WWJD Mania
Have you seen the fad that is sweeping the
country? It seems everybody has seen the initials
W.W.J.D. -but does everybody know what they
mean?
W.W.J.D.? = What Would Jesus Do?
I believe that the “WWJD?” craze started with a
book by that title. It was about some kids who
used the phrase to help them choose the right
over the wrong in their lives’ decisions. Since then
it’s gone from simple woven bracelets asking
“WWJD?” to t-shirts, notebooks, backpacks, CD’s
and just about everything else you can think of.
“WWJD?” stuff is sold in secular as well as
Christian stores. I recently saw a book in a
catalog that was actually promoted as giving you
the answers to that question, everytime you
needed to ask it. I don’t know about you, but
proverbial warning bells went off for me when I saw
that. If you want to know what Jesus did and how
He would still handle it nowadays, you read your
Bible. “WWJD?” is a real money-maker and we are
blind to think that people in our world nowadays
will not and are not taking advantage of fads to
squeeze everything out of it that they can. And
who can deny that “WWJD?” mania has become a
fad? But when it comes to fads, you know
eventually they’ll go out of style. That’s what a
fad is, a passing fashion. How much can this
acronym really mean to people who don’t even
know who Jesus is when it means so little to
many Christians themselves? “WWJD?” seems to
have become a “feel good” phrase. You can feel
like you are proclaiming yourself to be a good
Christian if you wear something that says such a
seemingly Christ-oriented phrase. “What would
Jesus do?” is a nice pat response when someone
asks for input on a decision. Not that it’s bad
advice. Everyone should go to God, all-knowing
and far-seeing Father, when making decisions
that will impact their lives and future. But if you
just guess at what Jesus would do, and don’t
pray and ask God for His will in your life, you
could still mess up His plan for you in a serious
way. I realize “WWJD?” isn’t just a slogan to
everyone. It may help some people to remember to
include God in their life, in their decisions. But
how many people out there do get that benefit
from it? How many wear it just for their
conscience, or because “everyone else is”? I guess
the basic question here is, will it matter -will
“WWJD?” have helped at all or will it fade away
and be forgotten- after it’s out of style?
For me, I don’t want to wear a “WWJD?” bracelet
(or any of the other things) unless it really means
something to me. I asked my mother about the
“WWJD?” mania as well and I completely agree
with what she said. “If it wasn’t just a cutsie
slogan -if it really meant something to these
people’s hearts, ‘WWJD?’ would be a very positive
thing.”
It’s easy to say “Oh, it’s harmless. It’s a good
phrase, so what does it matter if people wear it
-it means something to some of them, afterall,” in
fact I’ve thought that myself. But that’s just it:
what does it matter? How can we be so
apathetic? How is “harmless”-ness going to
motivate anyone to follow Jesus?
It’s the “WWJD?” Club and you only have to pick
up a bit of “WWJD?” paraphernalia to join. But
what does it mean to you??
