Why so serious?

• He just posts to be controversial!
• He just wants a rise out of people!
• Why is he so serious?

I have heard these and other comments in the past few weeks concerning my tweets and subsequent Facebook posts. I have received a lot of push back in recent weeks and felt that remarks were needed as to why I post the way I do on Facebook and Twitter.

To begin please allow me to share a little bit about the history of religion. In the 17th century Christian philosophers in an attempt to "rescue" Christianity from the rise of rationalism and empiricism separated religion from science. The purpose of this separation was to ensure that Christianity survived the attacks which were being leveled at it by science. An unfortunate consequence of this decision was that Christianity was separated from having a "voice" in the public arena. Christianity became viewed as a private faith which should not be spoken about in the public arena. This attitude towards Christianity is still held today. Christianity may be practiced in church on Sunday, however, Christianity should not be shared throughout the week nor should Christianity have a "voice" in the public square.

Two examples of a public square which exists in our digital world is Facebook and Twitter. There are over 500 million active users on Facebook and there are over 1 million active users on Twitter. I have 1,092 friends on Facebook and 110 followers on Twitter. The majority of my friends on Facebook and Twitter are not followers of Jesus Christ; therefore, Facebook and Twitter provide a wonderful opportunity to share Christianity. I also have friends on these sites who are not actively sharing their faith and Facebook and Twitter provide a wonderful opportunity to encourage and exhort followers of Jesus to share their faith. Finally, I have friends on both sites who do not know a lot about Christianity; therefore, I have a wonderful opportunity to teach doctrine and the Bible. I have friends on these sites who I will never see again in person; however, by the grace of God I have the opportunity to evangelize and disciple.

I am bolder on Facebook and Twitter than in real life because of the high turnover of posts on the Facebook news feed. I want a post which will stop someone dead in their tracks while scrolling down the news feed. I want a statement which will stick in the minds of my friends long after they have logged off. I want my posts to be like a pebble in someone's shoe which continues to irritate them and drives them to investigate further the claim being made.

Am I posting just to be controversial? No; however, I do believe there is a difference between tweeting solely to be controversial and tweeting knowing a post will be controversial but still having to speak the truth in love. For example, last week I posted on the marriage amendment and I realized that the tweet, posts, and blog was going to be controversial; however, the truth still needed to be shared. Christianity needed to provide a voice in the marriage amendment discussion; therefore, even though I knew the posts would be controversial I still took a stand.

In conclusion, I have received requests to stop tweeting, posting, and blogging on controversial subject matters; however, I can not, nor will I stop. God has given me a burden to proclaim the Gospel and one of those avenues which have opened up to share is on Facebook and Twitter. Christianity must have a "voice" in the public arena. No longer should Christians be content to sit silently in our churches while society goes to Hell in a hand-basket. We must speak up and speak out for the sake of the Gospel and society. Will you join me?