Be forewarned: Crankypants ON.
I’ve started to see something disturbing in my alter ego wanderings on Facebook. Well, the whole thing is pretty disturbing, but let’s narrow the field here.
Okay. Here I go. Unedited crank.
So. Tell me:
Why do some FB Christians need to say they “like” the Bible or that the Bible is one of their favorite books? I mean, isn’t that kind of a given? And don’t most of your FB friends already assume this about you, that you like the Bible? If a person is a Christian, this would imply that the Bible, the” handbook,” essentially, for Christians, is something that they like or is one of their favorite books. They go hand in hand, don’t they? A Bible and a Christian? How can you live as a Christian and not like-love-need the Bible? Saying so is stating the obvious and stating the obvious is boring. It’s like saying, “I’m a human and I like air” or “I’m a man and I like sex.”
Really? Wow. I am gobsmacked. Humans like air?? Men like sex??? Christians like the Bible????
This is totally new information!!!
I shall write these things down. They seem like good things to know that I did not previously know.
Frankly, if a Christian doesn’t like the Bible, I’d have to at least put an asterisk by their personal label of “Christian.”
It all strikes me as something Christians do in kneejerk response to either real or perceived expectations of what constitutes godliness. If I “like” the Bible, I will seem godly to others and I need to seem godly to others whether or not I actually am. It strikes me, too, as something Christians do for other Christians to avoid criticism and judgment from said other Christians. If I put the Bible as one of my favorite books, I might be spared judgment of my Christianity.
Nope, you won’t. Christians are as good at judging others as non-Christians, maybe even better. In my experience anyway.
You need to face it: Jesus isn’t impressed if you “like” the Bible on FB or list it as a favorite book. I don’t think it earns you special points or rewards in heaven. Rather like a Jesus fish on a car. Who cares? What eternal difference does it make? Will the Lord say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant, for taking 2 seconds to ‘like’ my book on FB”? How does it move anyone towards Jesus in a genuine or redemptive way? Will someone accept Jesus as Lord because you “liked” the Bible on your FB page? Not too likely. It’s simply misguided to do these things thinking they make some kind of eternal difference.
And if you’re a parent feeling compelled to do it so your kids can see you do it, I’d say that if your kids can’t see from the way you live and love them that you “like” the Bible, “liking” it on FB won’t make one eensy bit of difference to them — ever. I’m sure there are plenty of Bible-“liking” parents on FB who treat their kids like crap.
I hate this kind of thing. I hate it because it’s cheap virtue. It weighs less than a feather in the scales of eternity. Look at me! Proving my goodness by pressing a button! But I hate it too because it strikes me as so kneejerk and unthinking. Christians who do this don’t think about why they’re actually doing this or what meaning (ahem, zero) it really has. They just do it. These kinds of “likings” that Christians do on FB – and I’ve railed about them before but I’m too lazy and ranting right now to make a link – strike me almost as a form of Christian OCD. Really, they do. I honestly think the Christians who “like” Christian things on FB can’t NOT do it. If they’ve liked XYZ Christian thing on FB, I’d bet the recent Lotto jackpot they wouldnot/couldnot go back to that page and unlike XYZ Christian thing without feeling guilty or in serious eternal trouble.
It’s annoying. And kind of frightening to me, actually.
So I’d like to offer a hypothetical to these Christians:
Let’s say, for example, that JRR Tolkien is your only FB friend. Yes, he’s dead, but for the sake of this example, he’s come back from the dead, he’s not a zombie, he’s your friend in real life and, again, he’s your only FB friend. Given that scenario, would you then “like” his “Lord of the Rings” trilogy or list it among your favorite books on your FB page? Ol’ undead Tolkien is the only one who would see this. Wouldn’t doing that strike you as odd and unnecessary and kinda needy? Since you’re real life friends, wouldn’t he already know your opinion of his books? Don’t you think they would have come up between you at some point? So why would “liking” them be necessary, for your sake or his?
To follow my analogy, if Jesus were your only FB friend, would you “like” the Bible or put it as a favorite book? If those things are true for you – that you like the Bible, that it’s among your favorite books — Jesus already knows that, doesn’t he? If we can agree that that’s the case, it would be completely unnecessary for you to do it then, right? Actually, liking the Bible just for your friend Jesus’s sake strikes me as a bit of an insult to the omniscience of the Lord of the universe. Hm. I’m not suuure Jesus knows this, so I’d better tell him, in case that whole knowing everything dealio is starting to slip.
