Facebook as an indicator of Church rot

Have you ever scrolled through a Christian community on facebook, casually reading the posts, and using them as an indicator to assess the health of the Church? It’s a different tension than talking to someone at your local congregation, for on social media they lack conversational inhibitions and simply present tidbits of their theological makeup. It’s like reading someone's spiritual diary, in that you learn a lot about their foundation or lack thereof. 

 

What’s troubling is that many of the posts that garner the most unanimous applause are also the ones that are the most antithetical to Christianity. They present an alternative god to the Lord as revealed in Scripture, and they present a false Gospel. Sure, they may have truth sprinkled in their cocktail, but striking error poisons the drink.

 

Allow me to present one such post. I will not show the poster's name, or the community. What I want you to do is read it with this thought in mind, "Is this a good post reflective of my beliefs?", "Would I thumbs up it?", or "Do I agree with it?”

 

Here it is:

Lamentation of a God nerd

I’m a God nerd.  I like talking about God and I enjoy the company of people that like talking about God. Some people will talk sports, others about popular culture, and still others video games. But my mind is consumed with Scripture. If you are to accept that God is there, how could you not want to know everything about Him that is humanly possible? Wouldn’t you want to know what He told us about Himself? When your eyes see something that wondrous, that beautiful, they seldom wish to look away. That is the perspective of a God nerd.

The sad truth though, is that my type seems far and in between. Sure you can find Christians that like an odd conversation. But I find it hard to find people that really want to consistently dig in deeply (or even shallowly). God’s there, but they almost have Him compartmentalized off to the side. It’s like He’s in a cage and they let Him out once in a while to play with Him. Then they return Him into the cage and carry on with their life,

I don’t generally care to discuss how my work day was. I want to talk about those moments when God’s light broke through. I want to discuss insights from Scripture. And I love expounding my study for those that haven’t the desire or will to study.  I don’t mean to suggest that everyone should be a theologian. Or maybe I do. It’s just the way I’m hardwired and I don’t understand how God can’t be the central point by which every conversation orbits. This is likely a reflection of the body and its many different parts, each complimenting the other and doing a different thing. There is a degree by which we should all seek God out, but even in the OT everyone wasn’t a Levite. If David spent all his time studying Torah he wouldn’t have been able to run the Kingdom. Those that studied Torah informed him of God’s will so he could rule justly. I’m talking about the depth and breadth of study; everyone should grow in knowledge of God. If you’re not growing you’re standing still. And when you’re standing still it’s easier to walk backwards.

I noticed this theological loneliness decades ago. And the unfortunate consequence of it is you learn to blend in with those around you. It’s like in the movie “The Body Snatchers”, where a couple of humans had learnt that they could pass undetected in amongst the aliens by not expressing any emotion. You learn to never talk about God. And it seems to me that when you don’t talk about Him you start to forget about Him.

JESUS CHRIST - Much greater than a "Superstar

I don't like going to church (especially a new church) and feeling like I've just seen yet another performance of the rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar."

If you haven't seen the play, it ends with the suicide of Judas and crucifixion of Christ. The end.

We Christians know that the crucifixion of our Savior is not the end. It's a new beginning, a second birth, "born again," to quote Jesus' conversation at night with the sympathetic, believing pharisee, Nicodemus (John 3.)

I've heard the proverbial THE END from prominent televangelists. For instance a couple years ago I was watching Pat Robertson referencing Jesus on the "700 Club." I paraphrase him, "[It's amazing when you realize] that this man was born to die." With all due respect to Mr. Robertson, I ask how is that statement different than any other human being's fate on this earth?