Yes, yes … I know that a lot of Swedish people gets nervous reading that heading alone. Don’t worry - there’s very little religion in this blog posts. It will merely serve as a good example.
You ok, most-secular-country-in-the-world-citizen? Ok - let’s go. The rest of you - welcome.
I’ve started a little series about the screensavers that I have running on my computer. They consists of some sayings, phrases or ideas that I’ve found useful over the years. And I wanted to share these ideas with you.
Here are the screensavers that I’m flicking through each day.
- Kindness is better
- Complex == Bad. Simple == Good
- What would Jesus do? - This post
- (DO(SOMETHING(SMALL(USEFUL(NOW())))))
- Turn up the good
History
What would Jesus do?
This is a phrase that spread like wild-fire through the Christian communities in the 1990-ies, in Sweden. There were hats, t-shirts and bracelets. It even had a pretty well-known abbreviation WWJD. Apparently the phrase originates from a book in the early 1900 but had a revival in the 90-ies.
Before long it was even heckled and ridiculed and nowadays I mostly hear the phrase used in an ironic fashion. Even among Christians.
This is very sad, since it’s an amazing piece of advice. Now Jesus was great example to follow, but you can replace it someone else that you admire and think make great choices in life.
The next time you end up in a situation where you don’t know what to do - ask yourself; what would X do if she was here right now?. There’s a nice little mind-trick that you are playing on yourself here that actually makes you smarter; you are not making the choice - the other person is.
For example; Jesus was always kind, always graceful and showing the downtrodden (HA - new word achievement) people in the society his love and grace. There are numerous places in the Bible where Jesus would do the opposite of the conventions of the times.
BUT (1) - he didn’t do that just because he wanted to be opposite. He did that following the conviction that everyone are equally worthy of Gods grace. He followed a principle full out. Sometimes that led to him breaking conventions - but he did that loving too.
BUT (2) - there are times when Jesus is outraged (can only think of one, but still…), takes the debate and argues with others. He was very kind and lovingly but by no means a pushover. All of these times are geared towards people that are using their position of power or wealth to not do right to their fellow human.
What I think about
What pops into my mind when I see this picture is not necessarily Jesus and what he did. In all honestly it can sometimes be hard to translate into a 2023-setting. But I try to look past that and see WHY he did what he did. And then I try to realize what that would have been now.
And quite often other great heroes of mine pops into my thinking and I can then use their super powers to guide me in situation where I wouldn’t know what do.
Here’s a few examples where I’ve used this thought:
- Coming into the office - What would Jesus do? I’ve made a habit of walking around the office where I work and just say Hi. Seeing everyone is a great start, and who knows, someone might not have been greeted before that day.
- Letting someone go - What would Jesus do? I’m sure he would find the perspective of that other person and try to be a comforter
- Seeing bad processes being implemented that will hurt people - What would Jesus do? Oh mama - he would not take that kindly. Now, I’m not Jesus but I need to speak up. I’ve been given a voice and sometimes people even listen to me. If I only use it for myself, I would waste that gift. Better say something. Yes, Marcus, even when it’s painful.
Here’s the picture that I’m using for this screensaver.
