What Would Jesus Do? Really!
queer reflections on religious meanings
When I was in high school many years ago, I remember a sermon at my family’s Baptist church in which we were told that the final authority for good Christian behavior is always the Bible. Furthermore, the preacher said that most of the time we will already know what to do based on our familiarity with the teachings of Jesus, knowledge acquired from daily Bible reading and from regular church and Sunday School attendance.
Then the preacher went on to say that whenever any question arose about what we should do to be good Christians, we should just ask the question: what would Jesus do?
Strangely enough, this good advice has stayed with me through sixty years of avoiding church and Sunday School attendance, though I have never given up frequent study of the Bible and other venerated and religious texts. I still find it useful to ask “What would Jesus say about any situation?”
Which church would Jesus attend? Which guns would Jesus carry or conceal? Which races and nationalities would Jesus deport? Which criminals would Jesus punish by execution? Which wars would Jesus condone? Which acts of love, caring and…
