What would Jesus Tweet?

One of my Facebook friends commented on the Twitter in Church story, writing on my wall: “Sometimes you have to wonder what God thinks of all this. Jesus preached in the open, no mike, no power point, just Him and the people.”

The question could easily be “Would Jesus use PowerPoint?” But more appropriate is “How does PowerPoint or any technology serve the Gospel?”

Many of us have suffered through what can only be described as ‘death by PowerPoint’ —presentations with paragraphs of tiny text or pie charts with miniature labels and presenters who proceed to read everything on the screen. Would Jesus do that? I don’t think so. Why would the Creator of the universe do something so un-creative.

However, if He used the medium, he would use it to illustrate His teaching with pictures. “Consider the lilies of the fields.” I like to think that when He spoke those words there were flowers nearby.

Or “A sower went out to sow.” Can’t you see the picture of a green tractor pulling a hopper full of seed, followed by close-ups of seed falling on rocks, fertile soil and the road?

Jesus used illustrations vivid in the minds of His listeners. The only record we have of Him writing anything is when He faced the accusers of the woman caught in adultery. What He wrote in the sand, we’ll never know. But His action likely reinforced the message.

PowerPoint, Twitter, Facebook and all the digital delights are simply tools. They help deliver the message. Look carefully at how Jesus worked and it becomes obvious that His goal was to build relationships with sinners, in other words everyone who, unlike the self-righteous Pharisees, understood their alienation from God.

There is an interesting discussion about homosexuality currently at www.geneveith.com . The gist of the discussion is that no sin is greater than another. They are all despicable to God—whether gossip, adultery, homosexual activity, lying, cheating or stealing. There is no hierarchy of sin.

Jesus used whatever tool available to Him to reach out to everyone with the message of God’s judgment and God’s mercy. Turning over the money-changer’s tables in the Temple court was a dramatic illustration. Calling a man out of a tree—and a sinner too— likely drew attention to His message. More dramatic, and eternally lasting, was His suffering, death and resurrection for the sins of the world—my sins and your sins— so that we could have a living relationship with God.

“God loves you” is a wonderful tweet. “I want to tell you about God’s love, my friend” is even better.