would he really do that?

I came across a joke this morning that reflected something I've been thinking for a while now about the whole WWJD thing. (As an aside let me say upfront that I am not in favour of mass market Christianity, and for the record do not wear a WWJD or PUSH bracelet.) Anyway, the joke goes like this:

A man walked into a gift shop that sold religious items. Near the cash register he saw a display of baseball caps with "WWJD" printed on them. Puzzled by what the letters meant, he asked the clerk. The clerk replied that the letters stood for "What Would Jesus Do," and that the question was meant to inspire people to not make rash decisions, but rather to imagine what Jesus would do in the same situation.

The man thought a moment and then replied, "Well, I'm sure Jesus wouldn't pay $17.95 for one of these baseball caps!"

A wise friend of mine read the joke and sent me this response:

Ah, so true!

You gotta love our current evangelical culture though: we've convinced ourselves that we're come so far from the Catholic church of Martin Luther's age of needed reformation (a la selling indulgences and handing the papacy hereditarily--even though the pope was supposed to be celibate) yet here we are marketing Jesus for all we're worth, as though reading a Christian novel or listening to a Christian CD or wearing a WWJD hat will somehow secure OUR holiness or salvation.

I couldn't have said it better myself and decided not to try. Thanks RuthAnn. Wise words as always.