARNATE COME TO THE EARTH IN PERFECT SINLESS PERFECTION is going to do in a given situation, much less how do they expect us to EMULATE this God/Man? Yet, what is the REAL problem with the saying “what would Jesus do?” It’s the word “would” in this phrase. “Would” is a hypothetical! Basically when you ask, “what would Jesus do” you are REALLY asking, “what would Jesus do if he were in my shoes.” It’s purely hypothetical. Yet, our walk is NOT hypothetical. The scriptures COMMAND US not to HYPOTHETICALLY CONSIDER what Jesus would do and then HYPOTHETICALLY attempt to do as he does, the scriptures command us to LITERALLY DO WHAT CHRIST DID! Christ, being our Lord and Master and King, demands that we follow in his footsteps (not hypothetically but for REAL). I know some of you are going to accuse me of mincing words. Yet, I’m not mincing words here. There is a BIG DIFFERENCE between the questions “what WOULD Jesus do,” and “what DOES Jesus do.” Christians claim to believe that Jesus is ALIVE and LIVING IN THEM THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT, so why are they asking what WOULD he do? Shouldn’t they be, rather, finding out what HE DOES DO and do it? It’s no small distinction here! Saying, “what WOULD Jesus do” turns serving and following Christ’s example into an hypothetical and saying “what DOES Jesus do,” makes serving and following Christ a categorical imperative. In asking what “would” Jesus do we leave the door open for the person to REJECT Christ’s example! Yet, Jesus turned to the multitudes and demanded, “why do you call me Lord, Lord but do not what I say?” He also commanded us to LOVE ONE ANOTHER even as HE HAS LOVED! The apostles echoed this command and made it clear that it is an IMPERATIVE that we follow Christ and DO WHAT HE DOES, (not hypothetically living our lives wondering what he WOULD do and trying to repeat it). Then, there’s the matter of the Holy Spirit. How can anyone who says that they BELIEVE Jesus lives IN THEM, and who says that Jesus is with them ALWAYS, then turn around and wonder what Jesus “would” do? It makes no sense at all. He who has Jesus “with them” does not have to wonder what Jesus “would do!” They reveal themselves with this saying, so that,
when you meet someone who is stuck on this saying and examine them closely you begin to see that they RARELY actually DO what Jesus does. Rather, they spend most of their time WONDERING what Jesus does and that is because they are attempting to understand intellectually what can only be SPIRIT BREATHED! There are three types of people in this world. People who make things happen, people who watch things happen, and people who don’t have a single clue what happened! I submit, he who has to wonder “what would Jesus do” is of the latter category, they can rack their brains all day long but they are NEVER going to grasp what Jesus WOULD DO for it is beyond them and this is simply because if they HAD THE SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING to grasp what Jesus “would” do they wouldn’t have to WONDER what he would do, they simply would know what he does and do it themselves, for everything that Jesus does comes out of LOVE, and this sort of love cannot be taught and it cannot be intellectually hypothesized! Therefore, while the saying “what would Jesus do” sounds very wise, in the end those who propagate the saying reveal themselves as devoid of any spiritual understanding at all and are, spiritually speaking, the most foolish of all the Christians! I find this to be an irony that the scripture mentions when it says, “professing themselves to be wise they become fools.”
