When the 'What Would Jesus Do?" fad began, young people wore the slogan on bracelets, tee shirts, etc. But before long, it was quite obvious that many of them simply claimed that whatever they decided to do was exactly what Jesus would do under the same circumstances.

A teenager was admonished for embarrassing a young girl by loudly bringing attention to a very visible birthmark on her face. The teen stated that Jesus said that the truth will make you free, and he had only spoken the truth. Of course, he wasn't truly trying to be like Jesus, but rather was using Jesus as an excuse to hurt another person. What Jesus actually taught us is that if we abide in him, we will know the truth, and the truth will make us free.

When we claim to follow Jesus and then deliberately say or do something that is out of Jesus' character as clearly outlined in Scripture, we are recreating Jesus to be like us, not molding ourselves around his nature.

Even our Supreme Court is not immune from this trend. Their building is adorned with The Ten Commandments, and each session is opened with prayer, asking for the Lord's guidance. Then, with that formality out of the way, they proceed to take such steps as banning the posting of the Commandments from schools, courtrooms and other public places.

Our beloved and revered Bill of Rights states that our rights emanate from our Creator, but according to polls, many Americans believe that same Creator endowed us with the right to kill unborn children. No, I believe it is our desire to have a way around the consequences of wrong behavior or our need to not be inconvenienced that has led us to buy the lie that we have a God-given right to "choice".

Many people say that we should love unconditionally, as Jesus does, but what they mean is that we should overlook sin and wrong. That is not the way Jesus loves. He wants us to be distressed by our sin and to confess and repent to Him; then He forgives us. God loves us, but prescribes certain punishments for unrepentance. Everyone Jesus forgave, He told to go and sin no more. Man encourages others to continue in their sin with no fear of punishment because God loves them.

Recently, a leader in the Episcopal church, during an interview about that church's recent appointment of an openly homosexual man to the level of bishop, said that Jesus never specifically said that homosexual activity was wrong. He dismissed biblical passages that were suggested as either being from the Old Testament and therefore irrelevant, or from the New Testament but not spoken directly by Christ. The interviewer didn't go farther, but if this church leader truly believes that the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God and that Jesus is the only Son of God, then Jesus is also the author of everything in the entire Bible.

God warns those who do not hold to the truth of Scripture that on the day when they call, "Lord, Lord," He will say, "Away from me, I never knew you!" We must be careful to hold strictly to God's Word, and avoid what Pastor Herbert Geisler once called, 'putting words in God's mouth'.