All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. - 2Corinthians 5: 18-20 (ESV)
Social media is rapidly becoming the default method for interacting with most people we know. Sure we may have our inner circle of people we actually see but the vast majority of folks we interact with comes via the new technologies of social media. How many of us can testify to having 400 Facebook friends and maybe five in real life? It matters that we grasp the differences in these interactions. You can say something stupid in real life and get away with it. Maybe only a few friends were around to hear it. Maybe you only have to apologize to one person. When we say something on Facebook however, everyone hears it. All 400 people will see it scroll past them on their news feed. Then we need to also consider who we are to the people that hear us. When we are in our inner circle everyone is on the same footing, yet even then we would be sensitive to the individual needs of the people we associate with. For example if we had a friend who struggled with their weight, we would be careful to not be telling jokes in that realm. Yet who are the 400 people on our Facebook friends list? Do we even know all of them? More importantly, who are we to them? Are we that "Christian" guy or that "Christian" girl? Are we the ones who always post the Scripture verses and shout amen in every thread? Chances are that is exactly who we are to many.
Looking at the key verses serves to remind us of who we really are. We are ambassadors for Christ! An ambassador is someone who represents someone else. We represent Christ on this planet beloved. Who are we ambassadors to? Other Christians? No! To the unsaved! He has given us a ministry of reconciliation. Not a ministry of false grace. Not a ministry of puppies and rainbows. Not a ministry of health and wealth. A ministry of reconciliation. The dictionary defines reconciliation as the "process of making compatible." What is incompatible right now? Sinners and God. We carry the message of reconciliation. That God desires to be reconciled to them. That He desires to not count their trespasses against them. That is the Good News! That God wants to be reconciled to us. He is making His appeal through us! We must implore those on the outside of salvation to be reconciled to God. We do not implore them to find their purpose. We do not implore them to "try Jesus out." We implore them to be reconciled to God before it is too late. He has entrusted to us this message of reconciliation and what do we do with it? I am not suggesting a holier than thou approach when it comes to posting on Facebook. I post song lyrics occasionally, pictures of my nephews because they are too cute not to share, and even a funny meme now and again. What you will never see on my page is a quote, no matter how accurate it might be, from someone who perverts the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Who said something is often more important than what they said quite often. Consider the following quotes:
"Words build bridges into unexplored regions."
"It takes less courage to criticize the decisions of others than to stand by your own."
"The real strong have no need to prove it to the phonies."
"I believe in one thing only, the power of human will."
"Countless millions who have walked this earth before us have gone through this, so this is just an experience we all share."
Fantastic and inspirational quotes. Exploring new territories. Speaking against criticizing others. Encouraging real strength and the power of the human will. Assuring us that what we are going through has all been seen before. Who wouldn't want these to be there Facebook status for today? I guess anyone who knows who actually said these quotes:
"Words build bridges into unexplored regions." - Adolf Hitler
"It takes less courage to criticize the decisions of others than to stand by your own." - Attila the Hun
"The real strong have no need to prove it to the phonies." - Charles Manson
"I believe in one thing only, the power of human will." - Joseph Stalin
"Countless millions who have walked this earth before us have gone through this, so this is just an experience we all share." - Ted Bundy
Why wouldn't we want these on our page? Because we would not want to associate ourselves with Hitler, Stalin, Bundy, Manson and Attila the Hun! We would not want people thinking we tacitly or inferentially endorse them or support them. While this is entirely correct and logical, why is it that Christians cannot seem to carry this logic over when it comes to Christian quotes from false prophets and false teachers? Consider these recent posts:
"If you raise your level of expectancy, God will take you places you've never dreamed of." - Joel Osteen
"We are in a divine season of harvest and unlimited blessing..." - Paula White
"Become outrageously thankful and watch as your intimacy with God increases and He pours out greater blessings than ever before." - Joyce Meyer
These are not even accurate statements yet Christians will rush to repost. The larger point is how are we being ambassadors for Christ by leading people to the wolves in His sheep pen? I know some might think this is too harsh. That there are shades of grey to consider but let me assure you there are not.
Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. - Luke 11: 23 (ESV)
That is it. There are two sides; not shades of grey. We are either helping to gather or helping to scatter. I have seen pastors post "inspiring" quotes from false teachers. You have got to be kidding me. People look to see what we post as Christians. They see enough lewd jokes, crass communications, and absolute hatred when it comes to politics in their daily lives. They need to see something different from us. They need to see that shining city on a hill. They need to see that we are salt and light. They need to realize that we are ambassadors who have been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation. If we lead them to Christ through social media, all the glory to God. My fear though is that we are leading them to Joseph Prince. Or we are leading them to Joel Osteen. Or any number of other false teachers who will not lead them to Jesus at all. It is time we start becoming more careful with what we are willing to associate with. The first question we need to ask when reposting is if it is true and if the person we are quoting truly gathers or scatters. We cannot make our decisions based solely on the quote. We saw earlier that even serial killers and mass murderers can say something encouraging. All of your contacts on your friends list will see who it is that you endorse. You will lead them to the people you quote.
Rev. Anthony