“LIVE LIKE YOU ARE DYING”
This is one of my favorite diadems! On the surface it seems EXTREMELY wise and spiritual. The idea of the saying is to remind people that they are not sure of tomorrow and tell them that they should live each day as if it were their last (because in fact it could be their last). However, the saying, in fact has quite the opposite meaning and effect than its seeming intention, for it is a “simile.” To say, “live LIKE” you are (or WERE) dying states outright that you in fact ARE NOT dying and should therefore live “like” or “as if” you WERE dying! How unwise is it to tell people that they should live “as if” they are dying when point in fact, from the day you are born you begin to age and ultimately to die of old age. Everyone on this planet is dying. Everyone and everything! A more correct version of this saying therefore would be to say, “live, therefore, because you are dying,” or perhaps, “live life to it’s full for you are dying.” There are any number of more accurate ways to convey this concept, yet, it is not just that the
statement passes off a statement of fact as a simile that bothers me. It’s the PURPOSE and INTENT of the saying and more importantly how it is unwisely applied. Let us take for example the popular song by that same title “Live Like You Were Dying.” Written and performed by Tim McGraw. In the song the man is in his early forties when the doctors inform him that he is going to die soon. What is the man’s reaction? “I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing I went 3.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu” As we can clearly see by these lyrics the main message in the world with the saying “live like you are dying” is to get the MOST out of LIFE that you can because you never know when it all might end. It is a SELFISH response! Take the song for example. The man is going to die and where are his priorities? Sky diving, mountain climbing, in short, getting as MUCH ENTERTAINMENT OUT OF LIFE AS HE CAN BEFORE IT’S OVER! This is the EXACT same thing the apostles spoke of concerning the world of the END TIMES, when they predicted the people of the world would tend to their own fleshly lusts saying among themselves, “let us eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” It is also akin to what Christ said of the last generation that they would be “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” until the day sudden destruction came upon them! When people say “live like you are dying” they are sounding very wise and spiritual but what they are actually suggesting is that you should live your life in such a way that you get as much SELFISH PERSONAL GRATIFICATION as you can out of life before the end comes! Even when they are trying to be spiritual, the people who use this saying reveal themselves. Look again at the lyrics to the song: “I finally read the good book and I took a good long hard look at what I’d do if I could do it all again.” These people that “live like they are dying” have to KNOW FOR CERTAIN they are dying before they’ll even READ the good book or take a good long hard look at the consequences of their living! The grand irony of this is,
EVERYONE IS IN FACT DYING, so we don’t have to PRETEND and live like we WERE dying, for we ARE dying!
“THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS”
This saying is probably one of the most misguided of them all (and one of the oldest). My dear old Great Grandfather (who was a Southern Baptist Minister) used to say this one all the time. The supposed ”wisdom” of it is that many times people can do terrible things with the best of intentions at heart. That’s the thinking anyway. For example, a war! How many wars have been fought for “noble causes?” How many good people have been sucked into battles and wars because they thought the cause was “just?” I myself believe the saying comes from the words of proverbs. Stated simply, “there is a way that seems right unto a man but the end thereof is death.” (Proverbs 14: 12). Also, Christ said “narrow is the way that leads to life and few there be who find it and broad is the way that leads to destruction.” Yet, this saying could not be further from the truth! The road to hell is NOT paved with good intentions. I submit to you all that this is IMPOSSIBLE, knowing what we know from scripture. “Intent” of the heart is all that matters in the end and really it’s all that separates the “lost” from the saved! This saying actually directly CONTRADICTS many statements of the apostles and of Jesus himself! The real trouble I have with the saying is that it does MORE than INSINUATE that the “broad way” that leads to destruction is a path of “goodness,” or “good intentions.” It makes darkness for light and light for darkness, it puts bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, it makes the pursuit of righteousness and goodness an “unholy” thing! Don’t kid yourself, those who love to use this saying, use it for that very reason. Long ago they have given UP on the notion of a righteous path and a life full of goodness. They have decided among themselves that righteousness is UNATTAINABLE, IMPOSSIBLE, and furthermore are now attempting to convince themselves that those who PURSUE the righteous path with good intentions in their heart are the deceived ones, and are the deceivers, and are on the highway to hell! They make the
