What Would Jesus Tweet?

Thanks so much for coming by today! Isn't it amazing how our computers allow us to have this connection? I truly love it.

I love the connection that I can have with you through blogs and Facebook (I'm considering Twitter but am a techie lightweight), but I have been pondering the fulfillment that comes from face time over Facebook time for quite a while. When I was feeling Lonely, I don't think Facebook would have been much help. Here are some thoughts...I'd love your response.

God could have sent Jesus into any time of His choosing. Why didn’t He send Jesus during our day? Surely using television and internet would have been a more effective way to get the Word out. He could have Tweeted the Beatitudes one at a time. He could have done simulcasts to the multitudes without even needing to feed them. His message could have gone viral on YouTube, and Jesus surely would have had to apply for celebrity status on Facebook to “friend” the millions who requested Him. It would have been a highly efficient way to transmit the Light of the World.

Well, I confess that I don’t know exactly why God sent Jesus into a day and age with no telephones, television or internet. But maybe, just maybe, His choice of time sends us a message. Jesus chose deep relationships and creating a place a true belonging for His disciples as the way to transmit His message forward in time until He comes again. He was the one who created us in His own image with an inescapable need for face-to-face, heart-to-heart relationship. Maybe God sent Jesus when He did to show us that a place of true belonging with God and others is the only way to satisfy the longings of our souls.

I remember doing Beth Moore’s study Jesus the One and Only years ago. She explained Jesus’ relationships as an ever expanding set of concentric circles. In the circle closest to him were Peter, James and John. John was described as the disciple that Jesus loved, and the other two were always along on special outings like the Transfiguration. Jesus seemed to have an especially close relationship with these men, and that relationship was reflected in the time that He spent with them.

In the next circle out were the rest of the disciples. Jesus invested 3 years of His life in these men. They ate together, traveled together, healed together and fished together. Jesus taught them while they were “doing life,” and these relationships were the means by which the gospel would be spread world-wide.

Moving outward, the next circle included Jesus’ friends and family. I imagine people like Mary, Martha and Lazarus in this circle. These were people that scriptural accounts show had a special connection to Jesus. He spent time with them, and they knew Him well enough to call immediately when their brother fell ill. Mary, Jesus’ mother, and His brothers might also have been in this circle. The last circle contained the multitudes.

Although I can only strive to love everyone equally in my circles as Jesus did those in His circles, I can certainly use His life as a model. My inner circle contains those that I love, trust and “do life” with. The other circles can be friends and then acquaintances. I don’t have any multitudes following me, but maybe that’s where Facebook naturally falls. My friend list is my “multitude”! They are people that I love and have cultivated relationship with to varying degrees. That picture helps me to keep social networking in a proper perspective. It’s a means to relationship but not the primary means.

What do you think? Do you think social networking eases or increases America's loneliness problem?