Day 10 - No laughing matter
I did something last night that I haven't done in a long time; I started writing today's piece in my head while I lay in the dark trying in vain to sleep. Despite my physical exhaustion, my mind just wasn't ready to slow down. So I did what any dedicated writer does; I got up, grabbed a pen and notebook, and got to work! It made me feel like a writer again. It's a good feeling.
I got to thinking about yesterday's fluff piece and wished I'd written about a thing I was struck by on Facebook yesterday. Before I go any further with that, I must digress for a moment and write about Facebook briefly. I avoided FB for a long time, mainly because I didn't want it to become (yet another) time sucker. I eventually joined, but first made some rules for myself. First, I would not become FB friends with anyone with whom I wasn't "real life" friends...this meant not even acquaintances, old classmates, etc. I would only become FB friends with those people with whom I would spend face-to-face, in-person time, given the opportunity. Now that we have established that my FB friends are, indeed, my friends...I was struck yesterday when a number of my friends - all of them Christians - posted the following "joke" on their walls:
DEAR LORD, THIS YEAR YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTOR, PATRICK SWAYZIE. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTRESS, FARAH FAWCETT. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE SINGER, MICHAEL JACKSON. I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW, MY FAVORITE PRESIDENT IS BARACK OBAMA. AMEN
I understand that it was intended as a joke, but I'm sorry, it's just not funny. Here's where I get up on my soapbox...Evangelical Christians today have given Jesus Christ - whose name we claim, and in doing so put forth ourselves and our actions as representatives of him - a bad rap. Here we are making a mockery of both God and our miraculous avenue of communication with Him (prayer) - and it's not the first time we've done so. It's no wonder unbelievers aren't attracted to the church. It's no wonder the media portrays us as hypocrites, bigots, racists, homophopes, and hate-mongers of every sort. Fellow Christians: this is what we give them to work with. It deeply saddens me that the evangelical church is not represendting Christ in a way that would make him proud. Jesus loved. Jesus loves. Do we?? Does spreading a "joke" about wishing God would take the leader of our country (in death) spread the love of Christ? Guess what, folks? God put him in office! You may think I'm on my soapbox because I'm an ardent Obama supporter, but the truth of the matter is, I didn't vote for the guy. This isn't about Obama, this is about Jesus. Politics are not the point. The point is that the message we as believers of the one true God are sending about Him is not the one He would want. How do I know this? God said so! 1 Peter 2:13 (NIV) says "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men..." Christians: the Lord commands that we respect authority, whether or not we agree with that authority. We are called to support our leaders because, whether we like it or not, they are part of God's perfect plan. God hand-picks our leaders and puts them in office just as He hand-picks our children and spouses and puts them in our lives. Yet we don't tend to argue when we're pleased with the result. Now, I know I am being a little extreme here. After all, it was just a funny little internet joke designed to make people laugh and express a difference in political values, right? I don't really believe that any of my friends who "liked" this FB post actually meant it as a death-threat to our president. But I do have a deep ache in my heart for the message we are sending when we engage in such things. It does make a mockery of prayer. It does make a joke of God's power and timing in "taking" those that we love. It does question God's judgement and authority in placing people we may not agree with in positions of power. As Christians we are called to rise above these things. We are called to unity in the body of Christ. How about instead of taking 30 seconds to pass on this joke, we take 30 seconds to pray for our president? Don't like his policies? Pray for God's wisdom. Don't like his use of power? Pray for God's intervention. I am also really bothered by what this "joke" says about prayer. Prayer is not our "to-do" list for God, nor is it our opportunity to air a laundry list of things He's done wrong. Prayer is a precious blessing - an incredible gift He did not have to give; but because He loves us so, He give us access to Himself. That is amazing! That we have a 24/7 all-access pass to one-on-one conversation with the Most High God! This is no laughing matter; it is both a priveledge and responsibility that we as believers should not take lightly. I guess what this boils down to for me is that as Christians we have the responsibility of representing Christ to others - to both believers and unbelievers. I know that the question, "What Would Jesus Do" has become cliche in our society, but seriously, would Jesus have taken part in the joke? Would he have laughed? Or would it have saddened him and caused him to bow his head in prayer? I'm sorry to be so high on my soapbox today, but we must guard our hearts and protect the image of Christ that we are portraying - even when we're just joking around. Alright, that's all...I'm coming down off my soapbox now!
