Maybe you have guessed from the title what I plan to address in this blog. Maybe I will step on your toes. But write I must.

We have all seen them, those Facebook posts where we are urged to “type amen” lest we miss out on financial reward or other types of blessing. There are those posts that insinuate if we scroll past without saying a prayer we might not have a heart. Or if we don’t repost a photo of Jesus, we are indicating our shame and/or rejection of Him. I am certain our Lord does not check the Facebook feed daily to see who is faithful. No, He knows our hearts. He has known who would be faithful since the beginning of time.

I realize that my blogs, which are primarily about Jesus, are posted on Facebook. I realize that a lot of what I say and post on Facebook is about Jesus. And I just can’t help myself. He is everything to me. He occupies my thoughts and is my reason for living. If you want to be my friend, you will just have to put up with both of us.

What’s at issue here is the nature of the posts.

The one that really breaks my heart insists that, if we type “amen,” cash will come our way. I’ve had a visual of a vending machine with individuals walking up, shouting “amen!” and money shooting out of a cloud. Self-serving faith. The Scriptures speak of such faith. (I Tim. 6:3-5)

I think this might be an appropriate place for righteous indignation. Why? Because they make our precious Lord a Facebook sideshow. They attempt to reduce Him to a power tool to be used for our manipulation, entertainment, and gain. And these posts make Christians look needy, greedy, judgmental, and disingenuous.

Does God want to bless us financially? Only He knows. But suggesting we can control Him like a puppet by typing “amen” is absolute mockery. It is God’s to choose whether or when to bless.

Lord, forgive us.

Make no mistake. He is not the Great Oz, and we are not the wizard behind the curtain. No, God is sovereign. He does as He chooses, when He chooses, for whom He chooses. What He chooses to do works into His overall plan for His purposes. We were not created to manipulate Facebook Jesus. We were not saved to expect cosmic Santa to make us comfortable.

In short: it’s not about us. If we are in Christ, we were created and saved to worship and glorify Him as the Holy of Holies and to shine the Light for a lost world. He owes us nothing because He has already done more for us on the cross than we deserve.

Honor Him as Savior, Lord, Master. Take Him out of the vending machine, and place Him on the throne where a triumphant King belongs.

To God to be the glory.

Joy in Jesus,

Jacquee