I know that, as a fad, it’s probably run its course. I know that during its day, it was overused . . . over marketed . . . and maybe, sometimes, a bit over the top. Think what you will of its hey-day, but you can’t argue with the sentiments behind WWJD. What Would Jesus Do? Fair question . . . not a bad reminder for people who are called to “be imitators of God” (Eph. 5:1). But the power of WWJD, of course, is not in the slogan or acronym . . . it’s not in the bracelets and other marketed paraphernalia . . . but its in actually doing what Jesus would do . . . in saying what Jesus would say . . . in responding in a manner in which Jesus would respond. And, I’m thinking it’s not so much what merchandise I’m wearing on the outside as it is what’s filling me on the inside that’s going to result in the degree to which I do what Jesus would do. Case in point . . . Stephen . . .

“But they (the high priest and the council) cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him (Stephen). Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him . . . And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” (Acts 7:57-60)

Every time I read this passage I’m arrested afresh by how much Stephen, at his death, responded like the Lord Jesus at His death. The clarity with which he commended the care of his spirit into the hands of His Savior and the manner in which he prayed for his executioners . . . almost exactly like what Jesus said (Luke 23:34, 46). And I don’t think in those moments, when the stones started hitting him, he was thinking, “WWJD?” . . . no, I think he responded with what had become second nature to him . . . that second nature being the nature of Christ. It wasn’t about the slogan he memorized . . . it was about the Spirit he internalized.

You read about Stephen in Acts 6 and 7 and it isn’t hard to pick up on one of his major distinguishing characteristics: ” . . . they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit (6:3) . . . And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders (6:8) . . . But they could not withstand the wisdom and Spirit with which [Stephen] was speaking (6:10) . . . But [Stephen], full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God (7:55).”

Talk about someone who was “conformed to the image of Christ” (Rom. 8:29) . . . talk about someone who reflected the heart and mind of the risen Savior . . . talk about someone who responded naturally in such a supernatural way . . . then you’re talking about Stephen. And, it wasn’t what Stephen wore on his wrist that influenced how much he acted like Jesus . . . it was about what Stephen was filled with in his heart . . . a man full of the Holy Spirit.

Here’s a guy under the influence of the Holy Spirit . . . up to the very end. The divine nature becoming second nature . . . the Holy Spirit in full control when things were spinning out of control . . . what Stephen would do being what Jesus would do. Stephen living out to the most extreme extent Paul’s declaration that “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).

And it occurs to me that, while I’m no Stephen, the same Holy Spirit that filled Him is the Spirit who resides within me . . . that I too can continually “be being filled with the Holy Spirit” (Eph. 5:18) . . . that I too can learn and know what it is to live in the Spirit and to walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:25) . . . that I too can be so under the influence that my “natural” responses and actions start looking a lot like the responses and actions that one would expect from Jesus.

WWPD? What Would Pete do? By the grace of God . . .and through the filling and power of the Holy Spirit . . . more and more what Jesus would do . . .