Saturday, January 31, 1998

Abilene preacher co-authors book exploring what Jesus would do

By LORETTA FULTON / Abilene Reporter-News

A new book co-authored by an Abilene minister tries to answer the question you see stamped on bracelets that people are wearing today.

The WWJD bracelets represent the question "What Would Jesus Do?" which was posed in a book written in 1896 by Charles Sheldon titled In His Steps.

The new book, published by Howard Publishing Co., is titled What Would Jesus Do Today?" and was co-authored by Mike Cope, minister at Highland Church of Christ, and Rubel Shelly, a Nashville, Tenn., minister.

Before answering the question posed in the book's title, Cope answered a more obvious one. No, he and Shelly did not choose the title to cash in on the bracelets' popularity. The publisher did.

"We resisted it a little bit," Cope said, but the publisher won out. Cope and Shelley had chosen a working title of Shadowing the Savior.

Whatever the title, the two men wanted to write a book about discipleship. They also co-edit a magazine, Wineskins, which is published in Nashville.

Cope said his interest was to study "how the values of a culture and Christian values come into conflict. We spend time lambasting the world; instead, we're more interested in how Christians live out their values."

In the introduction, Cope states that the church should continue to ask what Jesus would do today. But he makes another equally valid point: "The church should be familiar enough with Jesus of Nazareth as revealed in Scripture to have some idea how to answer."

If we're not careful, we may sound like we know the answer, when we really don't.

"It takes a lot of insight and prayer," to answer properly, Cope said.

The book, with 12 chapters equally divided between the two authors, serves as a kind of handbook for people who want to answer the question.

Some of the answers may surprise readers who are expecting pat answers. Cope wrote Chapter 1 titled "The World," in which he discusses the church's place in it. He says that many Christians advocate that "we should treat the world (including people whose lives aren't exemplary) as the enemy."

He says that some Christians "wage battles and condemn, they declare culture war and launch deadly verbal missiles, and they leap into politics and fire charges, caring little about accuracy."

Those people, by their lopsided approach, "express God's judgment without his compassion," Cope said.

On the other hand, some Christians live as if there were only minimal differences between Christians and the world. They ignore significant issues, they "make neutrality and tolerance a litmus test of faithfulness" and they blend in with the rest of the world.

Jesus used two metaphors that illustrate the relationship between Christ followers and those around them. Christ followers are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

"It isn't our job to express shock at the world, but to be salt and light in the world," Cope wrote.

The book covers various contemporary issues such as stress, money, and sexuality.

The magazine the two men edit, Wineskins, is geared toward Church of Christ audiences, and Cope said he hopes the new book will reach others.

"This is an attempt to speak to a wider audience," he said.