What Would Jesus Do?

Last updated on: April 24, 2012 at 2:42 pm by Leticia Adams

What Would Jesus Do? 2012-04-24T14:42:47-05:00 Leticia Adams

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I have been thinking a lot about this idea that Jesus does not judge others and I’ve gotten pretty angry about this idea that Jesus is somehow some pansy who isn’t going to judge our actions. There are countless verses in the New Testament that say otherwise. Where does this idea come from and why do so many people think that Jesus is ok with people not following His Father’s commandments? Well, because life is just easier that way. It’s much easier to give up on being holy and just convince ourselves, with the help of the evil one, that Jesus is a “do whatever you want and I’ll forgive you” kind of guy. But that is exactly what it is, it is a trick. A trick that satan, his minions, and our own sinful selves play on us.

In order to believe that Christ somehow is ok with all of our sins we have to put ourselves in front of the cross with him bleeding for us, hung on a cross for us and us just giving Him a thumbs up and saying “Gee, thanks dude.” Then turn around and go back to doing whatever our favorite sin is. I don’t know about the rest of you, but that visual makes me want to throw up.

Jesus did not die on a Cross for us to be free TO sin. He died so that we would be free FROM our sins. So that we can be free from the consequences of our sins, which is death, but not without repenting from our sins. There is NO salvation without repentance. None. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that.

What the Bible does say, however, is that if you Love Jesus you will obey his commandments. There are 10 of them in the old Testament and many more in the New Testament. In both Testaments the #1 commandment is to Love God above all things. That means loving Him enough to worship Him on Sunday. Not to be entertained by the Choir, not go golfing and “enjoy God in nature”, not go to the movies, not play disc golf, or any other activity that means you will not be worshiping God that day. I am the guiltiest (word says that is a word, so don’t judge me) of this. Of having my hour of God time in Mass and then spending the rest of the day doing what I want because “I went to Mass, and got that over with.” Umm yeah, “Getting it over with” doesn’t cut it. Like I’ve said many times, this blog is not about me being better or holier than anyone, because I fail just as much as anyone else does. Sometimes when I’m writing something I can see my guardian angel saying “Ohhh really? And how about the time you did that?” Rude. I’m rambling now.

Anyway, the truth is that Jesus did judge people in the Gospels. He called the Pharisees Hypocrites and vipers. Somehow the same “Jesus doesn’t want you to judge others” crowd, always remember that when they are talking trash about people who follow the Teachings of the Church, but they somehow forget that Jesus wasn’t mad at them following the Law of Moses. No, Jesus was mad that they were using that Law for their own gain and not out of obedience to God. Same with Jesus turning tables in the Temple; He was not doing that in anger at the people, he was doing that out of LOVE for His Father’s house. And the people in the Temple were forgetting that they were there to worship God, not make a profit.

Jesus is the Judge of us all. And if we cannot handle other people pointing out our faults then we should not say “only God can judge me” because His judgment is going to be a lot harder to hear than that of any human being. Yes, He is merciful. Yes, He loves us more than we will ever know. I, of all people, know this. But he cannot give us Mercy for things we aren’t not sorry for. Mercy only comes when we acknowledge our sins, confess them and repent from them. The only way we can ever do that is to look at the Cross and take it personal. He died for me. Not for “Us” or for “You” but when we look at it and say “He did that for ME, and I don’t deserve it.”

We can’t be forgiven by making Christ into someone He is not. And He is not the Lord of disorder. He is not the Jesus that so many have made Him. The Jesus who gives you a thumbs up when you are doing something that goes against the Laws of God the Father or against the Teachings of the Church He instituted. He IS the Law of God the Father. When we do things that break that Law we are going against Him, and there is only one place that that will take us. Jesus spoke about that place many times. It is the place of fire and gnashing teeth. Hell is a real place, and there are people who are really going there. We send ourselves there by tricking ourselves into thinking that he is A-ok with our sins.

We have to be careful not to start worshipping a man-made Jesus, and the only way to do that is to get to know the REAL Jesus. He’s in the Gospels, He’s in Mass and He’s waiting for each of us to open our lives to Him. But beware, when He’s allowed in, He will flip the tables of sin in our lives. It’s not easy, it’s not pretty, and it’s hard, but it’s all worth it.

Whenever I hear people use “What would Jesus do?” to justify their dissent from Church Teaching, I just want to say “Jesus would flip your table!”

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