From “What Would Jesus Do?” to Following Jesus

The Gospel situation

The question “What would Jesus do?” is a familiar starting point for leaders. It interrupts instinct and creates a moment of reflection. However, the chapter notes a critical limitation: if we are not familiar with what Jesus actually did, the “Jesus” we imagine can begin to look remarkably like ourselves.

The alternative is not to abandon the question, but to ground it in the actual stories of the Gospels. Instead of speculating about what Jesus might do, we can study what He did do when faced with pressure, opportunity, conflict, and human need. This study forms a more reliable foundation for our own leadership.

What Jesus did

The chapter summarizes the pattern of Jesus’s life seen throughout the Gospels. He refused temptation, left success behind, stopped for the overlooked, touched the excluded, confronted hypocrisy, washed feet, restored failure, and forgave his executioners.

Jesus's actions sometimes appear contradictory. He withdrew from one crowd but stopped for another person; He spoke sharply in one setting and was silent in another. The consistency is found not in replicating isolated behaviors, but in understanding how each action related to His mission, the people involved, and His relationship with the Father.

Jesus Himself defined following Him not as admiration, but as movement and surrender. In Mark 8, he invites people to deny themselves, take up a cross, and follow Him, a path that directly challenges personal instinct and preference.

What was at stake

At stake is the difference between speculative imitation and true discipleship. Simply copying an action of Jesus without understanding its context can lead to becoming harsh, passive, or enabling. Following requires becoming familiar with the pattern beneath His actions.

A deeper risk is selectivity. We tend to notice and admire the parts of Jesus's example that affirm our existing strengths—His confrontation or His mercy, His clarity or His patience. The full story of Jesus prevents this by presenting a leader who cannot be reduced to a single temperament or style.