Thursday, March 25, 2010

What Would Jesus Do If His Baby Mama Left?

I occasionally check my stats to see how people are finding my blog or websites. In the case of this blog, I get several hits a month that are somehow related to the question “what would Jesus do?” I suppose I asked for it, since I posted about the question “What would Jesus do in an unhappy marriage?” At the time, I thought it was appropriate because it is related to the theme of For the Love of a Devil, but this month someone found this blog by typing in “what would jesus do if his baby mama left.” You know, I really appreciate what Charles M. Sheldon wrote in In His Steps and I’m glad that a few years ago people started asking “What would Jesus do?” even if they didn’t read the book, but good grief.



What would Jesus do if his baby mama left? Nothing. The question doesn’t make sense. The fact is that Jesus wouldn’t be in that situation. In the little over thirty years that Jesus walked this earth, he never married. The only reference to his bride in the bible is a future reference that appears to refer to the church. When he died, he died without sin and he is sinless still, so he never had a baby mama who could leave. What would Jesus do? He wouldn’t have gotten himself into that situation.



As good as it may be to consider what Jesus would do in particular situations, I believe the real question should be, “What would Jesus have me to do in this situation?” Since we know nothing of the person who asked the question, let’s assume the worst. Let’s assume that this person isn’t married and shacked up with some young woman. As these things happen, she got pregnant and he is reasonably certain that the baby is his. He drinks a little. He occasionally gets drunk and abusive. The woman, though she doesn’t fear for her own safety—she got enough of that kind of stuff from her father—fears that he might harm the child and moves out. What would Jesus do? As I said, Jesus wouldn’t be in this situation. But what would Jesus have this man to do?



First, get saved. This man needs to get his heart right with God. He’s a sinner and he is on the road to hell. He needs to repent and trust Jesus to put him on the right track. Next, he needs to get in church. He needs the loving support of a church to help him overcome his problems. Then he needs to give up the alcohol. Get it out of the house, don’t go to places that sell it and sign up for Alcoholic Anonymous. Next he needs to start working on his relationship with the mother of his child. I don’t mean in the form of dating, but spend time getting to know her as a friend. Tell her he is sorry. Whether it goes any farther, he is going to be spending time with her, if he wants to get to know his baby. If she’s living with another man, it may not be wise to try to break that up. Witness to her. The man should tell her about the change Jesus has made in his life. The best thing for the child will be if she is saved also. If she accepts Christ and is no longer living with another man, only then should the man in question even consider the possibility of restoring the romantic relationship they had before, but only if she agrees to marry him. Jesus wouldn’t be in a position to need to do any of that, but it is highly likely that he would lead people who are in that situation to do something along that line.