When it comes to controversy,
people are generally kinder and more circumspect in real life than we are on
the Internet. I don’t think people are being fake, exactly. On Facebook, we can
express ourselves vociferously and unequivocally because we don’t have to see
the hurt, anger, or shock in our friends’ eyes – an experience that most of us
try to avoid having in real life. But I’ve been pondering this question lately:
Who are my friends, really? Are they the ones I experience on Facebook, or those
same people who seem so different when I interact with them in real life? Do
our stated opinions define us, or do our actions? Are we our “press releases”
posted on Facebook, or are our intimate interactions shared over a cup of
coffee the more authentic us?
I do know this – human beings tend
to be bad at friendship, and Facebook is a glaring example of our social
ineptitude. And yet, we all so desire connection and intimacy – it’s one of the
driving forces in our lives.
I also know this – Jesus came to
completely fulfill that desire we have to be known and loved. He came and said
(if I might paraphrase), “I don’t care who you are or where you’ve been or what
you’ve done. You were made for something better than being all about your self-centered
opinions and your selfish desires. You were made to be something different than
being lonely, unloving, and unloved. You
were made to love God and to love each other.”
“Now,” Jesus said, “don’t let your
hearts be troubled. I know you don’t know how to be this person you were
created to be – but I can teach you how, and I will. Just ask me, and of
course, I’ll do it! I can make you into someone who doesn’t even have to think
about loving, because you’ll just love. This will be who you are: A new
creature who loves God and loves others like God loves them. How do you know
I’m telling you the truth? Because I was there when We created you. I've come to fix what you’ve broken, and I’m going to do what no one else can. I’m going
to make the ultimate sacrifice that one friend can make for another, pay the
price that your lack of love demands, and finally, I’m going to defeat death
itself.”
And then…Jesus did exactly that.
Jesus told his friends
about his coming death and resurrection, all that was going to happen before it
happened, and then to comfort them I think, Jesus gave them a little taste of their future. He said, “Keep
desiring to know me, and I will know you. I will live with you, and I will
nourish you with God’s transformative love, like a vine nourishes its branches,
and you will bear the good fruit of love for God and for each other. That love – that’s how you and the world
will know that you are not orphans spinning out here all alone, but God’s beloved children. Next, we’ll teach the world
how to love, too.” Now THAT’s social networking, that’s our potential in
Christ, and Hallelujah! That’s Easter.
The words of Jesus that I have paraphrased above are from The Bible, and can be found in the Book of John, mostly in chapters 14-18.