Really, it shows a lack of faith in his omniscience if you feel the need to state this for his benefit.
Oh ye of little faith!
But if this scenario isn’t true for you, if Jesus isn’t your only FB friend, then for whom are you doing this?
NOT Jesus, who knows it already. Not yourself, because, uhh, you know it already.
That only leaves ….. other people. Right?
Other people, who, frankly, don’t care. I’m sorry, but they really don’t. And if you have a FB friend who actually would confront you about the fact that you haven’t “liked” the Bible yet or listed it as a favorite book, first, you probably go to an FOC church and, second, you need to unfriend said “friend” immediately because life’s too short for that kind of friend and, besides, you have all eternity to love him ….. later, not now.
Come on, FB Christians. Don’t “like” the Bible for a show.
God already knows whether you do or you don’t.
That’s all that matters.
Ohhhh, Tracey! Crankypants is my favorite!!
Keep hitching up those Crankypants; you wear them well. 🙂
The other weird thing to “like” is bad/sad stuff–for example, links to tragic news videos. I don’t get that, either.
Kate P — THAT is weird. Who “likes” the tsunami or Hurricane Katrina? Bizarre.
Hahaha! I don’t think I’ve officially “liked” the Bible, although I do have it listed under my “favorite books” section.
The weird thing about FB though, that sometimes causes me reevaluate what I put on there for “likes” is that occasionally random things will show up – for example, N.T. Wright is one of my favorite authors/theologians, and once every couple days, something will pop up on FB with a quote from him, or an announcement about when/where he’s speaking/on TV. That’s interesting. Less interesting is when I get notifications about, say, the annivesary of Gregory Peck’s death because I “like” To Kill A Mockingbird.
So weird. But then, Facebook is weird, and seems to get weirder with each passing day…
The whole FB “like” thing makes me want to puke. But then so does most of what I read on Facebook. As far as I can tell, it’s tailored for people with the emotional maturity of 12 year olds.
By the way, I suspect that gives me official “crankypants” status. That’s fine because I’m comfy in those clothes.
Katie — That IS weird.
RT — You are officially a crankypants. 😉 It’s okay. Being a crankypants is awesome.
Thank you for the post. It’s exactly way I feel, also about reposting for being against cancer, bullying, heart disease, or any number of tragedies. My prayers and faith are mine and they don’t need to be justified on FB. I have enjoyed FB for connected with dear friends that I will probably never see again, but I don’t need to express my every thought there. I’ve also enjoyed learning about personal prayers that are needed. The prayers requests have become viral, because of FB. When my husband had a heart attack, I immediately asked that a request for prayers be put on FB.
Another of my FB rants is for people who repost, usually tragic information, such as the lost or deathly ill child, when the information is not even true. They just blindly repost. Check your facts, people. It only takes 60 seconds with the miracle of the internet. A few times, I’ve asked the person if they know the child. The answer is always no and my search on snopes.com shows the information to be false. Thought-less people. And I’m supposed to agree with their politics after I know what thought they put into their beliefs.
Just as I don’t expect to enter heaven’s gate and hear the question, “Are you Church of Christ or Catholic?”, I don’t expect to hear, “Did you repost My message on Facebook?”
I’m a new reader of your blog. Excellent writing!
Hi Carol — Welcome and thanks for your comment.
/My prayers and faith are mine and they don’t need to be justified on FB./
What a great way to put it — that’s it exactly. And this:
/Are you Church of Christ or Catholic?/
Hahahahaha.
