I’ve been mostly silent on Facebook for some time. Originally, I thought it would be a great way to stay in touch with friends and family to see just what was happening in their collective lives. It turned into a time toilet that had to be moderated. It also had turned into a place that builds tribes and silos. The algorithms only allow me to see those feeds of the folks I interact with on most occasions. I’d have to hunt down any other interesting parties. BUT………. What I saw most was the division it was bringing into society. A place where people hide behind the curtain of a make-believe life. Not an authentic platform to most – but not all.
On other occasions, it’s a place to share truth and let God decide who feels the impact. I do it through Embracing Brokenness Ministries because there’s a message I’ve been commissioned to deliver. On my personal feed occasionally too – sharing thought-provoking insights. Here’s one…..
The book I’m currently reading (along with 5 others because it’s hard to stay on one topic) is Andy Stanley‘s latest release. Not In It To Win It. He prayerfully decided to take on a hot topic in the church. I suspect he’ll catch some heat, but I believe he has been charged with challenging all Christ-followers to take some time to reflect on their internal, if not external, reactions to this pandemic and the world order as a whole. Here’s a quote. Please read on…….
“We systematically alienated more than half the souls in America through our Un-Christlike rhetoric and fear-based posturing. For all our talk of evangelism, revival, and reaching the lost, clearly those are not our primary concerns. That’s not what we value most. If it were we would not have allowed ourselves to be dragged into and embroiled in far less noble conflicts with far less noble goals. If evangelism and discipleship were truly most important, we would not have so easily surrendered influence with those who needed to be evangelized and discipled. We would not have allowed ourselves to be reduced to a voting bloc. A constituency. Part of the electorate. Pawns. . . . . . . We argued with our brothers and sisters and treated our neighbors with suspicion. We went to war with state and local officials over our right to gather shoulder to shoulder. . . in doors. . . in the middle of a pandemic. We left the impression that our personal faith would suffer irreversible harm if we couldn’t meet indoors every seven days. On social media we demonized and criticized, by name, people we never met. We gave up the moral high ground and confirmed what my kid’s generation has suspected for some time – namely, we don’t actually believe what we claim to believe. Our rhetoric and our responses say otherwise. We allowed ourselves to be divided over masks and vaccines. Perhaps the apex of the insanity being that not an insignificant number of evangelical Christian leaders considered — and still consider — COVID vaccines the mark of the beast. I’m still looking for the beast”
I could go on. I’m wondering if you agree or disagree with Andy’s premise?
I’m looking forward to reading more. This was just an excerpt from the Introduction. Hmmm…….
And that’s the memo.
Steve Adams
