Saturday, November 14, 2009

A journey to discover what Jesus would really do

There's an interesting phrase that is common in some circles, "What Would Jesus Do?" And when that idea gets confined to a particular belief system, would Jesus really approve?

There is a very good book, on the shelves, which I have just finished reading titled, "The Year Of Living Like Jesus", by Ed Dobson. Mr. Dobson is of a fundamentalist Baptist background and decides to forego the religious boxes in which Jesus gets stuffed into and sets a goal to live one full year as Jesus lived. Where would Jesus worship? Who did Jesus hang out with? What would Jesus do? With Jesus being Jewish, Ed Dobson begins a journey to into Judaism, along with Catholisism, Orthodox, Episcopalian, and his own fundamentalist belief systems to get his best composite on the man, Jesus.

This book brings up many interesting insights into many of Jesus' teachings along with the situations which occur in the authors' life. With the author suffering from ALS, how do miracles enter the picture? He also runs into a dilema with the prospect of a new position at a fundamentalist school vs. how did Jesus live, can he abide by the school rules and live as Jesus had? Ed Dobson does a wonderful job portraying his feelings surrounding his life and his attempt to live as Jesus had lived. Both the frustrations and the growth in faith are presented in this book.

So what would Jesus do in our world today?