Wednesday 14th July
Key Question: U2.2 What would Jesus do? Can we live by the values of Jesus in the twenty-first century?
LO: I can express my own understanding of what Jesus would do in relation to a moral dilemma from the world today
What would Jesus do?
• Introduce children to the movement, begun in the USA, called ‘WWJD’. There are hundreds of artefacts associated with this easily found via an online search. Talk to the pupils about why someone might wear this wristband, and how following Jesus might include trying to work out what he would do fact with any situation that is tempting, difficult or presents a dilemma.
• Christians often see the process of moral choice as temptation to do wrong. They resist temptation by prayer, using the Bible or working together in fellowship. Tell pupils that Christians don’t expect to be perfect, so they ‘own up’, or confess their sins to God, sometimes using these words: ‘we have done things we ought not to have done, and we have left undone things we ought to have done. In your mercy, Lord, forgive us all that is past…’
• Put large sheets of paper out on the tables in your classroom, with one of these dilemmas in the middle, and a line down the page. On the left hand side write ‘WWJD’ and on the right ‘What would you do? Ask pupils circulate round the room, writing their own ideas, questions, reasons and points on to the sheets, and reading what others have suggested.
- Amit has £10. He is moved by a charity appeal. Should he give to charity or spend his money on himself? How much each way?
- Beth sees her enemy fall over on the playground. Should she help, or carry on playing with her friends? Could she make a friend out of an enemy?
- Cally has a new girl in her class. She sees the new girl is crying.
- Dan has no money and no sweets. He is tempted to take just a couple of sweets from Ellie’s bag. She has loads. No one will notice. They are his favourites.
- Flo’s annoying little brother is being annoying. She feels like thumping him, but she decides to just speak. Should she say something angry, or something gentle?
- Greg promised himself to eat healthy foods, and he’s been doing well. Today there are loads of donuts leftover, and he’s already had two.
- Harun hasn’t done his homework. When the teacher asks why not, he thinks of saying ‘My Nan is unwell, and we are all upset.’ This is not true.
- Ian’s mum asks him to go to the shop for a pint of milk. But he is just getting close to a high score on his new game. He open his mouth angrily, to say… what?
Jess has 4 lots of homework she has not done this week, but she feels too lazy to bother on Friday when she gets home.
- Kat promised her friend Jodie not to tell her secret. But now she is chatting to her best friend Lucy, who asks: ‘What about Jodie then?’ Kat says, ‘Wouldn’t you like to know…?’ What is the temptation here? What will she say next? What is the good thing to do?
- Liam kicked Matt and gave him a bruise during football. The teacher asks Liam to apologise, but he finds it too hard, and doesn’t want to be shown up. He feels like saying ‘Well, you didn’t see what he did to me!’
• Review the pages of notes, ideas, questions and suggestions together in a circle discussion: what can we learn from asking ‘WWJD?’ about our own ideas and decisions?
Creative writing: two endings to one story
• Give pupils the first paragraph of some simple stories about making choices. They could be based on the dilemmas above, or pupils could make up some more of their own. Ask them in pairs to develop two endings, which show the consequences of good choices or of bad choices. One story-pathway could show what happens if a person follows the teachings of Jesus, another could show what happens if someone does the opposite. Encourage pupils to think about consequences.
Unfortunately not the ones with chocolate chips.
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