I started playing Wordle a couple of weeks ago. It’s an online word game that takes a few minutes to play and gets your brain working. Then I did what a lot of other Wordle players started doing. I shared my daily results.
Without giving up the word of the day, you can share whether you deciphered it or not. That’s how I first saw the game. After a few days of my sharing, I noticed non-players asking about these weird posts they were seeing.
That’s when I made the simple connection.
Like me, after learning from others what the game was, some people tried it themselves. They play and share now, too. Others did not. In fact, many of those who did not insisted the rest of us should resist the urge to share our results every day.
What’s the connection? Well, there are many people who have little tolerance or appreciation for faith. They have their reasons, good or bad. Do they have the same Wordle feelings when they see faith-related stuff all the time?
We all have the urge to share what is important to us. Whether it’s faith, art, science, sports or the latest book we’ve read, we like to tell people about our experiences. As a result, if you’re a sports fan, they’ll call you a fanatic. If learning is your thing, you’re labeled a nerd. Faith? Oh, you’re one of those, aren’t you?
But that doesn’t stop us from watching our favorite teams. Nor do we put a halt to discovering new things about the world. As disciples of Jesus, we also could never be comfortable with not sharing how the Lord has blessed us.
Now, it is appropriate to talk about helpful ways to share faith. There are good and not-so-good approaches to doing so. I’ve annoyed people, I know. Someone commented once, “You see a sermon in everything, don’t you?” It wasn’t a compliment. I’ve never had the impression, though, a thoughtful phone call or message has pestered anyone. My faith compels me to do more of that kind of sharing than anything else.
In Luke 4, Jesus is going from synagogue to synagogue. That was his custom. He also used the occasions to proclaim the good news of the kingdom. And people responded. Sometimes with faith and awe. Other times with contempt and murderous desire. None of that kept Jesus from pursuing what he knew his calling to be.
We have salvation as a result. But even before that, we can see an important response from the people who knew him. When Jesus went to Simon’s house once, he found out Simon’s mother-in-law was ill. Luke says, “they asked about her.” What do you think they asked?
Also, while he was still there, people showed up at the house. Pay attention to what Luke says, “All those who had any who were sick with various kinds of diseases brought them to him.” The sick people didn’t bring themselves. Other people brought them.
It’s okay to share faith on Facebook. It’s easy to copy and paste a text message or share a meme–too easy not to do from time to time. But that’s about as much effort as anyone needs to talk about Wordle. So, let’s also think about ways we can bring others to know the healing and peace of God.
That might mean we take more time to pray for them. We may need to change our minds about them, too. It could even feel uncomfortable at times. Everyone’s going to share something. We share faith.
Stay blessed…john
