Chapter 5: More than asking what Jesus would do: Living in Jesus’ Name
I have a vivid memory from the 3rd grade (nearly 30 years ago). I had the best teacher. She was a family friend and I enjoyed school largely because of her. That made what happened even worse. Here’s what happened: I got caught. I said one of those four-letter words you’re really not supposed to say when you’re one of the ‘good’ kids and she heard me do it. I don’t remember the exact circumstances of why I said it, all I remember is that my teacher was shocked and you better believe I was going to have serious consequences.
She gave me two options. The first option was to miss recess for the foreseeable future. The second option was to write my parents a letter telling them what I had done. Now let’s be very clear: recess is a young farm boy’s social life. Outside of those 35 glorious minutes of outdoor socializing, spending time with my friends was rare. We lived 4 miles from town and heading into town to play at the park on the weekend or throw the football for a few minutes with a friend wasn’t a reality. Recess was the golden half hour of the day. Missing it was incomprehensible. It was incomprehensible until I thought about telling my parents what I had said.
The thought of my parents finding out made my stomach churn. So I chose to miss recess instead. I remember her being shocked, even asking why I didn’t just write the note. I missed that golden 35 minutes for a week.
I don’t know if this is normal or not, but I lived with this awareness: I represented my family. Not only that, anything I did out in public could get back to my parents. In a small town, that wasn’t just a possibility, it was nearly inevitable.
This was still a time when parents finding out their kids had done something they shouldn’t have at school was a bigger punishment than anything the school could have done to you. Looking back, it’s not that my parents would have punished me in any unbearable way. For me, it would have been the shame of letting them down that was the worst.
A teammate, a coach, a boss, your parents, a teacher, or a friend… you know what it’s like to have someone you just don’t want to let down—someone who you really don’t want to disappoint. Hang onto that for a moment as we entertain a little nostalgia.
WWJD—What Would Jesus Do?
I had the bracelets. Like any other kid who grew up in church in the 90s, it was on my wrist as a badge of who I was and what I believed. I even read the book during the confirmation class (a Sunday school class devoted to ‘confirming’ my faith) I took in 8th grade. The idea was beautiful and pure: in any given circumstance you can ask yourself the question, “What Would Jesus Do?” Honestly, it’s a great question and one I wish we would still ask ourselves today. A lot of problems in our world could be solved if more people asked themselves what Jesus would do and then do it.
The problem is—and this is unfortunate because it’s a total cop-out—we don’t think we can do what Jesus would do. We’re too quick with responses like, “Well Jesus would just heal the guy” or “Jesus would walk on water” or “Jesus would feed everybody with a couple loaves and a fish or two.” We jump to the miracles to justify why we cannot do what Jesus would do. We asked the question, but then set it aside because, since we don’t think we can do miracles, we won’t do anything at all.
When we first started to talk about representing Jesus well at our church the comparisons to the question “What Would Jesus Do?” came quickly. It made sense because the statement Represent Jesus Well is similar to the WWJD question. They both prioritize Jesus. They both call us to a higher standard. Both assume that there is a way that Jesus would want us to live, act, and think. They are very similar, but there are some important differences.
First, there’s an immediate sense that it’s actionable as opposed to day-dreamable.
Asking what Jesus would do creates a hypothetical scenario in your mind instead of a sense of responsibility. It’s the kind of question that leads to daydreams. What would Jesus do? I wonder… Insert miracle, or scathing one-liner, or perfectly compassionate act here. Jesus is incredible. He’s Jesus! The daydreams ensue. I don’t know about you, but I rarely live up to my daydreams.
When I ask myself how I can represent Jesus well in a given situation, there’s an immediate recognition that I can do something. I can bite my tongue and not say what it would be easy to say—gossip, judgment, condemnation—that sort of thing. I can offer a helping hand. I can go sit with that person who’s alone. I can offer a word of comfort. I can stand up to the bully. I can pray. There is a sense in this guiding principle that there is always a way to act or conduct yourself that falls within the boundaries of representing Jesus well.
Second, there’s an awareness that what I do or say will get back to Jesus.
A representative to the United States Congress cannot do whatever they want. At least one would hope not. How they vote, how they act, the speeches they make—all of these things make their way back to the public they represent. Word makes its way back to their constituents. This is how they’re held accountable. It’s what determines (when the system is working properly) whether they get re-elected or not.
The same is true for much of our lives. We talk a lot about representing our team. If you play a sport and you wear the jersey, you’re a representative of that team. When you go off and act like a ding-dong, guess what? The coach is probably going to hear about it. You can’t simply go off and act however you want when you wear the jersey or the logo. It’ll get back to someone.
This principle of representing Jesus well is powerful because it’s a constant reminder that everything we do gets back to Jesus. It’s not that God is standing there watching over us waiting for us to mess up so He can punish us—it’s that God has a call on our lives and he’s persistently loving us into living up to that call. Personally, I want to bring honor to Jesus’ name through the way I represent him. If you’ve read this far, I’m guessing you do too.
Finally, there’s power in it.
Some astute readers have raced to their Bibles and found that the verse I’m using (Colossians 3:17) can be translated in different ways. The translation I use comes from the New Living Translation. It’s one of the translations that focuses more on getting the sense of a passage right rather than each word perfectly translated. The New Living Translation is the only translation that uses the word ‘Represent’ I could find. There’s a lot that goes into that and I’m no Greek scholar, but none of that really matters. Check out what a more word-for-word translation says:
“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17 ESV)
“Do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.” When you do something in someone’s name, you represent them. Also, when you do something in someone’s name you carry their authority with you. The same point only gets stronger. A representative is an empowered person.
As a kid, I remember learning a song in Sunday school. The song goes like this:
“Silver and gold have I none
But such as I have give I thee
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk”
He went walking and leaping and praising God
Walking and leaping and praising God
“In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk”
(Songwriters: Karyn Henley / Randall Dennis)
These lyrics tell the story of Peter and John healing a man in the name of Jesus. It comes straight out of a Acts chapter 3.
There’s power in representing Jesus. When you do, you are walking around with his authority. We’ll get deeper into this in the next chapter, but in the meantime, it’s important to be clear: To represent Jesus well is to live this life with the authority of Jesus working in and through you.
It’s a love thing
Do you know what it’s like to have someone in your life that you don’t want to let down or disappoint? Think about that person for a moment. How do they treat you? How do they care for you? For me, those people have almost always been the people who have loved me the most, believed in me the most, and wanted good for me the most. I didn’t want to let those people down. I pushed myself harder in sports or in the classroom or at my job for those people. Rarely was it ever for someone who was controlling, overly critical, and didn’t really care about me.
There’s no one who exemplifies the loving, non-controlling, want-what’s-best-for-you kind of leadership in my life more than Jesus. It makes me want to represent him well. If you haven’t experienced Jesus like that, I hope you’ll take the time to get to know him in that way. If you have, then you know what I’m talking about.
When you blurt out the 4-letter word in elementary school, your world doesn’t end. When you make a mistake or you sin in a significant way, there are consequences, but those consequences are paired with forgiveness. Jesus meets you there, gives you steps to make things right, and then walks you back toward living as his representative. There is power in submitting to and living in the name of the Lord Jesus.