Monday Morning Quarterback – Encouraging God’s people to be responsible, encouraging and uplifting in their use of social media.
I’ve not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. Thomas Edison, on his experiments with prototypes for the light bulb
If I call myself a Christ-follower, and I’m not afraid to wear that label publicly, then it seems right to me that I should have some pretty strong buy-in to the great commission in Matthew 28: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” It is why we, as Christians, are still here…still breathing. Even after our salvation is secured, God leaves us here in order to fulfill this commission.
If that is all true, then our messaging on social media becomes purposeful, doesn’t it? We want to use our very public, very searchable, very permanent social media posts to point to God in some fashion…or at least to preserve our privilege to do so with readers in the future. So, in the spirit of Thomas Edison, here are some messages for us as Christians, which are guaranteed NOT TO WORK:
1. The candidate you voted for is… [an idiot, a liar, a lunatic, a buffoon, a criminal, a bigot, a murderer, etc.]. I don’t know, call me narrow-minded, call me naive, call me a bad American…but I’m pretty sure my starting our conversation with this message is not a good strategy for getting you to listen to anything I have to say about Jesus.
2. You are… [an idiot, a liar, a lunatic, a buffoon, a criminal, a bigot, a murderer, etc.]. Kind of the same thinking as above, but even more personal. When I use my voice to call people out in this way, I may as well have just decided I do not want to tell them anything at all about Christ.
3. You are a sinner (or are living a sinful lifestyle or are making sinful choices). First of all, just from an informational standpoint, I’ve wasted both our time by simply stating a theological truism…because we are all sinners. But more importantly, it’s not exactly opening line material if an actual conversation (or even a friendship) is what I am hoping for in the end. Is it true? Yes (for both of us). Is it good strategy to get you to listen to me? No.
4. Here’s where I weigh in on this extremely emotional and divisive and controversial subject… Do the math. If the entire country is deeply divided on the issue, then a large percentage of the people who have access to my post are going to be offended by it. If my goal is to build bridges for us to have honest and open conversations, so that I can share with you about the most important thing in my life (Jesus), why would I start the conversation with a slap in your face?
5. I have a deep seated need to be a part of a tribe, and here’s the tribe I choose and the colors I wear and if you find it offensive, it’s your problem and not mine. Tribes are a funny thing. We all have them. We all need them. And there are ways for me to talk about my tribe that are calculated to minimize the offense to those who are not in it. But when I throw it in your face and just expect you to “deal with it”, because you happened across my Twitter feed, I am losing my ability to speak truth into your life.
These are just some opening lines that seem guaranteed to fail to me. How about you? What opening lines have you seen Christ followers use that were ill-conceived and doomed from the outset?
© Blake Coffee