RIGHTEOUS PATH OF GOOD INTENTIONS an EVIL ROAD and those who take it are therefore worthy of destruction! How does such a thing happen? How do things get so turned around in religion that those who now pursue “good intentions” are evil spoken of? As I said before, the saying “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” directly contradicts the teachings of Messiah and the apostles. Jesus said, “an evil tree cannot bear good fruit and a good tree cannot bear evil fruit, therefore a tree is known by it’s fruit.” From this teaching we can be assured that if EVIL has come of your actions there were no REAL “good intentions” driving your actions! Perhaps you may THINK that your intentions were good (or you may claim your intentions were good) but I can assure you, if evil fruit was produced from the tree of your actions, the root of that tree was “evil” and not “good intentions.” Otherwise, Jesus did NOT know what he was talking about. Jesus said: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6: 45) If “good intentions” can lead to paving the road to HELL then Jesus simply was wrong in this statement in Luke! I believe that this long held cliché’ “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” perhaps better than ANY OTHER saying among Christians PROVES that Christianity VILLIFIES goodness and righteousness! Christianity has LONG SINCE given up on righteousness, holiness, goodness, (all of the fruits of the spirit) and now teaches quite the opposite, namely that those who go down the road with the intent to do “good” in this life are deceivers, or liars, and that they are paving a road straight to HELL. On the converse side of things, those who give UP on good intentions and the hope of doing that which is right in this life are “rewarded” in the Christianity of today and called the “faithful.” Christians will even quote famous verses, such as the one found in the Letter of John which says “he who says I am without sin is a liar and the truth is
not in him,” and they will quote such verses as the ones that warn against going about to “set up your own righteousness” or warn us against “self righteousness” and they shall apply these verses to people who desire to BE LIKE JESUS! I’ve seen them do it in COUNTLESS CHRISTIAN FORUMS and BIBLE STUDIES. Suddenly, not just seeking to be “self righteous” is condemned but seeking to be GOOD, or RIGHTEOUS (both things that we are COMMANDED TO DO) are now condemned by the Christian! He who seeks to be “without sin in this life” is now called a LIAR! Anyone who can look at the SAD STATE of affairs in the Christian religion and not see just how BADLY they have become “antichrist” in their lifestyles and in their life philosophy, well, such a person is simply blinded by their own ignorance, for a child can look at these errors I’ve pointed out and see them clearly for what they are. The LIES of the devil! I will now modify this cliché for you to make it far more accurate…. The road to hell is paved by Christian (religious) intentions! I’ll leave you with that thought for now.
There are many major “sayings” or “cliché’s” in Christianity that sound very wise until you closely scrutinize them. I am going to look at three such phrases and do just that, in an effort to shed some light on how modern Christians believe they are wise but are becoming fools, day by day, one “saying” at a time.
“WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?”
You often see this on bumper stickers on the backs of cars. You also see WWJD on necklaces, clothing, hats, just about anything warn by the Christian. When we were a part of a home schooling group here in this region, the leader of the group asked everyone to read a book (I will not mention the name of the book for fear of promoting it). Apparently this book is credited with starting the entire WWJD movement to begin with. When you read the forward of the book it becomes apparent where the author is at, spiritually. He encourages his readers to try and “guess” what Jesus would do in any given situation and actually suggests that this is the “road to success” for any Christian! This sounds very wise doesn’t it? I mean, if, during your lifetime when you encounter trials and tribulations if you would just stop and try to “figure out” or “guess” what Jesus would do, IF he were in your shoes, then proceed to handle that situation as HE would handle it, how can you fail? It’s a GREAT theory, one that is intrinsically FLAWED! Why? Because you being a HUMAN BEING cannot POSSIBLY FIGURE OUT INTELLECTUALLY what JESUS would do in any given situation, for Jesus’ actions were all SPIRIT (LOVE) DRIVEN and MOTIVATED! I’m amazed at the suggestion that you should try to “figure out” what Jesus would do and imitate him, and I’m most amazed that this suggestion comes from Trinitarians! How does the author of this concept, (and those who recommend the book to others) expect us, mere mortals, born into sinful
fleshly bodies, to be able to figure out what GOD INCARNATE COME TO THE EARTH IN PERFECT SINLESS PERFECTION is going to do in a given situation, much less how do they expect us to EMULATE this God/Man? Yet, what is the REAL problem with the saying “what would Jesus do?” It’s the word “would” in this phrase. “Would” is a hypothetical! Basically when you ask, “what would Jesus do” you are REALLY asking, “what would Jesus do if he were in my shoes.” It’s purely hypothetical. Yet, our walk is NOT hypothetical. The scriptures COMMAND US not to HYPOTHETICALLY CONSIDER what Jesus would do and then HYPOTHETICALLY attempt to do as he does, the scriptures command us to LITERALLY DO WHAT CHRIST DID! Christ, being our Lord and Master and King, demands that we follow in his footsteps (not hypothetically but for REAL). I know some of you are going to accuse me of mincing words. Yet, I’m not mincing words here. There is a BIG DIFFERENCE between the questions “what WOULD Jesus do,” and “what DOES Jesus do.” Christians claim to believe that Jesus is ALIVE and LIVING IN THEM THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT, so why are they asking what WOULD he do? Shouldn’t they be, rather, finding