Way back in the 1990s those bracelets were really popular among young, eager Christians: "WWJD?" "What would Jesus do?"
Funnily enough, though, I never heard such a conversation begin with the question that must lie behind it: "What DID Jesus do?" Better yet, what did Jesus do that he intended us to imitate?
To prepare for a class I'm currently teaching called The Christian Playbook, I read the entire Gospel of Mark and took note of all the things Mark says Jesus did. But most especially, I tried to look beneath Jesus' impressive actions -- the ones that may intimidate us, or that we likely find inimitable -- so that we don't all go trying to walk on water. What can we REALLY do?
And could it be that by imitating Jesus in the little things, we are actually being more effective in imitating Jesus' impressive actions, than we realize?
Enjoy, then, my summary of everything Jesus did in the Gospel according to Mark.
Mark 1: Engage
- Be baptized
- Proclaim good news
- Gather people
- Teach with authority
- Cast out unclean spirits
- Cure sickness
- Go to a deserted place to pray
- Move on to a new place
- Choose to heal others
Mark 2: Forgive
- Forgive sins
- Befriend sinners and eat with them
- Don’t fast when it’s time to feast
- Break a lesser law to keep a more important one
Mark 3: Reorient
- Get angry at and grieve for those who put rules ahead of relationship
- Appoint and send out others
- Speak in parables
- Find new family wherever you are
Mark 4: Dream
- Trust in the mystery of God’s long-term plans
- Imagine beyond what is realistic
- Let your light shine
- Allow yourself to grow
- Nap on boats
- Calm stormy fears
Mark 5: Restore
- Journey far away from your own familiar people and places
- Confront forces that limit freedom and cut people off from community
- When asked to leave, just go
- Allow for interruptions
- Don’t settle for superficial relationships
- Let belief override fear
- Make sure children get enough to eat
Mark 6: Depend
- Depend on the trust of others to make your good deeds effective
- Live simply, depending on others to meet your needs
- Invite friends to rest with you in a deserted place
- Let compassion change your plans and give you energy
- Use what you have and trust that there will be enough
Mark 7: Expand
- Call out hypocrisy among those in privileged positions
- Honor God by honoring the people in your life
- Watch your mouth and your intentions
- Let foreigners teach you a broader perspective
- Open people’s ears
Mark 8: Prepare
- Don’t put up with foolishness from those who won’t listen
- Expose repeating patterns of grace
- Open people’s eyes
- Take up your cross and follow
Mark 9: Transfigure
- Climb mountains
- Take your place among the greats
- Grow in understanding
- Get frustrated with shortsightedness
- Know when prayer is your only option
- Tell hard truths
- Understand power dynamics
- Remember the power of basic kindness
- Don’t hinder those who do things differently than you would
- Discipline your animal urges so you can use them appropriately
Mark 10: Deepen
- Don’t exploit people, even when you grow weary of them
- Recognize that all people and relationships are eternal
- Understand the power of vulnerability
- Give away what you don’t need
- Build interdependent community
- Don’t seek greatness, but a life of service
- Don’t assume you know what others want from you
Mark 11: Praise
- Recognize and praise true authority
- Make prophetic demonstrations
- Flip the tables of the unjust
- Want what God wants
- Make a perpetual practice of forgiveness
- Put the service of truth ahead of how you appear to others
Mark 12: Oppose
- Tell abusers that the time of their power is ending
- Know to whom you pay homage and why
- Don’t put up with those who don’t argue in good faith
- Let only love guide all your decisions
- Refute the notion of empire
- Criticize those who oppress others to retain their position
- Lift up the stories of those who give out of trust and vulnerability
Mark 13: Watch
- Don’t get attached to temporary things and situations
- Don’t listen to people whose message is attractive and requires nothing of you
- Endure despite any and all persecution and suffering
- Learn to read the signs of the times
- Stay awake and alert
Mark 14: Suffer
- Accept one-of-a-kind, extravagant gifts from those who love you
- Build community around a meal, over and over again
- Accept that you will be disloyal again and in need of forgiveness
- Pray with friends in need
- When inevitable suffering comes, don’t fight it
Mark 15: Die
- When you feel abandoned, let God know
Mark 16: Rise
- Never believe that this is truly the end
