*By Tammy Carter, BCC, CLW Founding Member & Contributing Writer
On any given day i feel i’m standing fairly strong. I’m a wife for 40 years, a mother of three and grandmother, a Chaplain and an Optician by trade and a patriot so pretty much nothin’ scares me … until now.
If you have not heard the rumbles from FB about this, you’re not going to believe me, if you have, i’m thinking that your right behind me, heading for the bunker.
A Breitbart article recently led with the headline; Mark Zuckerberg wants churchgoers to connect with God on Facebook. There are some of you that are already terrified. Well hold on to your hat girls! He is planning to “incentivize” churchgoers to permanently move their religious worship online. Additionally, there is an article that goes on to say that FB is intensifying partnerships with “faith groups” and shaping the future of churchgoing as it entices users to connect with God on FB, rather than at a place of worship, according to a report by the New York Times. The Times also reported that FB now seeks to “become the virtual home for religious community” and adds “FB is shaping the future of religious experience itself, as it has done for political and social life”.
Is there anyone else that likens the idea of having FB “shape the future of churchgoing” to striking a match in a dynamite factory or rewriting theology that maintains Judas was really Jesus’ biggest fan? And oh yes, politics and our social life is the perfect blueprint for how to live our spiritual lives!
Now wait, I’m jumping ahead. Let’s back up. Mark here, wants churchgoers to “connect with God on Facebook”. Pardon me, but does that sound like he just unseated the Son of God and the sacrifice of His blood and the filling of the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us with groanings when we are too burdened to even pray? Is He saying that if you have enough RAM, an LG screen and “Intel inside” you have all you need to “connect” with the Creator of Heaven and Earth, the Sovereign LORD of lords and King of kings? Is it possible that there is not a soul in his circle that could have explained to him that worship is not for us! Worship is commanded by God to be worked out by His children by His Will in His timing and by His precepts. And what are those precepts? Mark 12:30-31 “Love your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind and all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor …..”, A touch screen is just not going to cut it for the “love your neighbor” command. And then there is scripture that commands “..let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker!” Psalm 95:6 and 1st Chronicles 16:29 “Give to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before Him! Worship the LORD in splendor of holiness.”. Lastly, Romans 12:1 …. Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” Carpel tunnel and lines on your legs from your laptop is not the living sacrifice scripture is talking about.
Do not get me wrong, .. internet services during the pandemic was a God-send. We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. In fact, online services were vital during the height of the virus outbreak. But this subterfuge my Sisters has nothing at all to do with loving God or serving His kingdom. This is about money, about power and …. wait for it,…. coercion. Don’t miss this! FB said the goal is to “shape” the future of churchgoing. That’s passive-aggressive little God, big BIG us. That someone that should have told him why we worship, should also have told him how we are to worship. Together, the church family, the family of mankind, men, women and children living and loving together, face to face, so we can hear the laughter, see the smiles, cry together and wipe away tears. A touch screen is simply never going to cut it. Mankind has One beating heart and He is the only One, that can truly “connect” us with God.
God is Truth. But you don’t even want me to get started about the firestorm surrounding how FB decides from on high what “truth” is and what it isn’t and when truth or opinion should be redacted or strategically and surgically disemboweled. Scary right?
So instead Sisters, forget the bunker. Head to church. Run,.. don’t walk! Let the lost take a knee while we get down on both and pray to Almighty God that He be merciful and just, forgiving, and full of grace. FB or no FB, the only “Face” we ever really need to see is the face of God upon our arrival in Heaven.
“i” is used in deference to the capitalization and glorification of the name of God
