Social media sometimes elicits a response out of me that probably wasn’t intended. This most recent one had me telling the feed, “You are missing the point. You are missing the invitation.”
There was recently a post that started with “5 things Jesus did NOT say.” Then it went on to list follow your heart…Jesus said, “follow me.” Second, it lists be true to yourself… Jesus said, “whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves.” That is when the arrows of judgement started to hit. In general what was stated in the post was true, but my response was offense.
As someone who has experienced a childhood where I was not always safe, struggled to trust myself or others, reading this list brought back feelings of not being enough, feelings of judgment and the desire to yell at the originator of the post, “you are missing the point.”
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life[f] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. (Matthew 16:24-25 NIV).
The choice to end the verse early and separate it from the rest of the paragraph missed the what Jesus was doing. It missed the invitation. Jesus is inviting the reader into a new way of doing life. Jesus is saying when you choose me, you find a new way of doing life that is built on grace, mercy, transformation, redemption and most importantly love.
I’m reminded that my intent may not be received as intended. I’m reminded to always remember Jesus’ invitation to love as my purpose in sharing my story of transformation. I’m reminded that when I read something that doesn’t sit right to dig deeper into to the content including reading the scripture for myself to get the full context.
Do you have negative responses to posts on social media? Are they distorting who Jesus is? Share your experience here and breathe life and bring hope to others.