Tuesday, September 20, 2011

What if Jesus "Unfriended" You?

Generally when there is a Facebook post that makes a bold statement and it says, "copy and repost if you agree", it spreads like wildfire. A few weeks ago, I saw a FB post like that from quite a few of my Christian friends and the post read as follows...


"I really don't like when my Facebook "friends" use vulgar language when posting their
"thoughts". They probably don't realize that my parents, siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews, religious acquaintances. political associations and clients are also my friends and might associate me with such vulgarity. I will soon commit to un-"friend"ing those who use Facebook to spew filth. Come on people - can't you talk without cussing?!?!?!?"



My thoughts went racing about this post I read from my Christian friends and I asked myself, "If we are Christians, which means we are suppose to be "Christ like", then why would we want to un-"friend" people because they don't say Christian things?" Aren't we called to reach the lost and how do we reach the lost if we don't associate with them? I know it's your FB and you can use it however you like but so can the person you are wanting to un-"friend". You're not hanging out with them on a daily basis or loving what they do, you're networking with them. My atheist, agnostic, gay and other friends may very well get offended by my biblical posts but we both have the right to have our own way of thinking and still be friends.


There was one particular line that really bothered me which said, "They probably don't realize that my parents, siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews, religious acquaintances. political associations and clients are also my friends and might associate me with such vulgarity."  In case you weren't aware of it, Jesus ate with, associated with, walked with, talked to, washed the feet of, healed, loved and taught sinners. Some who ended up turning away from his love, cursed him to his face, denied him and in the end crucified him. Jesus was "associated" with sinners all over the place in the gospels. What if Jesus would have un-"friended" the prostitute who wiped his feet with her tears, Matthew  who was a tax collector  who later became Jesus' disciple or Peter who denied Jesus and Jesus still used him to build the church .  What if Jesus Unfriended You? Many of us Christians may not post cuss words or vulgar pictures on our statuses but remember these same people that are getting told they will be un-"friended" because of their statuses, see our "real lives" and know if we're actually living up to our own Christian FB status posts.

If you are reading this and you are one of the ones who placed this on your status, I'm in no way trying to condemn you or say that you're wrong, because we all have the right to post whatever we want. My point is to is bring awareness that as Christians, sometimes, unknowingly, our self righteous actions can push people away from Jesus because we make ourselves appear to be better than they are (which we are not) or because they don't think the way we do. If you un-"friend" them how will they ever see the positive and life giving posts you want to share about Jesus and what He has done in your life?  My hope is that you think about how you can reach them before you un-"friend" them.  


P.S. If you don't like the vulgarity of some of your FB friends then Facebook has an option to hide people so you won't have to see the vulgarity. This way instead of un-friending them they'll still be able to see the life giving words you post for them. 

5 comments:

  1. Mrs. Candy! I LOVED this!!!! You are so right! There are times I wanted to delete people because of their posts but then I thought: what if they don't get "Jesus" anywhere else then the Bible verses or devotionals I post (not trying to be self-righteous here either, lol) so I did hide them so I can't see their posts but they can see mine. You are AWESOME! :) :) :)

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  2. thank Jaci. I was hoping that I wouldn't come across as self righteous myself when writing this but I knew many people didn't realize how it could make other people feel. I remember being that person who was "never good enough for church people" and now that I belong to a spiritual family that walks with me through my mistakes I just want to keep us aware of our actions. Especially when we've walked with Jesus for a long time we tend to forget what it's like to be where those we are trying to reach are. Love ya Jaci.

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  3. EXACTLY!!! Preach it! LOL love you too!

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  4. Candy I really enjoyed this post :)

    Tessie

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