More than
ever we live in a sound-bite world. If
you are going to compose a Twitter message (a “tweet”), you only have 140
characters to get your point across. If
you are going to do a Vine video, you have six seconds. Snapchat can share pictures with others for
just a few seconds and then be erased forever (unless your friend takes a
screenshot before it disappears – beware!).
What would
Jesus tweet? Or, if we want to create
another best selling religious kitschy product – WWJT?
How about
this: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and
whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” That is 138 characters. A little harsh – did Jesus really say that? That just seems so, well, narrow! (Yes, he did say that. See Matthew 10:37)
OK, then
how about this: “Com 2 me all who labr & r hvy ladn & I will giv u rest. Take my
yke on u & lrn frm me 4 I am gntle & lwly in hrt & u will find rest
for yur souls.” That is a tough one
to tweet! In fact, I went 6 over my
limit of 140 characters even after doing a whole bunch of editing of words. Jesus needs to be more to the point don’t you
think? I didn’t even get the best part
in: “For
my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
(See Matthew 11:28-30).
Is there anything
Jesus said that is a great tweet, clear, concise, to the point? Here’s one of his best – and it is only 88
characters long: “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Now, that is short, to the point, clear,
concise – and exclusive. (It comes from
John 14:6.)
Here is a
dirty little secret – all religious beliefs and worldviews are exclusive. They all make claims that they say are true
and the truth, challenging us to accept or reject them. Yes, even the atheistic worldview and a
“tolerance” worldview is exclusive. A
statement like “All truth is relative” is an exclusive belief and is really saying,
“All truth is relative – except my one statement that all truth is relative –
that is an absolute truth.” Huh?
When you really
look at what Jesus said, you will come to the conclusion that Jesus calls for a
decision to be made. His love is made
available to all but it requires a choice to receive it or reject. “For
God so loved the world that he gave his son…”
We like those words. It is a
great tweet with 47 characters left over!
But the words don’t end there, the message is incomplete to stop
there. “…that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal
life.” (You'll find this in John 3:16.)
Do all
paths lead to God? Yes they do. But when you get to God, what is he going to
say? The historic, orthodox Christian
faith believes God will say, “What did you do with my son, Jesus? Did you believe in him? Did you receive him?”
And here is
God’s tweet – it is 195 characters but
that’s OK because he’s God, right?
“But to all who did
receive [Jesus], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children
of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the
will of man, but of God.” (That’s
John 1:12-13)
So, how
about you? What are you going to do with
Jesus? God is going to ask.
Peace and grace,
David
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