Do you really want to do what Jesus did?

Group, Sep/Oct 2002 by Lawrence, Rick

I think the least we can do is count the cost before we build a youth ministry that names Christ as its foundation stone.

Lost in the rocket rise and fast fall of the WWJD movement is a question that's at the center of the book (Charles Sheldon's In His Steps) that kicked off the slogan in the first place: "If Christians are supposed to be following Jesus, why aren't they making more of an impact in their daily lives?"

Jesus reserved his harshest barbs for the religious hypocrites who surrounded him, (He'd find an ironic kinship with the movers and shakers of today's pop culture who share the same criticism, by the way.) Plainly, the people who claimed to stand for God but really stood for their own power or pleasure got Jesus more riled up than the godless political leaders of the day. For that reason, I think the least we can do is count the cost before we build a youth ministry that names Christ as its foundation stone.

At some point, you have to ask yourself: "Do I really want to teach teenagers to do what Jesus did?" A hopscotch through Matthew's Gospel reveals...

1. Jesus spent more time praying than speaking because he knew he was in a fight with a formidable foe who was serious about "killing, stealing from, and destroying" the children of God. When he sent his disciples out on their own for the first time, he explicitly told them to "drive out demons."

2. Jesus enjoyed spending time with self-confessed sinners because they weren't shrink-wrapping themselves in man-made righteousness.

3. Jesus said we'd know we were starting to make an impact when people started insulting, persecuting, and defaming us because of him.

4. Jesus hated it when people hid themselves behind religious rulekeeping, and he told his followers to plunge themselves into the mainstream culture like a lamp in a dark room or salt added to a recipe.

5. Jesus spoke openly about hell and warned that there are real consequences for those who cling to selfsufficiency and unbelief.

6. Jesus hated it when people prayed or served or sacrificed to boost their profiles or feed their egos-he honored secret acts because they revealed a desire for an honest relationship with God.

7. Jesus was quick to forgive those who were repentant and quick to blast those who weren't.

8. Jesus said the richest people were those who'd banked a lifetime of actions that honored God, and he bluntly told his followers that they could not be motivated by love of money and love of God at the same time.

9. Jesus told us to ignore people who talk big but don't act big and to honor those who talk small but act big.

10. Jesus healed people of incurable diseases and permanent disabilities.

11. Jesus loved celebrations and enjoyed himself so much that the religious rulekeepers accused him of public drunkenness.

12. Jesus said that farmers who sat around in the farmhouse waiting for corncobs to launch themselves through the door were sadly misinformed about the concept of "harvesting."

13. Jesus said our loyalty to his ways should outweigh our loyalty to our family traditions and practices.

14. Jesus told us to not focus our energies on fighting sin (pulling weeds) but instead do everything we can to encourage good growth (growing wheat).

15. Jesus said that the root of our lack of faith is our penchant to forget the acts and character of God-our biggest faith battle is remembering to remember God.

To drive home your group's purpose as a boot camp for doing what Jesus did, challenge your kids to create a "Jesus Did/Jesus Didn't" list similar to the one I've created here. Have them choose one of the four gospels and simply read through it looking for things Jesus embraced, advised, or did, and things he opposed, warned against, or shunned.

I'm guessing the effect will be sobering and exciting. At least, that's the impact it had on me...

Rick Lawrence is executive editor of group Magazine.