What If Our Passions Were After God

     So, I've finally figured out that I indeed can't have my cake and eat it too...I can't have Facebook and football.  I can have one or the other, but not both at the same time.  It's something that Amy has been telling me for a long time, and I'll tell you when I finally realized that she was right.  Much to my displeasure, my alma mater (Mississippi State University) fell flat in our annual regular season finale against Ole Miss, our in-state rival a few Saturdays ago.  I mean, it wasn't even a game really.  Amy and I got home from our Thanksgiving travels right before kickoff, and before we have the cars fully unloaded, the score was 21-0 bad guys.  Come on guys...it was even senior day.  Possibly the greatest player in MSU history, Dak Prescott, was playing his final home game.  Everything was in place for a storybook ending to an outstanding career...at least until the game started.
 
     Over the course of the next few hours, I watched in complete disgust every time our bulldogs would show some glimmer of hope, things turned in the opposite direction.  "If we can just get a stop here and score quickly" turned into "how do we not cover that guy."  Amy could see that both my patience and my sanity were both floating right out the window.  She even told one of the kids that it would probably be best if no one bothered daddy the rest of the night.

     Now, I'm not usually one to get irrational about football, but this game is different.  This is a game that for me literally causes a divided family.  However, even in moments where I get wrapped up in it, I'm over it by the next day.  I've never understood the person who because of an athletic team that they aren't a part of losing, that somehow their week is shot.  I'm the type of person who gets upset in the moment, but for the most part I'm able to quickly put it behind me.  My issue comes in (and this is where the newly established no Facebook rule comes in) in getting through the game and back to the level of sanity that I typically have without saying or doing anything foolish.

     As the game was coming to an end and it was more than obvious that there was no miracle comeback to be made in Starkville that day, I took a cheap shot.  For those who don't keep up with college sports, it can be a pretty dirty business.  Coaches, alumni, and boosters are always accused of "buying" certain recruits to get them to come and play for their respective schools.  It's widely acknowledged that this takes place nearly everywhere to varying degrees.  That's not to say that it isn't illegal or that it isn't a detestable practice, but just that it's a reality.  Well, several of the key players for Ole Miss had some stories come out about their recruitment falling into this category, so I focused in on that.  [To be fair, several of the players of MSU have had similar stories written about them as well]  I wrote something to the effect of at least Ole Miss spent their money on quality players.  I know that it was a tasteless comment, but I didn't really view it as that big of a deal, especially not in that moment.  I expected to get a lot of Hotty Toddy's (their chant of sorts) back in return, which I did.  I knew that folks would let me have it (which they did), but I didn't expect what I saw.  People that I haven't spoken to in years were commenting, sending me messages, and really getting upset over what I had said.  In the span of only a few minutes, I had more people engaged in a conversation on social media than I had in quite some time...and that's when it hit me.

     I'm on social media a good bit (I wonder at times if I'm not on it too much).  For the most part, I enjoy reading articles, sharing things, and keeping up with old friends.  I've previously written about it on this blog.  However, it occurred to me during this "debate" that began Saturday night and ran well into Sunday morning how shameful it is that the passion for the gospel isn't as deep as the passion for athletics in our world.  Look, we've all heard the lines about the biggest church in Baton Rouge, LA being open on Saturday night, filled with Catholics, but there isn't a Bible anywhere in the place.  And that's not a situation unique to Baton Rouge, but is a reality in virtually all communities where major college football, professional football, or any other major sport exists.  The thing that kept ringing in my mind all throughout the day on Sunday was the fact that I see all types of Christian articles and blogs posted on Facebook pages, but none of them generate the volume of responses that something about an athletic event generates.  Quotes from great theological minds don't seem as important to folks as the latest shot that can be taken at someone with an opposing ideology.  Now, I'm not talking about those "Share if you love Jesus" posts; I'm talking about actual gospel proclamation.  I've posted several articles in the past few months with little-to-no feedback whatsoever.  However, the second that I posted anything against a college football team, you would have thought that I rented an ad that was running during halftime at the Super Bowl.

