Faith and Life–It’s Complicated

Spare me your tweets and memes. Truth matters but so does delivery of truth. Ask Jesus.

Fans of social media.

Divisive people.

Evil forces.

What do they have in common?

They like to create camps and convince people there are only two choices on every issue impacting humans and society—and we all must choose one now. Our choices, they demand, divide us into those two camps, and we must never stray or suggest there is any nuance or complexity to be explored. In fact, what is most important to say, they contend, can be said in a meme—a tweet—a soundbite.

It’s a lie.

The truth is, there is often a world of biblical options—a third, fourth, maybe a tenth but that doesn’t fit neatly in a tweet or clever meme.

Here’s what faith and life have in common—they were simple and straightforward until sin entered the world. Now, they’re complex.

How do we know great truth is complex? Because Jesus didn’t send us a bumper sticker but a Bible. It’s an extensive, rich, multi-layered work of Holy Spirit-inspired literature that changes lives and transforms hearts. It isn’t consumed in a single click but is meant to be ingested over a lifetime.

We know God didn’t think redemption was as simple as educating, training, disciplining, or rewarding a soul. We know this because He sent His only Son to show us how to live and then die on the cross in our place before raising Him from the dead to live forever. That’s a drastic move full of complexity, worth contemplating for a lifetime.

We know this because we are changed when we enter a relationship with Jesus but over a lifetime, we experience transformation one truth at a time—truth in our innermost being. There’s nothing simple about that.

If your faith and life are simple, easy, and create beliefs that fit easily on a meme, then you’re just not paying attention.

Yes, the truth is that we must choose to worship Christ or be separated forever from God. There is no third option for salvation. But, God is at work in us in a million ways and we must treat one another with kindness, gentleness, and self-control as we speak this truth into one another’s lives.

Yes, the truth is that life is precious and needs to be protected in the womb, but don’t think tweeting about it is the answer. Sit with a young woman raised in a culture that demands she insist on her rights and let nothing interfere with her goals or she’s failing all those who came before. Listen to her confusion about abortion with the compassion Jesus had and discuss your convictions confidently but with humility and gentleness.

Yes, it’s true that no one should force their religious beliefs on anyone else, but don’t stick that in a meme. Instead, sit with a young man who survived his mother’s botched attempt to abort him and ask him about the impact of the public debate, the posters, the rhetoric on his soul.

Yes, the culture is straying from God and young people are leaving the church in droves. Don’t just update your status with a wagging finger. Instead, invite some young adults to your home and ask about their lives. Listen to their experiences with Christians and the understanding they have of Jesus from what they’ve heard. Listen and speak with gentleness and humility.

Yes, the church has gotten a lot wrong. Yes, there have been some breathtakingly awful public scandals and failures. But before you rant against your brothers and sisters online, sit with a woman whose life and marriage and children were transformed when an imperfect Christian businessman shared the gospel using a tract with her alcoholic husband and attended AA meetings with him for two years.

Yes, the Bible condemns homosexual behavior but instead of railing against the pride rainbow on your social media wall, sit with the mother in your congregation who prays every night for her son. She would love to invite him and his husband to church but she worries that rejection or a sermon on homosexuality would send him running from God. Get into this with her, not with cliché and pat answers but with a heart that beats like hers for these two young men she loves. Explore and honor the pain experienced at the intersection of love and truth as Jesus did on the cross.

Yes, sometimes the church communicates in legalistic ways and some messages are delivered with unyielding defiance of cultural norms. But, rather than update your status with all the ways the church should change, sit with a young woman who was delivered from a homosexual life by the same message that sent another running for the doors.

When we know God, we know His truth and His law is good, true, and unchanging. We also know He is full of compassion. We know He didn’t run after people who ran from Him or change the truth depending on the person in front of Him. But we also know His love is relentless and waiting at the top of the road like the father of the prodigal son.

Life and faith—it’s complicated.

Modern culture and social media tempt us to skim across the surface of life and faith. We think it takes courage to retweet someone else’s meme or to “like” a status on Facebook. It stretches the imagine to believe Jesus died on the cross so that we would have the courage to click.

Jesus left His throne and became one of us. He offered a face-to-face, sit across the dinner table, face the stones with the adulterous woman kind of love. He delivered hard truth in person. You can respect a God like that.

He could have come today and done it through a Messianic blog but instead, He came to a time of grimy feet and dusty robes, of fish and loaves, of Pharisees and droves of oppressed souls longing not for a message but for a man who was God made flesh.

And He lives in us. We’re supposed to be free to do more, not less.

So, spare me your memes. Delete your tweets. Get out from behind your finger click and invite someone who disagrees with you to share a meal. That’s when you’ll see God at work changing the world—starting with yours.

Wait? You don’t know any of these people I’ve listed? You don’t know anyone who disagrees with you? Wow. Get with Jesus and listen to His directions. He’ll guide you in the right direction.

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Faith and Life-It's Complicated Let's cut the memes for complex issues and return to face-to-face conversations. https://t.co/lck6qvs7ye #Jesus #faith

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) July 6, 2022