WWJHMD

I remember in the 90's that the acronym WWJD became very popular. It stands for the question "what would Jesus do?" and is based loosely upon a concept from the book In His Steps by Charles M. Sheldon. In this book a congregation makes a vow to ask themselves what Jesus would do before they took any action. An entire fashion fad began when bracelets with the monogram WWJD began showing up on wrists everywhere. You don't hear about WWJD all that much anymore even though the principle behind it was excellent.

What would Jesus do? Do you ever ask yourself that question? Would you do the same things and make the same decisions that you do now if you asked yourself this question? The same effect can be produced if you imagine that Jesus is right there next to when you do something. This works exceptionally well when you realize that He is.

However excellent this principle is, there is another level to our Christian walk that can't be captured just by applying WWJD in you daily life. This is the reason for my post today. This other facet can be defined by the acronym WWJHMD which stands for what would Jesus have me do?

What's the difference you ask? In all actuality they are very similar concepts and they sound the same, but there is an element of leading that is missing in the concept WWJD. If all you ever do is ask yourself what would Jesus do if He was in the situation you are in right now, you ignore whether or not you should be in that situation at all in the first place. When you ask yourself what would Jesus have me do you open yourself up to being led by Christ. What will happen is that you will find yourself not only making good decisions, but also in the situations you should be in.

There's also one more little issue with WWJD; you're not Jesus. I don't discount that it is important to make inspired choices in your life, but at the same time you can't live a productive life solely trying to imitate Jesus because if you do, that's all you'll be, an imitation. Please don't misunderstand me, I think emulation of Jesus Christ is a very laudable goal, but the real life application of this is limited. He made choices that you and I are not capable of making. We are limited, He is not. Whether you apply your own limitations to Jesus, or His lack of limitations to yourself, it is a foolhardy thing to do. Instead, a mature Christian is able to recognize their own limitations and will not only be better for it, but also open to the leading of the Lord and His working in their life.

Paul himself asked the Lord "What wilt thou have me do?" (Acts 9:6). It would be better to emulate Paul than Jesus in this case and ask Jesus what He wants you to do. At least that would be comparing apples to apples as the old saying goes. Understand though, I'm not venerating Paul; I've no WWPD in mind. I do however respect the example that he set for us, although he had to come to the end of his rope to ask it.

There is a song that the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir sings that describes what is missing from WWJD and what is added to WWJHMD, so as a close I'll just include the lyrics for the chorus:

Lead me Lord, I will follow,
Lead me Lord, I will go.
You have called me, I will answer,
Lead me Lord, I will go.