In His Steps

During my childhood our home had a very few books, but one that deeply impressed me was “In His Steps,” a best-selling book written by Charles M. Sheldon in 1896. It was a fictional but profound story about a local church whose congregation agreed, for one year, to make no individual or corporate decisions without first asking and obeying the question, “What would Jesus do in this situation?” The story unfolded into a dramatic and profound change in the social, business and community life of that town.

In the sermon that inspired the challenge, the minister included these words: “Is it possible for the church to sing with exact truth, ‘Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow thee.’ If we can sing that truly, then we may claim discipleship. But if our definition of being a Christian is simply to enjoy the privileges of worship, be generous at no expense to ourselves, have a good, easy time surrounded by pleasant friends and comfortable things, live respectfully and at the same time avoid the world’s great stress of sin and trouble because it is too much pain to bear it – if this is our definition of Christianity then we are a long way from following the steps of Him who trod the way with groans and tears and sobs of anguish for a lost humanity; who sweat, as it were, great drops of blood, who cried on the upreared cross, ‘My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?’ Are we ready to make and live a new discipleship? Are we ready to reconsider out definition of Christian?”  

 In His Steps is about a group of people who made and lived a new discipleship. One hundred years later grandson Garrett W. Sheldon, in 1997, wrote another best seller, “What would Jesus Do?” The writing inspired a number of religious knickknacks, using the “WWJD?” symbol, and at least some discussion within theological circles. Included in the grandson’s book was this:    

“I believe the time has come for us to ask ourselves some hard questions. In this self-serving age when most of us are reluctant to forgo any luxury or desire, what, on a practical level, have we denied ourselves? What cross have we borne for Christ’s sake? What suffering have we willingly endured? God’s wake-up call for some of us might be to put aside an expensive vacation or new car and follow Him in giving to those in need. For others it might be to sacrifice our social standing in order to speak out against moral compromise. The ‘cross’ you are called to bear will probably be different from mine and from that of our neighbor’s.

If you are a Christian you have been called to embark on an incredible journey – How many are willing to accept that calling? How many would rather stay comfortably asleep, untouched by the world that is dying around us?”

Some once said to a friend, “Christianity has failed. It has made no real or significant impact upon the hatred, poverty and degradations of the world. After 2,000 years of effort, it has failed.” The wise friend replied, “No, Christianity has not failed. It has yet to be tried.”

Today’s Church, I might note, does not want to hear or read sermons like those of the Sheldons. Prophetic preaching and writing is cast aside in favor of popular and “feel good” preaching. Sin is a world verboten from the pulpit in today’s popular churches. Clarence Jordan once said, “We will just worship the hind legs off of Jesus, but we won’t do a thing He says.” Jesus is praised, but not followed. To do that would take us places we do not want to go.