Would Jesus Have Been a Facebooker?

Would Jesus have used Facebooker?

I bet you never thought to ask such a silly question, did you?

But certainly not as silly as some the memes I see posted on Facebook; memes that purport or at least imply to contain truth none of us could deny. Really?

Whenever I see one of these mindless memes I mentally recall the famous words of Jack Nicholson in the movie, A few Good Men:

“You can’t handle the truth!” 

But then I think:

“I could if the truth were actually revealed in this silly post.”

Come on, a meme is the ultimate insult to anyone's intelligence. It requires absolutely no work, no thinking, no investigative process, no research; just cut and paste (a favorite tactic for many Facebookers).

“Oh, that sounds about right, guess I’ll post it in order to change the minds of those who disagree with me.” Really?

Would Jesus have used Twitter and reduced his message down to 140 characters? 

Would he have been a fan of Instagram and posted pics of he and the twelve roaming across America?

Would he have used Snapchat? I do doubt that!

Quite frankly I don’t know what Jesus would have done had he lived today, although my imagination sometimes runs wild with speculation. I can only guess that he may have used the social media, but certainly not in the same ways we often do (shame on us).

But this I do know: He always told the truth.

When Jesus said: “He who lives by the sword dies by the sword” I take that to mean that violence is not a good conflict management tool (sorry gun lovers). Truth!

When he said: “Love your enemies” and “do not resist an evil doer” I take that to mean that he has another strategy in mind other than the use of bombs and bullets (which never solves anything anyway). Truth!

When he says: “Deny yourself and follow me” I take that to mean that being a Christian means more than just saying some prefabricated sinner’s prayer and mentally acknowledging him (just so I can escape hell and go to heaven no less). Truth!

When he says that we should care for “the least of these” he doesn't mean bitching about how much of our tax dollars are going towards the poor and welfare recipients. The poor are not pretty and they present little to no eye candy. But they are not the problem. Truth!

When he says: “Blessed are the peacemakers” I take that to mean that we are not just peace keepers but “makers.” Following Jesus implies that we seek peace by peaceful means. Truth!

When he tells me: “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free,” I take that to mean full truth is contained in him and not in some political ideology (let alone some Facebook meme). Truth!

Whether Jesus would have used Facebook, or Twitter, or Instagram, or Snapchat as an effective medium for his message is really not the right question to ask.

The better question to ask ourselves is this:

“Have we actually heard what he has already said and have we really embraced his full message?” 

Not just the parts that make us feel good about ourselves, or the parts that give us comfort, or the parts that support our theology or political ideology, or affirm our worldview.

The message of Jesus cannot be reduced to a meme or a tweet. It can’t be done folks.