What Would Jesus Drive?
Have you heard of the group of silly preachers trying to convince you its a sin to drive an SUV by asking, rhetorically, "What Would Jesus Drive?"

Here is a brilliant answer from, as it turns out, a Nashville blogger who also happens to pastor a Nashville church.

It is impossible for me to live's Christ's life, nor can I meaningfully imagine Jesus leading my life . At best, I can hope to live a Christly life. But that makes the question not, WWJD, but "WWJHMD" - what would Jesus have me do? There is a particularity to my circumstances that Jesus never encountered, and to think that I can possibly say what he would do in my day, my place and my situation is arrogant, unless I use purely superficial situations.

Example: Last Monday night my wife and I went to Vanderbilt hospital be with a family whose five-month-old baby girl was literally her next breath away from death. The Gospels show that Jesus was responsive to that kind of tragedy, so far so good. But the breakdown occurs right there. Would Jesus have merely sat with the relatives (less mom and dad, who were with the baby in a medically restricted area) and simply prayed with them and offered purely moral support? Or would he have taken the girl by the hand and said to her, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!" (Mark 5:41).


I did the former, but I think Jesus would have done the latter.

IMO, for some clergy seriously to ask what Jesus would drive is to miss the entire point of Jesus' very life. Jesus wouldn't buy a car! He didn't even own a donkey; he had to borrow one to ride into Jerusalem. Jesus mostly walked from place to place. When necessary, he relied on transportation furnished by others - boats, for example. I have no problem imagining that Jesus would take a plane, train or automobile today. But if you offered to pick him up in a Ford Excursion, would he refuse? I think not!

Sensing is on the money with this one. I had planned to write an essay on the issue focusing on a logical argument regarding Jesus and SUVs. My point was going to be that environmental concerns are just one part of deciding what vehicle to drive, and that Jesus would also consider the safety of his passengers, and whether the SUV was the right vehicle for the task. But of course those are all tangential to the real issue, and I won't bother writing it now. Just read Sensing's piece.

It makes a ton more sense than this one-sided drivel.

UPDATE: Brock Yates has a good take on the Jesus/SUV debate:

Their contention is that if Jesus were touring Galilee today, he would have shucked his walking staff for a small, efficient, pollution-free automobile, as opposed to a giant sport utility vehicle (that might, on second thought, accommodate his 12 Disciples and be capable of navigating the more challenging sections of the Wilderness.)

Good point - one made equally well by the cartoonist for the Orlando Sentinel.