Jesus, The Performance Artist

Two different Facebook friends have posted declarations of faith in the last few days, requesting that all of their friends copy and paste the declaration to their Status.  Both of the declarations contained reminders that if we deny Christ in front of men, He will deny us to The Father at The Judgment.  I needed to ask myself why I hesitated to comply with their requests.  It is because I have become leery of reposting anything on Facebook, and I do not want to be responsible for turning anyone away from Christ. 

Many requests to repost information on Facebook turn out to be rumors or hoaxes.  That was not true in this case, as both of my friends accurately paraphrased what Jesus said.  I am concerned about turning anyone away from Christ because I have seen it happen.  Jesus told us not to judge anyone, but my impression has been that many people who call themselves Christians are some of the most judgmental and mean-spirited people around.  I think that many other people share this impression.  People I have known who have been some of the best examples of loving thy neighbor, who were most like the Good Samaritan, have been people who did not even think of themselves as Christians.  Reminding people that they face damnation unless they declare themselves as Christians will probably not motivate people to learn about Jesus Christ.  Jesus said that he came not to condemn the world, but to save it from condemnation.

If we are going to use Facebook and other social media to share the Good News, we must share the good news with those who have not heard it.  They can learn about not hiding their light under a bushel after they get interested and start reading a Bible.  Jesus preached a message of love and hope and the power of faith.  One important thing I learned from reading the Bible is that we do ourselves a larger favor by forgiving others than any favor we do for anyone else when we forgive them.  I learned that we can overcome fear by faith.

Jesus was the ultimate performance artist.  Historians regard the Gospels as historical documents.  The Crucifixion was an historical event, not just a religious event.  Even if we leave aside some of the dogma, such as whether Jesus was born of a virgin, He really did go to the cross to send a message.  He had enough love and enough faith in him to undergo torture and die an extremely painful death so that the rest of us can have a focal point for our faith.  He died so that we can have life more abundantly and so that we can face the afterlife without fear.