I got to thinking about yesterday's fluff piece and wished I'd written about a thing I was struck by on Facebook yesterday. Before I go any further with that, I must digress for a moment and write about Facebook briefly. I avoided FB for a long time, mainly because I didn't want it to become (yet another) time sucker. I eventually joined, but first made some rules for myself. First, I would not become FB friends with anyone with whom I wasn't "real life" friends...this meant not even acquaintances, old classmates, etc. I would only become FB friends with those people with whom I would spend face-to-face, in-person time, given the opportunity. Now that we have established that my FB friends are, indeed, my friends...I was struck yesterday when a number of my friends - all of them Christians - posted the following "joke" on their walls:
DEAR LORD, THIS YEAR YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTOR, PATRICK SWAYZIE. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTRESS, FARAH FAWCETT. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE SINGER, MICHAEL JACKSON. I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW, MY FAVORITE PRESIDENT IS BARACK OBAMA. AMEN
I understand that it was intended as a joke, but I'm sorry, it's just not funny. Here's where I get up on my soapbox...Evangelical Christians today have given Jesus Christ - whose name we claim, and in doing so put forth ourselves and our actions as representatives of him - a bad rap. Here we are making a mockery of both God and our miraculous avenue of communication with Him (prayer) - and it's not the first time we've done so. It's no wonder unbelievers aren't attracted to the church. It's no wonder the media portrays us as hypocrites, bigots, racists, homophopes, and hate-mongers of every sort. Fellow Christians: this is what we give them to work with. It deeply saddens me that the evangelical church is not represendting Christ in a way that would make him proud. Jesus loved. Jesus loves. Do we?? Does spreading a "joke" about wishing God would take the leader of our country (in death) spread the love of Christ? Guess what, folks? God put him in office! You may think I'm on my soapbox because I'm an ardent Obama supporter, but the truth of the matter is, I didn't vote for the guy. This isn't about Obama, this is about Jesus. Politics are not the point. The point is that the message we as believers of the one true God are sending about Him is not the one He would want. How do I know this? God said so! 1 Peter 2:13 (NIV) says "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men..." Christians: the Lord commands that we respect authority, whether or not we agree with that authority. We are called to support our leaders because, whether we like it or not, they are part of God's perfect plan. God hand-picks our leaders and puts them in office just as He hand-picks our children and spouses and puts them in our lives. Yet we don't tend to argue when we're pleased with the result. Now, I know I am being a little extreme here. After all, it was just a funny little internet joke designed to make people laugh and express a difference in political values, right? I don't really believe that any of my friends who "liked" this FB post actually meant it as a death-threat to our president. But I do have a deep ache in my heart for the message we are sending when we engage in such things. It does make a mockery of prayer. It does make a joke of God's power and timing in "taking" those that we love. It does question God's judgement and authority in placing people we may not agree with in positions of power. As Christians we are called to rise above these things. We are called to unity in the body of Christ. How about instead of taking 30 seconds to pass on this joke, we take 30 seconds to pray for our president? Don't like his policies? Pray for God's wisdom. Don't like his use of power? Pray for God's intervention. I am also really bothered by what this "joke" says about prayer. Prayer is not our "to-do" list for God, nor is it our opportunity to air a laundry list of things He's done wrong. Prayer is a precious blessing - an incredible gift He did not have to give; but because He loves us so, He give us access to Himself. That is amazing! That we have a 24/7 all-access pass to one-on-one conversation with the Most High God! This is no laughing matter; it is both a priveledge and responsibility that we as believers should not take lightly. I guess what this boils down to for me is that as Christians we have the responsibility of representing Christ to others - to both believers and unbelievers. I know that the question, "What Would Jesus Do" has become cliche in our society, but seriously, would Jesus have taken part in the joke? Would he have laughed? Or would it have saddened him and caused him to bow his head in prayer? I'm sorry to be so high on my soapbox today, but we must guard our hearts and protect the image of Christ that we are portraying - even when we're just joking around. Alright, that's all...I'm coming down off my soapbox now!
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