Jeremy L. Berg

What if we could follow Jesus on Twitter?  This question is asked all the time and is worthy of a good conversation.  I’m glad you can find innumerable articles with similar titles as mine.  Would he give new revelation via Twitter or just quote his own Bible verses daily?  One person was surprised and humored to find that Jesus was following them on Twitter!

It’s certainly fun to ask WWJT.  But I think the great irony of the entire question is that I don’t believe Jesus would ever bother twittering in the first place.  I know this is a controversial statement and many will begin making their case why Jesus certainly would use Twitter to spread his Kingdom message and so on.

I’m not going to build a case for my claim today.  For today I’ll just share my hunch.  My hunch is that Jesus would simply open a Twitter account one day, instantly be noticed by the Twitter community and overnight be followed by millions of people (once he proved he was the real Jesus Christ — and I have no idea how). Then, the twitter world would wait with great anticipation for Jesus to offer his first divine tweet and soon be disappointed when the following message came through the wire:

JESUS CHRIST: “Stop twittering and go into your prayer closet” (cf. Matt 6:6; Luke 5:16).

or

JESUS CHRIST: “Stop following my twitter and start following my lifestyle rhythms.”

or

JESUS CHRIST: “Why follow my twitter when you have the Holy Spirit within you?”

John Barry recently stated the usual critique of our technologically over-stimulated culture in his post What if Jesus Was on Twitter:

Like iPhones and Blackberrys, Jesus is with us all the time. One of the most powerful elements of Christ coming to earth is the fact that He brings the Holy Spirit. The Spirit then becomes our constant advocate and guide here on earth (John 14:16 –26), while Jesus (as the risen Son of God) is our advocate in heaven (1 John 2:1). If only I kept up with Jesus as much as I do with Twitter. So, here’s my pact. I am going to work at constant prayer, and I hope my suggestion of keeping an eye on the noise in your life will help you to do the same. Shut off the computer and turn off your phone sometime today. Try just listening to God. Because after all, he is a God who often shows up in the silence (1 Kings 19:11 –18).

I have written on the issue The Constant Buzz of the 21st Century Technopolis elsewhere (including at Jesus Creed) which I invite you to read.  But we’ve all heard this tune before.  I’m as guilty as everyone else (as I sit here on my laptop!) and long to form better habits and rhythms of holy disconnection from the fire hose of information coming at me from a thousand directions.  But I thought I’d ask once more:

What do you think Jesus would Twitter?  Or would he Twitter at all?