Let's Not Do What Jesus Did

I saw an e-mail today entitled, "Healthcare Reform: What Would Jesus Do?" I winced and moved on, without opening it. Probably the writer was saying Jesus healed everyone, and so should we, which is why we should support Obamacare. Of course, Jesus did not heal everyone, and he considered matters of physical healing to be secondary to spiritual healing. Does this mean he is in favor of the current health care system?

I have to admit that I'm always a little suspicious when someone asks "What would Jesus do?" about a political issue. A related pet peeve is the question, "What would Jesus drive?" or "How would Jesus vote?" The implications are two: That we actually know what he would do, and that we should do likewise.

Yet Jesus said his kingdom is not of this world, so we don't even know whether the Lord of heaven and earth would participate in our politics. I suspect not. I think we can assume, however, that he wouldn't be anyone's political pawn.

Further, it goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway: We are not Jesus. While we should try our best to emulate his sinless character and kingdom deeds, our life call is not to do exactly what he did. Christ's main calling was not to serve as a model for how we should live, but to serve as a sacrifice because we cannot live righteously, however hard we try.

And besides, if we are to do everything Jesus did, then we must give up our jobs, preach itinerantly, forgo marriage and family, and die on a Judean hill. That's also what Jesus did.

So let's make our arguments as best we can using scriptural principles and the brains God gave us. But let's stop dragging in Jesus to make our political points.

Update: To be fair and accurate, later I did open the e-mail and found my analysis to be substantially correct.