out what HE DOES DO and do it? It’s no small distinction here! Saying, “what WOULD Jesus do” turns serving and following Christ’s example into an hypothetical and saying “what DOES Jesus do,” makes serving and following Christ a categorical imperative. In asking what “would” Jesus do we leave the door open for the person to REJECT Christ’s example! Yet, Jesus turned to the multitudes and demanded, “why do you call me Lord, Lord but do not what I say?” He also commanded us to LOVE ONE ANOTHER even as HE HAS LOVED! The apostles echoed this command and made it clear that it is an IMPERATIVE that we follow Christ and DO WHAT HE DOES, (not hypothetically living our lives wondering what he WOULD do and trying to repeat it). Then, there’s the matter of the Holy Spirit. How can anyone who says that they BELIEVE Jesus lives IN THEM, and who says that Jesus is with them ALWAYS, then turn around and wonder what Jesus “would” do? It makes no sense at all. He who has Jesus “with them” does not have to wonder what Jesus “would do!” They reveal themselves with this saying, so that,
when you meet someone who is stuck on this saying and examine them closely you begin to see that they RARELY actually DO what Jesus does. Rather, they spend most of their time WONDERING what Jesus does and that is because they are attempting to understand intellectually what can only be SPIRIT BREATHED! There are three types of people in this world. People who make things happen, people who watch things happen, and people who don’t have a single clue what happened! I submit, he who has to wonder “what would Jesus do” is of the latter category, they can rack their brains all day long but they are NEVER going to grasp what Jesus WOULD DO for it is beyond them and this is simply because if they HAD THE SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING to grasp what Jesus “would” do they wouldn’t have to WONDER what he would do, they simply would know what he does and do it themselves, for everything that Jesus does comes out of LOVE, and this sort of love cannot be taught and it cannot be intellectually hypothesized! Therefore, while the saying “what would Jesus do” sounds very wise, in the end those who propagate the saying reveal themselves as devoid of any spiritual understanding at all and are, spiritually speaking, the most foolish of all the Christians! I find this to be an irony that the scripture mentions when it says, “professing themselves to be wise they become fools.”
“LIVE LIKE YOU ARE DYING”
This is one of my favorite diadems! On the surface it seems EXTREMELY wise and spiritual. The idea of the saying is to remind people that they are not sure of tomorrow and tell them that they should live each day as if it were their last (because in fact it could be their last). However, the saying, in fact has quite the opposite meaning and effect than its seeming intention, for it is a “simile.” To say, “live LIKE” you are (or WERE) dying states outright that you in fact ARE NOT dying and should therefore live “like” or “as if” you WERE dying! How unwise is it to tell people that they should live “as if” they are dying when point in fact, from the day you are born you begin to age and ultimately to die of old age. Everyone on this planet is dying. Everyone and everything! A more correct version of this saying therefore would be to say, “live, therefore, because you are dying,” or perhaps, “live life to it’s full for you are dying.” There are any number of more accurate ways to convey this concept, yet, it is not just that the
statement passes off a statement of fact as a simile that bothers me. It’s the PURPOSE and INTENT of the saying and more importantly how it is unwisely applied. Let us take for example the popular song by that same title “Live Like You Were Dying.” Written and performed by Tim McGraw. In the song the man is in his early forties when the doctors inform him that he is going to die soon. What is the man’s reaction? “I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing I went 3.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu” As we can clearly see by these lyrics the main message in the world with the saying “live like you are dying” is to get the MOST out of LIFE that you can because you never know when it all might end. It is a SELFISH response! Take the song for example. The man is going to die and where are his priorities? Sky diving, mountain climbing, in short, getting as MUCH ENTERTAINMENT OUT OF LIFE AS HE CAN BEFORE IT’S OVER! This is the EXACT same thing the apostles spoke of concerning the world of the END TIMES, when they predicted the people of the world would tend to their own fleshly lusts saying among themselves, “let us eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” It is also akin to what Christ said of the last generation that they would be “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” until the day sudden destruction came upon them! When people say “live like you are dying” they are sounding very wise and spiritual but what they are actually suggesting is that you should live your life in such a way that you get as much SELFISH PERSONAL GRATIFICATION as you can out of life before the end comes! Even when they are trying to be spiritual, the people who use this saying reveal themselves. Look again at the lyrics to the song: “I finally read the good book and I took a good long hard look at what I’d do if I could do it all again.” These people that “live like they are dying” have to KNOW FOR CERTAIN they are dying before they’ll even READ the good book or take a good long hard look at the consequences of their living! The grand irony of this is,
EVERYONE IS IN FACT DYING, so we don’t have to PRETEND and live like we WERE dying, for we ARE dying!
“THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS”
This saying is probably one of the most misguided of them all (and one of the oldest). My dear old Great Grandfather (who was a Southern Baptist Minister) used to say this one all the time. The supposed ”wisdom” of it is that many times people can do terrible things with the best of intentions at heart. That’s the thinking anyway. For example, a war! How many wars have been fought for “noble causes?” How many good people have been sucked into battles and wars because they thought the cause was “just?” I myself believe the saying comes from the words of proverbs. Stated simply, “there is a way that seems right unto a man but the end thereof is death.” (Proverbs 14: 12). Also, Christ said “narrow is the way that leads to life and few there be who find it and broad is the way that leads to destruction.” Yet, this saying could not be further from the truth! The road to hell is NOT paved with good intentions. I submit to you all that this is IMPOSSIBLE, knowing what we know from scripture. “Intent” of the heart is all that matters in the end and really it’s all that separates the “lost” from the saved! This saying actually directly CONTRADICTS many statements of the apostles and of Jesus himself! The real trouble I have with the saying is that it does MORE than INSINUATE that the “broad way” that leads to destruction is a path of “goodness,” or “good intentions.” It makes darkness for light and light for darkness, it puts bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, it makes the pursuit of righteousness and goodness an “unholy” thing! Don’t kid yourself, those who love to use this saying, use it for that very reason. Long ago they have given UP on the notion of a righteous path and a life full of goodness. They have decided among themselves that righteousness is UNATTAINABLE, IMPOSSIBLE, and furthermore are now attempting to convince themselves that those who PURSUE the righteous path with good intentions in their heart are the deceived ones, and are the deceivers, and are on the highway to hell! They make the
RIGHTEOUS PATH OF GOOD INTENTIONS an EVIL ROAD and those who take it are therefore worthy of destruction! How does such a thing happen? How do things get so turned around in religion that those who now pursue “good intentions” are evil spoken of? As I said before, the saying “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” directly contradicts the teachings of Messiah and the apostles. Jesus said, “an evil tree cannot bear good fruit and a good tree cannot bear evil fruit, therefore a tree is known by it’s fruit.” From this teaching we can be assured that if EVIL has come of your actions there were no REAL “good intentions” driving your actions! Perhaps you may THINK that your intentions were good (or you may claim your intentions were good) but I can assure you, if evil fruit was produced from the tree of your actions, the root of that tree was “evil” and not “good intentions.” Otherwise, Jesus did NOT know what he was talking about. Jesus said: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6: 45) If “good intentions” can lead to paving the road to HELL then Jesus simply was wrong in this statement in Luke! I believe that this long held cliché’ “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” perhaps better than ANY OTHER saying among Christians PROVES that Christianity VILLIFIES goodness and righteousness! Christianity has LONG SINCE given up on righteousness, holiness, goodness, (all of the fruits of the spirit) and now teaches quite the opposite, namely that those who go down the road with the intent to do “good” in this life are deceivers, or liars, and that they are paving a road straight to HELL. On the converse side of things, those who give UP on good intentions and the hope of doing that which is right in this life are “rewarded” in the Christianity of today and called the “faithful.” Christians will even quote famous verses, such as the one found in the Letter of John which says “he who says I am without sin is a liar and the truth is
not in him,” and they will quote such verses as the ones that warn against going about to “set up your own righteousness” or warn us against “self righteousness” and they shall apply these verses to people who desire to BE LIKE JESUS! I’ve seen them do it in COUNTLESS CHRISTIAN FORUMS and BIBLE STUDIES. Suddenly, not just seeking to be “self righteous” is condemned but seeking to be GOOD, or RIGHTEOUS (both things that we are COMMANDED TO DO) are now condemned by the Christian! He who seeks to be “without sin in this life” is now called a LIAR! Anyone who can look at the SAD STATE of affairs in the Christian religion and not see just how BADLY they have become “antichrist” in their lifestyles and in their life philosophy, well, such a person is simply blinded by their own ignorance, for a child can look at these errors I’ve pointed out and see them clearly for what they are. The LIES of the devil! I will now modify this cliché for you to make it far more accurate…. The road to hell is paved by Christian (religious) intentions! I’ll leave you with that thought for now.
