I heard that first when I was in high school, and back then I used the question as an accusation. Like, it was obviously not what YOU were doing. But now I think about it as a reflection. How would Jesus respond to facebook? What would Jesus do to protesters? I feel like I know what He would do, because I know what He already has done.
"This is how much God Loved the world. He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in Him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again." John 3:16-17 The Message
To the Christians who won't tip their waiter 15% "because they only give God 10%", I want to tell you what Jesus would do. I know who you are, some of you, because I've sat red-faced at your table, wondering if I should give another dollar to make up for your convoluted stinginess, while trying to explain the difference between a TIP and a TITHE. And I think Jesus would do this: when the waitress came to take his order, I think he would take the pen and paper from her hand and give her his seat. That he would serve her a meal, because with his infinite Jesus wisdom he would know that she is tired and her feet hurt from those long shifts, and that all she really wants is to be at home with her family, or pursuing her heart's desire, not bringing cheap Christians their french fries and extra pickles.
To the protesters at the Supreme Court, and everyone drawing a line in the sand on social media sites...I don't think Jesus would be part of any of it. Jesus tended to withdraw from crowds of people who were foaming at the mouth, and instead chose to be a friend to individuals that needed him. He had meals with every kind of sinner and low-life, and he noticed the quiet and weak and timid while ignoring those who clamored for his approval. He drew in the sand once too, and he said, "He who is without sin, cast the first stone." When no one did, he told the adulterous woman, "I don't condemn you either. Go and sin no more." Jesus brought out the humanity in people who were being told that they were worth less than others. He didn't call names or stand in a crowd or demand death to those he didn't understand...that was reserved for the mob who yelled "Crucify him!"
This is what I believe, on Easter and every other day; when people let me down, and I even disappoint myself, I believe in Jesus, who never fails. I believe in the Bible, the Truth, the mysteries that I don't understand and the parts that seem to contradict each other. When it says that Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life and then died a criminal's death to take the punishment for me and you and everyone who ever lived, I cling to that. And so I think what Jesus would do is LOVE. He would love us all right where we are, in our anger and frustration and loneliness, and if put down our signs and our petitions and all the walls and fences that keep us apart, and we remember that there is only one Judge whose opinion matters, then I think we could all agree that there is no more gay or straight, no more legal or illegal immigrant, no male or female, no stupid or genius...just one cross, one Savior, one love.
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