Millions of youngsters are encouraged to wear "What Would Jesus Do? bracelets and accessories. Is this the pop-culture Christian equivalent of the Beanie Babies? Does it encourage proselytizing, and lack of critical thinking? Here's a look into the origins of this new rage.

Web Posted: August 9, 1998

WJD.

   Those four letters adorn bracelets said to worn by millions of Christian teenagers, who use them to prompt the question "What would Jesus do" when confronted with temptation. Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network says that the WWJD ornaments are sparking a "modern day counterculture revolution with roots that date back to 1896." And CBN quotes teens who says that the bracelets empower them to resist "peer pressure" and "negative influences." They've become hot sellers at revival meetings, church gatherings and religious bookstores; sales took off last year when commentator Paul Harvey discussed the WWJD campaign on his national radio program, and CNN covered the story. The original bracelets were produced starting in 1989 and had sold only a few thousand. Last year, a firm in Lansing, Michigan filled order for 14 million report company officials.

   The idea behind the bracelets goes back to the "Jesus People" revival of the 1970s, and a church in Holland, Michigan where a group of youngsters read the book "In His Steps" by Charles Monroe Sheldon (1857-1946). Sheldon's novel, published in 1896, is a fictionalized account of a prosperous, somewhat smug congregation and its pastor, Rev. Henry Maxwell. During a Sunday service, both minister and congregation are shocked by the appearance of a shabbily dressed man, who berates them for supposedly not following the lessons of Jesus Christ and helping others. The man dies, and the congregation then vows to take no action without first asking themselves, "What would Jesus do?"

    Sheldon's novel and the questions that it raised came at a crucial time in the economic and social development of the United States, and typified the expression of what became known as the Social Gospel. Theologians and clergy were already attempting to divine a religious message in the midst of this unprecedented upheaval in the culture. Congregationalist preacher Washington Gladden (1836-1918) and Baptist theologian Walter Rauschenbusch (1861-1918) emerged as proponents of this school, which attempted to apply "Christian principles" to social problems. In 1908, the Federal Council of Churches (forerunner to the National Council of Churches) announced a "social creed" that called for improved working conditions, abolition of child labor and other reforms.

    Critics saw these developments as a late and long overdue response to the convulsive transformations sweeping America as it moved away from an agrarian base toward an industrial, manufacturing economy. Not all religionists, though, would embrace reform; even the Social Gospel rejected militant labor activism. Others saw it as a dangerous flirtation with political ideologies, and away from the more traditional orientation of the church -- focused more on evangelism and the winning of souls. For this segment, the Social Gospel was part of distrusted urbanization and foreign doctrines. The result was a split within the ranks of American Protestantism.

    "In His Steps" took its name from the sermon preached by the fictional Rev. Maxwell. In the book, the changes brought about by people constantly asking "What would Jesus do?" were miraculous, and at times frightening. One congregant spends her fortune in setting up rescue missions; an editor of a newspaper censors articles and refuses advertisements that are contrary to "Christian principles." But the seductive tone of the book has made it an American bestseller by many accounts, and Sheldon quickly became a recognized literary figure of his time. Other books followed, including "The Narrow Gate" (1902), "All The World" (1918) and "In His Steps Today" (1921). Indeed, Sheldon has been compared favorably to other writers of that period including Harold Bell Wright and Ralph Connor (Charles Gordon).

"WWJD" -- REFORM OR REACTION?

    Today's "What Would Jesus Do" faddism, though, is not identified with anything which has a progressive veneer, or resembles the old Social Gospel. Religious right activists have embraced the WWJD campaign as a trendy way of inoculating youngsters from the perceived pitfalls of modernity and secularism, and promoters of the bracelet see it as an effective "witnessing" tool for recruiting kids into churches and faith-based clubs.

    The more cynical suggest that the WWJD bracelets establish poor thinking habits, an almost knee-jerk reaction where youngsters attempt to analyze every situation in terms of vague, feel-good religious slogans. The CBN story, for instance, told of one bracelet wearer who was asked by friends if he wanted to go to a party. "I almost said yes, but my bracelet actually got caught in the desk, and I looked at it and I thought about it and the Bible says not to take on the appearance of evil, so I turned them down."

    And exactly "What would Jesus do" in modern situations? Columnist and ordained Methodist minister Michael O'Connor of the Abilene (Texas) Reporter-News asked that recently, and suggested that the convenient "answers" prompted by the bracelets may be a reflections of biases and assumptions. What would Jesus do about a woman caught in the bed of a politician? Or a divorced person who wished to discuss religion? Even the faithful divide on such practical questions. Would Jesus condemn gays? Would he allow them to marry? No one can be sure. By this criteria, the WWJD fetishes have the substance and predictable quality of a daily horoscope... they become fashion statements for the faithful, the religious equivalent of Beanie Babies or Power Ranger figures.

EMPTY SLOGANS -- BIG BUCKS?

    And "What would Jesus do" about the trademark fight now going on about the bracelets? In Ohio, a minister who says that she came up with the WWJD idea has obtained a trademark, and soon might seek a national trademark according to the Oakland (Michigan) Press. That would give Janie Tinklenberg of Dublin, Ohio rights that could be worth "millions of dollars" that she says she wants to use in support of a youth ministry.

    But in Lansing, Michigan "What Would Jesus Do?" has emerged as the top marketeer, and denies Tinklenberg's claim that she invented the bracelets "despite credit given her in industry publications and the internet."

    Others are taking advantage of the WWJD fad as well. In the burgeoning field of Christian music (fueled by over 1,600 Christian radio stations across the country), contemporary artists like Big Tent Revival are on a special WWJD album. Garret Sheldon, the great-grandson of Charles Sheldon, reports that he has written an updated version of "In His Steps" along with a screenplay version.

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