@stickyJesus. Toni Birdsong
"For God so loved the world tha the gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ........................................" John 3:16, NIV.........................................
Yes, love is an exceedingly odd word to throw into the digital conversation. But you must. It's in your Christ-filled DNA that you know and effectively communicate His story (the gospel) to others. Christ's life reflected the value He placed on love as the core of His relationships—even toward those who hated Him. The world came to know Him through love, and it's still through love that today's digital residents will come to know Him (through you).
wired to follow
We are thankful that God designed His plan to be replicated. Jesus came so that you could see and learn how to be just like Him. Because of His example, you're poised to do what He did.
Jesus maintained a primary connection with the Father, and that connection shaped everything He did. He knew who He was and whose He was. That clarity grounded and shaped His perspective. One of the things Jesus' baptism announced was His intention to follow God's will and His recognition that He belonged to God alone. Jesus knew how to live only in a state of obedience.
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"Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, 'I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?' But Jesus answered and said to him, 'Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.' Then he allowed Him."
..................................Matthew3:13-1S, NKJV ..................................
When Satan tempted Jesus in the desert, Jesus clearly demonstrated whose He was (and is). He held tightly to the Word of God and countered every temptation that Satan dished up. He emerged from the wilderness victorious and overcame forty days of intense testing and torment (see Matthew 4). He showed us it's possible to overcome any temptation in our paths.
When communicating in a Web-based world, it's critical to choose the authority of your life before you engage in meaningful conversations with others. Be assured, this new mission field is ripe with land mines, some with your very name on them. Remember, for all the lip service the Israelites gave the "Lord" of their lives as they fled the slavery of Egypt, it wasn't long before they were whipping out the golden calf for some home-style worship. They didn't fully realize who or whose they were and soon returned to their old ways.
You must maintain a holy, heavenly perspective, just as Jesus did, which is perhaps the most critical mandate for a Christ follower online. This connection to the Father is immensely important, and it is a topic we'll delve into much deeper later.
When Jesus started His ministry, He began to call individuals to "follow" Him.
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"Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea;for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, 'Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.'" ................................Matthew 4:18-19, NKJV ..................................
You will see and hear the expression "follow me" or "I'm following." a lot in the social networking realm, but to date, no one has yet to offer the return on investment (eternity) that Jesus offered. Once the disciples began following Him, Jesus proved worthy of their trust by being consistently genuine and authentic. Basically, He cared, and it showed as He walked, talked, prayed, ate, and lived out the highs and lows of daily life with His beloved tribe of twelve.
That same trust, built through consistent, real, one-on-one dialogue, is the goal in your online relationships. It will be a steadiness of character, a showing up, and a reaching out with a Jesus brand of sticky compassion that will touch hearts for eternity.
heart over head count
For Jesus it was never about the head count of the crowd He addressed; it was about the individual heart seeking Him out and eager to respond to Him. Recognize that value grows in the heart of one-on-one relationships, not in the number of people you're connected to online. Heart trumps head count every time. Be aware that Jesus' approach to relationship isn't the established norm in social networks. Many times people will follow you based on the number of followers, friends, or fans your organization accumulates. Many of these high numbers are valid and based on truly aligned minds; however, many of these numbers were grown by using paid services and aggressive following tactics.
Jesus proved that the stickier your message, the more followers you will have. Once you followed Jesus, you received His value immediately; you understood this was not going to be a regular hike through the hills. Jesus built His community on the Word of God and equipped His tribe to go out and reach the lost, those people living outside of communion with God. He entrusted His tribe to leave a legacy that would reach far into the future and rock lives until the end of time. You are part of that legacy. The core instructions remain:
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"As you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." ....................................MatthewlO:7-8,NKJV ....................................
it's a transformation thing
The goal of sharing your faith with another person isn't simply to broadcast information; it's to be a channel that aids the Holy Spirit in His work of transformation. In reaching out and building disciples online, look to Jesus and His inner circle. Jesus taught and modeled truth, and then He empowered the disciples to minister to and warn the lost, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse diseases, and drive out demons. Now that's seriously effective empowerment!
The best part of this promise is that you have the same Leader today. Jesus has drawn you, taught you, refined you, and empowered you to live a holy life set apart from this world. You've been charged by the Father to touch this and the next generation the way He's touched you. In thinking of ministering online, recognize that communities will be the virtual places where God will use you to teach, touch, pray for, and empower others. Sometimes, you may be speaking to nonbelievers; other times, to believers in dire need of God's truth.
Jesus trained His tribe to get moving beyond themselves. He commissioned them to get involved, to revolutionize their communities and their nation with truth. It was a loaded command. Teaching others would require the disciples to embody and exude the very heart, leadership, wisdom, and fortitude that Jesus had. A high calling, no doubt, but the disciples shared a burning passion to go. Before ascending to the Father, Jesus gave His beloved tribe their final charge:
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"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
...............................Matthew28:19-20, NKJV ...............................
After Jesus left for heaven, He fulfilled yet another promise. In the book of Acts, we learn of Pentecost and how a wildfire ignited and spread. Pentecost can be considered the tipping point of the Scriptures, the point at which everything changed. The