     Look, I'm slowly learning my lesson about reacting to things in the moment; especially athletics.  It's a slow process, but I'm getting there.  The newest challenge that has arisen out of all of this in my life is to see the people in my geographic area (south Louisiana and the Southeast in general) come to have a passion for the gospel that not only drawfs their passion for football, but makes it seem as if they don't even keep up with it.  Yes, I know that it goes without saying that that should have been my goal all along, and you're right.  I guess I just didn't see the (attempted) choking out of faith that our desire for athletics has on our society as a whole.

Facebook, Twitter, and....the Book of Acts?

                I couldn’t help but laugh the other day when my wife took a picture and couldn’t move fast enough to get it instantly uploaded to Facebook.  After getting it loaded and putting a little comment about what the picture was, she began to check back periodically to see how many “likes” her picture got.  I remember thinking to myself how foolish we have all become (and by we, I mean all of us and not specifically my wife).  Our current age of social media and blogs and instant access has created monsters…US.  We are the monsters; craving nothing but more access and information as fast as we can get it.

Look, I’m just as guilty of it as anyone else.  I check my social media accounts on my smartphone far too often.  We had a guy come in to church the other day and after talking to him and finding out his name I got on Facebook and Twitter and typed it in…nothing!  What do you mean no Facebook?  What do you mean he doesn’t have a Twitter account?  How and I going to find out more about this person without a little social media stalking?  Well, it turns out that going to lunch with him and actually having a conversation was a pretty good way of finding out who he really is and what he’s all about.

You know, when you really sit back and think about the social media phenomenon and all that goes with it, it’s quite amazing.  The problem is that many times it’s amazingly bad.  We all know that girl who got fired over posting inappropriate pictures on Facebook.  Some of us even have a friend that called in sick to work and was then caught "tweeting" from Florida when he was supposed to be home in bed.  We’ve seen friendships ruined over misinterpreted status updates, relationships shattered over incriminating picture tags, and arguments started over reactionary responses to current news stories.  So, I ask myself quite often, “With all of this bad, what good actually comes from social media?”

Well, for starters, it’s a great way to stay connected.  We live in a world that is moving further and further apart.  Generations ago, it was unheard of for more than a handful of folks to leave a hometown and never return.  Now, we move so often it’s hard to remember which place we actually call our hometown.  Social media is also a great way to share positive stories, discuss social matters (to an extent), and reconnect with friends we thought we would never see again.  It’s also a great way for us to show off our kids and families to our friends that they most likely will never meet.

However, of all of the things that I have found things like Facebook and Twitter to be good at, they have been the best at allowing me to fulfill Jesus' instructions to his disciples in Acts 1:8, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”  You see, I don’t know where the end of the earth is, but I’m pretty sure that I may never actually make it there in person (yes, I know that spheres don’t have ends).  However, through the technology of social media, smartphones, blogs, etc., I can reach out across the world with my words.  I can post a blog article here in south Louisiana and someone in Russia find it and be encouraged by it (which has happened).  I can post a status update quoting the inspiring and convicting words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer while waiting for a fish to bite my line only to have a friend in Turkey be renewed by my post.  I can randomly throw out a text of Scripture speaking to the gift of marriage and have it help someone to see that they are neglecting their spouse.  You see, there are numerous good things that can come about through our use of social media.  The question with social media (as with anything else in life) is how we are going to us it.

Sure, we could run around spreading hatred and bigotry (which contrary to what some folks think, that is not the goal of Christians).  We could post nothing but insults and messages of anger (with the occasional happy birthday message thrown in).  However, we can also use it to proclaim God’s Word.  I can’t tell you how many articles I find “shared” on Facebook or "tweeted out" that have been of tremendous blessing to both myself and my ministry.  Yes, I’m well aware of the fact that when we look at Facebook that we find someone who one day posts videos of a laughing cat and the next day has figured out the best way to run the country.  I’m well aware of the fact that Facebook is only a step below Wikipedia in the reliability department.  However, I also know that through the use of the internet (websites, blogs, social media, etc.), that we stand at a point in time of endless possibility.  There is no excuse for our not taking the gospel outward.  After all, you never know when something that you post today that brings glory to God won’t be the thing that leads someone else to see that glory at another time and in another place.