My search for how to conduct myself as a car-salesman and a Follower of the Way simultaneously has resulted in a recipe made up of large portions of trial and error, several cups of "That-didn't-feel-right-to-me," a small helping of confusion, a pinch of compromise (followed by a forgiveness chaser), and a dash of humility and self-forgiveness. I understand now why the late 90's/early 2000's phenomenon that was known as WWJD? is oversimplified and, well, frankly, stupid. No one has a freaking clue how Jesus would act as a car salesman. Why? Outside of there being no record of Jesus selling a 27AD ox-cart or a used Pinto there is just not enough guidance to cover every situation in life. The Bible isn't that black-and-white when it comes to every situation that we face in life. Now, I know that there are some general principles that can govern my treatment of human beings, also known as customers--respect, honesty, dignity, etc. However, there are situations that arise in the car business, and in most secular work environments as well, that fall into that giant chasm of grayness that most fundamentalist pretend doesn't exist. Sometimes asking WWJD? only leaves you with the answer, "I don't have a dang clue." Sometimes it's a decision that has to be made at the moment, that can't wait for an in depth study of the subject or a call to your church community for guidance. Sometimes you just have to act and hope that the life you have desired to live in Christ is sufficient to the task of producing the outward actions that Christ is trying to work into you through his Spirit. You hope that you are becoming enough of a new creation inwardly to start acting like one outwardly without thought, automatically and unconsciously; that somehow God in Christ is on cruise control through you and you are acting like his Son to the best of your ability and limited human ability and fragility.
Stop asking WWJD? and start acting according to what God has ingrained in you through His Spirit. We don't always know what Jesus would do, but we can trust that the Spirit is always leading us into all truth, and will guide us even when the recipe that we are trying to concoct gets a little screwed up.
shalom, matt
WWJD? (or I Have No Idea What to Do Here!)
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4 comments:
maybe you should pray about it.
as a side note, most of these adventist people are great. like, seriously some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. and they have a very legalistic kind of faith but they also ... i don't know ... live in a way that shows they're just genuinely nice, good, ridiculously caring people. usually those two don't go hand in hand, but they're pretty good at it.
Anne Lamott said, "Living by grace means trying to make the next right decision."
that's a great definition. i like that a lot. good conclusion to the matter i think.
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