Meme Fights.

I had an interesting exchange on the internet the other day.  I belong to some running communities on Facebook, where we share information, ask questions, and discuss running. It was Easter week and I decided to post a meme (picture with words over it) that paraphrased Micah 6:8. “Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God” where I’d crossed out “walk” and wrote “run”. I figure we can run humbly as well as we can walk, and thought it would be a nice inoffensive post.

I was wrong. Though my post received many likes and some positive comments, one woman shared that she felt it completely inappropriate for a running community. In her words, I was posting “religious propaganda” and she wasn’t afraid to bash it.

Have you ever had this happen? If you’re like me, the blood begins to boil inside you and you think of all the ways you can respond.

Here’s what I wanted to write in response: “Are you kidding me? The very mention of a God is offensive to you? It is so frustrating that we are now living in a world where people - like you - are so intolerant of others’ views that you can’t just ignore and scroll past a mildly religious meme without freaking out about it. And the reality is, it’s true of you too. Even if you don’t claim to believe in a higher power, your life is filled with “gods”. It may be science, or materialism, or yourself, but you’ve got “gods” in your life that you hold up. And this would still be good advice. Get over yourself.”

Thankfully, Jesus left us the Holy Spirit who steps in sometimes and helps us know when to shut up. I needed to shut up that day. Because we as Christians haven’t done a very good job of responding to people not agreeing with us. Instead of being like Jesus and offering grace and understanding to those who won’t offer it to us; we get in an argument and represent Jesus poorly. So instead of reacting, I responded. This is how our interchange went:

She: Seriously? God has to be brought up in a running group now?

Me: Apologies if it’s offensive.

She: Thanks. Yep, a little bit.

Me: Though, if you don’t like the God part, the rest is still not a bad way to live.

She: True. It was the assumption that everyone believes in a god that I didn't like. I do my best to avoid religion, and was surprised to find it on a running page. Might have overreacted due to Easter being my least favourite time of year though. Sorry if so!

Me: No worries. I hope your week is good despite the holiday.

She: Thank you! … I hope you have a good weekend too!

Now, full disclosure, she continued to go off about the post to others via the comments, especially when they stood up for my post. But at least I was stopped from being a bad representative of Christ to her. I have no idea why she doesn’t believe, or why Easter is especially hard for her, but I hope she will remember a Christian who was kind to her despite her intolerance.

I feel like what I see in the world or on the internet are Christians more interested in protecting their turf/rights than offering grace. Maybe we can be reminded that Jesus always chose grace; even as He prayed for forgiveness for those that nailed Him to a cross. Now, I’m definitely not saying to be like me; instead, let’s keep trying to be like Jesus.