In the 1990s it was popular to ask the question, What Would Jesus Do? It seemed that everywhere one looked WWJD was stamped on t-shirts, bumper stickers, and key chains. Last night, I read a new variation of the question on twitter, What Would Jesus Tweet?
This is not necessarily a bad question. It is better than basing one’s life decisions on filing in the name of a popular celebrity or athlete: WW_D (what would fill in the blank do).
However, as I am contemplating the meaning of the trinity at three in the morning, and reading some Barth, I think the WWJD question illustrates how we have not held on to the triunity of God. We tend to tear the trinity apart. In our limited understanding, God the Father seems more distant and even has a reputation for being judgmental. God the Holy Spirit, even in the church’s own liturgy, is under-defined. Jesus often seems to be the only accessible one in the three.
Yet, Barth’s challenge is to hold on to the unity of God: “We must say that all God’s work, as we are to grasp it on the basis of His revelation, is one act which occurs simultaneously and in concert in all His three modes of being.” [375]
So, perhaps a better question would be, WWTD?
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