Three social network apps reside on my iPhone/iPad. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter found homes in a folder marked social. I open them perhaps twice per day. Most days, I browse at most about five minutes each. LinkedIn is (mostly) business, so I may get into a conversation there. I block all political opinion mongering on Facebook and mostly look at “Pictures of a Beautiful Life” and notifications of birthdays and the like.
I have three Twitter streams–technology/manufacturing, soccer, spiritual life. Oh, and that’s where I get my local news.
They all want me to visit and stay. They will “promote” a couple of new people or relevant posts to suck me in. Because I follow some national church leaders, I’ve been seeing “tweets” from people who have been greatly damaged from the fallout of the demise of some prominent church leaders. These are painful stories of hurt, bitterness, unkindness, personal attacks on them.
You have to wonder how an organization that was supposed to be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, making disciples, loving one another get to such a sorry state?
Has any DMin or PhD researcher ever looked into the ration of people helped versus people hurt by churches?
Then I turn to the Christian Bible–the letters from Paul, James, Peter. Within 20 years of the beginning of the movement, people were bickering, hurting one another, discriminating against one another.
I guess it’s not a church problem. It’s a people problem.
A people problem means our problem. We must search into our own hearts from whence all good and evil flow. It lies with each of us to decide–am I someone who heals or someone who hurts?
I can’t fix the world. I can work on fixing me. And then trying to be a healer.
But my heart still aches for all those I see on Twitter and elsewhere who have been so torn apart by the people in a church.
Faith Venture 
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