Sunday, November 24, 2013

Jesus doesn't want your tweets

I sit in the auditorium with a hundred others. The person at the front is talking about this person called Jesus. I hear something that strikes me. I think to myself, "I must tweet this!"

I pull out my phone and tweet this juicy twitbit of spiritual goodness. "Other people will read this and can benefit too!" I think to myself. Feeling pleased for my little bit of Jesus twittering, I listen for the next morsel I can fire into the twittersphere.

It doesn't take long. That song I know really well come up with that line which I love. Out comes the phone mid-song and I'm tweeting spiritual goodness to the world. This time so take the chorus to think of some good hash tags to make my tweet easier to find. "There!" I think to myself as I tap the send button. "Some really encouraging stuff is out there now."

But, does Jesus really want my tweets? Does he want my catchy, bite-size nuggets of wisdom I've carefully gleaned from this morning's meeting? Does he want my fingers flying over my touch keyboard as I sing or listen?

Or instead, does my loving father just want to me to be still and listen? To say what's really on my heart? To hear what's really on his heart?  When he looks at me, does he have a heavenly tally chart for my tweets and blog posts with score cards for spirituality?

"Woah! That tweet's a definite 9! What do you think, Spirit?"
"Pfft, what's that all about?! Maximum 4, archangel Michael."

That's not my father. My father longs for me to not put up a religious show of quotes, snapshots and acts of goodness but to enjoy a relationship with Him. To be honest with him about my shortcomings. To remind myself who he is (my father) and who I am because of Jesus (his child, loved simply because I am his). 

So, does Jesus want my tweets? More than a million tweets, retweets, favourites and quotes Jesus wants a relationship with me. He wants my heart in its dirty, scarred and broken state. Why? Because he loves me. Because I am his. Because his plans for me are good, to give me a hope and a future.

And that is far, far better than a million retweets, likes favourites and quotes. This is life. This is hope. This is love.

Jesus wants me. Just the way I am. To hear my voice, for me to hear his voice and be changed from the inside out. In singing, in hearing someone talk about who he is in the bible, he wants me to engage with who he is and enjoy a relationship with him.

Tweets are helpful. Most are good. But if tweeting memorable phrases comes above our personal day-to-day relationship with God then we need to consider what is my priority here and now? How can I know him better right no?

He loves me and wants me to know him. Wow! Maybe responding to that now comes first. There's always time for tweeting later on. I don't want to waste now.

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