What would Jesus do?

What would Jesus do?

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Today is Easter Sunday. At Easter, we celebrate our birth into New Life.

On Good Friday, Jesus died on the cross. His Spirit went down to hell to battle with Satan, and decisively overcame him. Having won against death, He rose from the dead to triumph in His Resurrection.

Today we proclaim that God is indeed faithful and true. He completed His promise, and those who believe are now born into eternal life. Alleluia, He is risen!

The assurance of salvation and God’s affirmation of His sovereign power over all of life and Creation is our greatest weapon in the fight against CoViD-19. Indeed, the hope of Easter brings good news for us.

For more than a week now, no new cases have been reported by the Department of Health for Negros Oriental. This is very encouraging news. After the initial confusion and overload bought about by the pandemic, our healthcare institutions in the Province and the City also seem to have found their bearings. Today, the healthcare system in our community is better prepared and well-equipped to handle the CoViD-19 crisis in Negros Oriental.

Even our people seem to have adjusted to the convoluted, sometimes confusing and conflicting, and definitely inconvenient Rules of the Enhanced Quarantine. So in spite of the sometimes-oppressive (to our poor constituents most prejudiced by the quarantine), and unreasonable (for our Quarantine Pass-deprived residents) Quarantine Rules, our resilient, taxpaying constituents of Dumaguete have somehow survived and managed to go through this harrowing week.

What is most frustrating for everyone is that their pleas, and even well-intentioned suggestions, seem to have fallen on deaf ears!

And those who cared, who took an interest in pursuing the general welfare were all but ignored, and made to feel as if they were among the political opposition.

Our leaders must realize, however, that addressing the CoViD-19 crisis cannot afford to accommodate politics. Leaders must rise above being defensive and reactionary.

At this point in our crisis, anyone gambling on the fortunes of politics puts the general welfare at risk. We’re all in this together, facing a common enemy, and we all need to work hand in hand.

Easter highlights the victory of Christ over the cross. It also brings to mind the principles of leadership which He set by His example.

First, leadership is not about autocracy, or an attitude that no one else knows better. Leadership is about being sensitive to, and serving the real needs of one’s followers.

Second, leadership is not about the honor of sitting on the throne. Leadership is about humility in accepting the limitations of one’s talent and intellect. Ruling by an assumed sense of importance can be likened to a closed fist. When blessings and opportunity come, be it in material goods or good, workable ideas, the closed fist precludes, in fact, rejects the coming in of more blessings.

On the other hand, leading in humility suggests an openness to accept gifts from all sources which provide benefits for the people. It is like an open palm, always ready to receive, and, therefore, ready to become a great channel of blessings for the common good.

Third, leadership is not a monopoly of right and good, prescribing what must be done. Instead, leadership is an exercise of compassion. It is about feeling the heart of the people, moving in rhythm with them, and bestowing an assurance of redemption. It is the attitude of being one with the people, neither judging or condemning them, but sharing their dreams and aspirations.

Compassion is the art of being able to love somebody, to care for another detached from one’s perspective of what ought to be. It is the embodiment of selflessness, being able to die to one’s self for the sake of others. Compassion is the character trait which stood out the greatest in Christ’s dealings with those He led, and especially to those He ministered to.

“The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, ‘Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?’…when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’…When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on, sin no more.’” (John 8:3)

At this time of the pandemic, leadership is stretched to its limits, and often taken to task for some shortcomings. Nevertheless, the governed must abide by the guidance and direction provided by its leadership, even where sacrifice is required of everyone. “Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed…” (Titus 3: 1-4)

In the Spirit of Easter, let me invite us all, leaders and followers alike, to be guided and inspired by the moral principle introduced by Charles Sheldon, who wrote In His Footsteps: What Would Jesus Do? in 1800, popularized by the Jesus Movement in the 1970s, which coined it as WWJD.

Yes, when we feel the heavy burden of leadership, ask yourself, WWJD? And when the demands imposed by leadership seem difficult to bear, let us also seek comfort and strength by asking ourselves, “What would Jesus do?“

As a grateful people, redeemed by grace, and no longer under the condemnation of sin, let us hold up the reflection of Christ’s example before us, and move on as one community towards authentic, compassionate service, and God-ordained success.

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Author’s email: [email protected]

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