How would Jesus Drive?

Today, I spent one hour and fifteen minutes driving my children to school this morning due to difficult winter weather in Rochester, NY. When you are sitting in traffic, you have time to think of a whole bunch of things, most which have no significance.

I began to think about the WWJD slogan that was revitalized in the past decade. I was thinking about how would Jesus drive. As a human incarnation of the Godhead, He would, of course, drive perfectly. However, I was asking myself "what does perfect driving look like". Afterall, its not just limited to the right speeds, and obeying traffic laws, but the intent and motivations would also be in line with the purposes of God.

So, I was thinking that perfect driving would also be related to the destination and the purposes of that destination. In other words, if God is love and Jesus is a incarnation of God, made flesh, driving would be a means to love. So if the destination itself was to do something that is unloving (such as a place where people or exploited or where unrestrained consumerism is about to take place), then the purpose of the driving itself becomes sinful.

On top of that, its not enough to think ethically about how Jesus would drive, and where Jesus would drive, but also what Jesus would drive. Jesus was the fulfillment of what it means to be fully God and fully man. Mankind is given the taks in the garden of Eden of taking care of the earth. Therefore, Earthcare is part of what it means to be fully human. So perhaps Jesus would drive a hybrid, or maybe he would be against driving in principle due to its contributions to the massive elevations in pollution. Further more, perhaps he would advocate for community living where walking and non-motored transportation is feasible.

By this time, I was truly amazed at the complexity of really applying the "What would Jesus do" discipleship challenge to a common situation. If you are a Christian, then Jesus is our Lord and there is no area of our lives that is not led by the way of Jesus. Possibly, we need to take time to think about the implications more fully.

How do you think Jesus would drive? Leave a comment and share your thoughts,

God bless,

Pastor M Traylor

PS: Consider reading Charles Sheldon's classic "In His Steps" to understand the full context of the phrase "What would Jesus Do".