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In the New Testament of the Bible, in the book of 1 Peter, chapter 2 and verse 21, this sentence is written: “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.” Charles Sheldon took this verse and made it the basis of his famous book, In His Steps, published in 1896.
The original publisher did not file the copyright forms properly and so the book was almost immediately thrown into the public domain. Though this was unfortunate for the author and publisher, this immensely popular book was printed and reprinted around the world, with the result that, at least as of the mid-20th century, In His Steps was the second-highest selling book next to the Bible!
The premise of In His Steps is the following. A pastor of a comfortable, wealthy church is confronted with the poverty of his faith. The pastor, Henry Maxwell, is forced to think very hard about what the call of Christ is on his life. He then confronts his church and throws out a challenge to them: Join him for one year during which they will do nothing without first asking “What would Jesus do?” The novel is about those who take this pledge and how their lives are transformed by the Holy Spirit working in them and how people in the world around them are also transformed because of their faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a fascinating story and it is real, not saccharine at all. All those who take the pledge are confused at first, wondering what this all means. Some fall away. Some endure the censure of society. Most do not see large effects in the lives of people around them but some do see such large things. Sheldon writes quite well, stirring emotions and making the reader think hard about how their lives would change if they followed the example of our Lord. “What would Jesus do?”
Charles Sheldon (1857 – 1946) was a Protestant pastor and author. He was influential in the early days of the Social Gospel, which at first was good in calling people to examine their lives and reform institutions with respect to the truth of the Gospel. This movement was later twisted into a denial of the need for personal salvation so that the Christian just needed to “be like Jesus” and do good works. Most of what we call the “mainstream” Protestant denominations, at least in the US and Europe, have generally followed this path, which has since led them into even more heresy. In His Steps does not contain this heresy and so is worth reading. I have not read Sheldon’s later books, except for the sequel to In His Steps, Jesus is Here, published in 1914. I didn’t like the sequel.
A final note: there are authors whose every book is worth reading. There are other authors who only produce one book that is worth reading. Why this is, I don’t know. But it does happen. I would put Charles Sheldon in the latter category.