Sheldon wrote a sequel to In His Steps titled Jesus is Here, where Christ actually shows up and visits the characters of In His Steps, supposedly a few years later. The book is written in much the same language / style of In His Steps, with many of the same characters (and some added ones). The plot is still formulaic in places but feels less forced, especially given its omission of the now much-parodied sentence, "What Would Jesus Do?" This book's recurring phrase, used in description of Jesus, is: "Like an average man. Only different."
Plot. Jesus appears quietly at first, to one person and then to an expanding group of people in the small town of Raymond. He gradually draws more and more attention, including crowds. Jesus goes from Raymond to New York City and then Washington D.C., at points making a public splash, including media attention. The non-stereotypical character of Jesus seems fully capable of supernatural power (not showing up in pictures, for example), but chooses a nondescript mode of presenting himself. He does not appear to do dramatic public acts such as healing, but instead speaks words of comfort or lends practical help. He has views but relays them with understatement. He wears ordinary business clothes, at times blends into a crowd, and is not memorable in appearance. He is humble, practical and personable. His impact upon lives is not through obvious miracles, but old-fashioned kindness, care, and encouragment.
Literary Technique. Sheldon creates a Jesus who is especially gentle on the modern church of his day, speaking generous words of grace and favor. Sheldon offers a nice counterpoint through the skepticism of Raymond's lead editor, a non-Christian and non-churchgoer, who sets the story line of the book. Sheldon also extends the mystery and realism of his fictional idea by effective omission—the use of third-person accounts, and the technique of delaying and limiting first-hand quotation for more than half of the book to onlookers' descriptions of what they saw. There is also a demure and rapid love story between two characters, blessed by Jesus.
This sequel has a slightly more contemporary feel than In His Steps, in that this cast includes characters who openly declare opposing aims and a mean-spirited skepticism of Christ. By playing its own devil's advocate, through voiced skepticism, and keeping the plot more uncertain, the book and its conflicts become more interesting. A Christian might read the story simply to find out how long the fiction of a fleshly Christ, even of the late 1800s / early 1900s, can be sustained. Issues do gradually emerge through the book that date it, however; the book embodies strong Prohibitionist and Temperance views on tobacco, alcohol, college fraternities, and other axe-grinding issues on which the modern church has been long silenced.
Controversy. Sheldon's sequel, Jesus is Here, was quite controversial in its day. The author's own foreword to the book alludes to some of the controversy. Possible conflicts by fellow Christian believers might include: 1) The Bible states that Jesus Christ appeared once for all. A reappearance of Christ in the flesh, despite the book's repeated allusions to the Bible as though to document its own orthodoxy, is problematic inside the sequence of biblical history, since Jesus' appearing here is neither a first coming nor a Second Coming (Rapture) event, but simply a friendly visit. 2) The book nowhere references the Holy Spirit, considered by most Christians (per the biblical book of Acts) to be the non-visible representation of Christ's own Spirit in the modern day. A living Jesus dressed in modern clothes is confusing, since it appears to conflict with the Holy Spirit doctrine. The resurrected Jesus said that if he did not go away, the Holy Spirit could not come. It is interesting that the Holy Spirit never receives a mention in the book, given the prevalence of the Holy Spirit in Scripture. 3) The book makes no mention of the anti-Christ motif of the New Testament book, Revelation. Many Christians believe the next appearance of a bodily Christ will be the anti-Christ. Other Christian books, notably Frank Peretti's The Visitation (1999), ponder through fiction what an anti-Christ type of visitation might look like on a smaller scale. In Jesus is Here, a question emerges for the reader: "Who is this man?" and "Why wouldn't he be a fraud?"
Cultural / historical niche. One noticeable characteristic of the pre-World Wars' Jesus is Here is its striking optimism, about the inevitability of the Body of Christ (the Church) to bring positive change to its own culture and the world. Certain positive conclusions that Sheldon indulges in toward the Church (even while noting the capacity of church people to act in less than godly ways) would likely not be drawn as confidently, more than a century later. One senses that Sheldon's contemporaries of turn-of-the-century 1900s were more willing to "count the cost" -- that is, go public with their decisions to follow Christ in a more sacrificial way, and succeed in winning the preponderance of their culture to a biblical faith, than the present generation. The strongest epiphany of the book is the individual life change experienced by Raymond's sarcastic editor, whose repulsion to the concept of a personnified Christ but increasing attraction to the actual Person he encounters, is magnificently and coherently, in the end, rewarded.
Read more about this topic: In His Steps