As a Christian who desires, attempts to be in every way, and proclaims to be devout, I felt your post to be a little insensitive. You are right on one side of the scales. There are plenty of self-proclaimed Christians in this world who are nothing more than that, self-proclaimed. They want the fire insurance from the acceptance of Jesus Christ, yet they don’t aspire to do anything else that Jesus told them to do, thus they take his blood in vain. So these people i’m sure will do things like “liking” the Bible on FB, just to make a wave of feel good hit their soul. But let me tell you something, I was a non-believing athiest soul held in bondage of sin for 3 years of my life; and now that I have the truth in my heart, and the victory of my soul by the victor Jesus Christ, I want the WORLD to know! I am proud of it! And if there was a “passionatley love” option to click concerning the Bible on FB I would click it! And i do not take it in vain!! I study my bible daily and adore the time i get to do so. I cherish it. it is precious to me. I did “like” The Bible when the opportunity presented itself, but let me make it clear that i did not do so to prove anything to anyone else or seem more holy or more righteous than i am. I didnt have to have that mind set, or those motives because i am confident and adore my relationship with Jesus Christ. So please, next time you take such time to rant on a topic so precious as Christianity, or the Bible, dont make it so one sided, or atleast just speak for yourself, because you surely didnt speak for this girl.
Bethany — Well, I wasn’t trying to speak for you or anyone else. I speak for myself alone on this blog.
I’m sorry my post struck you as “insensitive,” but warning people from the get-go that I’m feeling cranky should clue the average reader into the fact that what they’re about to read is not a Hallmark card stuffed inside a Care Bear. Sometimes I’m cranky on this blog and I don’t apologize for that. I don’t feel it’s my job here to hold people’s hands or to make sure no feelings ever get hurt or no sensibilities ever get offended. I stand by what I wrote and my personal opinion of what “liking” the Bible on FB suggests. I think (in my opinion and from what I’ve observed) it’s done by people who are less, not more, secure in their faith and need others to see/believe certain things about them and their faith.
That you didn’t “like” my post is your prerogative. The fact that you seemed to take offense at it kind of proves my point above. You need me to know that you, for one, “liked” the Bible for all the right reasons, that you read the Bible daily, that that time is precious to you. This is true for many to most Christians, I imagine. So why do you need me to know this? And why do you need people to know you “like” the Bible? Both of these impulses seem to me to come from a place of insecurity.
As far as being one-sided, sure, I’ll cop to that. I have one opinion on this topic. I don’t have multiple opinions about it. To write the post that way would strike me as boring writing: Okay, this bugs me. But I can see why people do it. Although, again, it really bugs me. But I totally understand it. How weird would that be? I’m not Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and I’m not wishy-washy. If you want to write your own blog post extolling the virtues of “liking” various spiritual pages on FB, go for it. Then again, don’t be one-sided about it. (I need an eye roll emoticon, pippa.)
You know, I rant on “a topic so precious as Christianity” all the time and I’m a Christian. I actually think that gives me more of a right, not less, to rant about it, rather like griping about one’s own family. Who knows better but another family member? Perhaps we differ because I just don’t see the need to treat Christians or Christianity with kid gloves. The faith is either robust enough to take it or not.
And you, as a Christian, are either robust enough to take it or not.
Who cares what I, a total stranger to you, have to say about “liking” the Bible? Why does that get under your skin? Don’t you see that by even taking the time to defend your reason for doing so, you’re only proving my point that certain Christians have a need to be perceived a certain way? I tend to think someone who’s more secure about faith would just shrug her shoulders, say, “Eh, one person’s opinion” and move on.
It’s just curious to me, Bethany, that you’re taking this so personally when the post isn’t actually about you personally. I’m just asking people to think critically about the reasons behind this particular practice.
If you don’t want to ask yourself those questions, then, well, just ….. don’t.
Tracey:
a) I adore you. Also, I feel the same way about people “liking” things on Facebook.
b) It’s probably good that Bethany goaded you into admitting that you don’t speak for all of us and only have your own words and ideas to express. I kept wondering where MY insanely adorable nommable baby nephew was. It’s such a relief to know those were YOUR thoughts and I haven’t, in fact, misplaced him. I can now relax while gleefully reading posts about Banshee Boy. *whew* 😉
c) I wonder if they make Care Bear stuffed animals in his size. Because then you could have an ALMOST literal “Hallmark card stuffed inside a Care Bear” post and it would be AWESOME. I would help with the sewing. (See link)
http://www.instructables.com/id/Baby-Care-Bear-Costume/
Marisa — //It’s such a relief to know those were YOUR thoughts and I haven’t, in fact, misplaced him. //
Hahahahaha!!
And that costume is insane! Can I get Banshee Boy to dress up as a Care Bear stuffed with a Hallmark Card for Halloween this year? That would be fabulous!