You know, sometimes I get certain forwards in my inbox that really tick me off. They usually originate from some Christian or other who's trying to gain support for some hot topic such as prayer in schools, abortion or whatever. The prevailing theme in these messages is always the same, though. It's the sting at the end of the message that says something like:
"Jesus wasn't ashamed to hang on the cross naked for you, funny how you're too ashamed to forward this message on to your friends."
The latest one I received today ended with this:
Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they WILL think of you for sending it. Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.
Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in!
In other words, "If you really were a good Christian you would forward this on. By deleting it, you're admitting to being a pathetic person."
This kind of thing angers me so much because Jesus was NOTHING like this yet people who profess to be his followers resort to these kind of tactics to spread their message. It's funny how children of God can sound like the accuser of the brethren sometimes.
I think people need more teaching about emotional manipulation and the fact that it's NOT a good way to get your point across. Jesus NEVER resorted to telling people they were pathetic to get them to do anything. He didn't make people feel worse about themselves. If someone was genuinely doing their best, he was (and still is) the very definition of compassion and grace. The only people who he gave a hard time were those who were so confident in their own righteousness that they didn't see a need for him in their lives.
If Jesus could inspire a group of twelve people to spread a message to the world, risking their lives and dying for it in the process without manipulation then why do we feel we need to manipulate to get more signatures on a petition? Isn't the kingdom of God better than this? The God who parted the Red Sea, fed thousands from a few loaves of bread, raised the dead and forgave our sins is more than capable of speaking to the recipient of an e-mail without us beating them to a pulp in the process.
Some of the examples of Christian behaviour I see through e-mail make me sad. I don't approve of these tactics and I don't see any evidence in the bible that God's character is like this either.
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