I keep seeing these Easter Facebook Challenge things showing up on status updates and they kind of drive me up a wall. I understand that the people who post them are at best trying to share the love of God or at worst have nothing better to say and I am not upset with the messenger, just the message.
However, it should be clear to those who know me that I detest anything religious and no one is exempt, not even myself, so I thought I would write my own “Facebook Challenge” from a more accurate interpretation of how they actually sound to those of you inclined to post such things to those you are trying to reach.
Facebook challenge…..During this couple of weeks before Easter, I am out to prove that my friends will repost anything that sounds religious, I hope I am right!!! Easter is not about bunnies and chocolate eggs or spring or early morning events on the beach celebrating the end of winter or time with your kids or creating family memories that last for generations. No, Easter is about something much more serious and horrifying like capital punishment and gruesome torture so let’s lift up god’s name and make a statement because we all know it is up to us to prove that our god is the real god at any cost!! When Jesus died horrifically on the cross he was thinking of You and Me and how important facebook and twitter would be to advance our fear based view of what his murder actually meant. If you are not ashamed to use fear and shame to force your “Christian friends” to freak out their “lost sinner friends” by posting religious statements on facebook, copy and repost that Jesus Christ is your Savior and if you give your kids candy Easter Sunday you will go to hell in an Easter basket. There is no candy in heaven and I’m not ashamed to shame you into believing what I believe and you shouldn’t be ashamed that you have allowed me to shame you into it either. After all, it is the Easter season and we must do everything in our power to reaffirm to those that have been wounded by religion that religious ideology is exactly the same in church as it was the last time they checked it out.
Seriously people, God does not NEED you to tell your friends Jesus is your savior – they got that part already. What God needs (and I use the term need loosely) is you to show them the hope you have because of it.
Now, go buy some chocolate eggs and thank Jesus for showing us the heart of his father.