WWJND?

Beloved Of God,

I find it interesting that there are Christians - Christ Followers - who would act in such contradiction to what Jesus Himself would do:

-He fought the law of the Pharisees because it tried to keep people from having their own personal relationship with God. If Jesus spent his ministry breaking down walls, then why are there so many religions that build them back up?  They offer their own version of rules, idols and hoops to jump through...and that was never Jesus' intent.  He made Himself approachable.  He beckoned people to Himself.  When Man tried to stop the children, He said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." (Luke 18:16)  If religion is the restraint, beloved, know that WE are the children that God would not have restrained.  We are called to Him to look upon Him directly and speak so that He may answer.

-Look around.  If you are not friends with, or you do not love, a non-believer or someone with a different standard of morality...you are preaching to the choir.  Are all your friends Christian? If so, you are living in a tidy bubble, looking and judging from the inside, never trying to reach for those outside of it.  How is someone to know Christian love if you have not allowed yourself to go knee to knee, eye to eye, hand in hand...with someone who doesn't look like you? Jesus didn't just limit His relationships to the 12.  He put Himself IN THE MIDDLE of people who not only didn't know Him but who, by the standards of Man, He was supposed to despise.  Does this mean you go into these relationships weak-willed, weak of faith and lacking in Biblical knowledge? No. Christ follower,  KNOW WHO YOU ARE, WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN AND WHO YOU BELONG TO...but don't bury it.  When the master scolded his servant for burying his treasure, this speaks to our faith, not just the stewardship of things and money.  Are you growing the kingdom or are you burying the gospel, the love of Jesus, where no one benefits? (Matthew 25: 14-30)

- Has it been so long that Christians have forgotten that WE were the ones marginalized in the days of Jesus? We are the gentiles that Jesus brought into the fold.  For the longest time, God was only for Jewish people.  Jesus changed that completely.  He welcomed Jew and gentile - ANYONE not Jewish - alike, reuniting His people throughout the planet!  If someone feels like they can't cross a line to Jesus, I pray it is not one that I have drawn myself.

The WWJD movement, What Would Jesus Do, will always be relevant to those of us who believe.  It is, however, just as important to ask WWJND, what would Jesus not do?