Viral Jesus For an Infected Church

I saw an ad today for a conversation with a Christian leader called “Viral Jesus” which “dives deep with ministry leaders, content creators, and influencers to learn how they make their faith go viral.” I’m not familiar with the leader nor am I opposed to helping people share their faith more effectively. I assume this is what they mean by “make their faith go viral.”

My main thought when I read the title of this series was: In this moment we need to make Jesus’ faith and Kingdom ethics go viral, not our own. We have a bad viral infection ravaging American Evangelicalism that has turned people away from the Way of Jesus, and toward all sorts of false Christianities that promote Christian nationalism and a culture war hysteria against all the boogymen of Leftism. Other Christians go along uncritically with liberal agendas and need to distinguish a Jesus-styled and biblically grounded “woke-ism” from unhealthy and ungodly forms. (For example, all talk of racial injustice is getting dismissed by some conservative Christians as liberal CRT, and it’s not.)

Thus, “Ministry leaders, content creators and influencers” may need to push pause, spend 6 months studying the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount, and then start leading and creating and influencing people toward living out this radically upside-down Way of the Kingdom. Spread more of the aroma of Jesus, not so much of our own faith.

Many leadership forums and conferences focus on tweaking the shape and style of the “wineskins” of our ministry (delivery methods, programs, etc.) But this is a moment to exam the quality of the “wine” that’s flowing through us, and make sure it tastes and smells like the new wine of the Kingdom. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5).

We need the Way of Jesus to go viral in our churches, and for the upside-down values of the Kingdom to rise in prominence above our political passions and convictions. We need church leaders to help guide their people out of captivity to partisan thinking, and to reawaken our imaginations to envision a Third Way that critiques the bad and appreciates the good on both sides of the political aisle.

The last thing we need right now is for certain bastardized forms of Christian faith to go more viral across our land.

When was the last time your church offered a class on peacemaking?

Have you ever heard a sermon on Jesus’ way of non-violence and gun ownership? Here’s a book to check out on this topic.

How should disciples of Jesus think about capital punishment? Here’s a podcast episode exploring the death penalty from a Christian perspective.

For centuries the church has claimed Jesus as our atoning sacrifice and savior of our souls, all the while letting convention worldly wisdom and pragmatic political ideologies shape our social ethics. To flip Jesus’ warning on its head, we have gained our soul, while often forfeiting our witness to the whole world (cf. Mark 8:36).

The New Testament is littered with warnings that if we have faith in Jesus (to save our soul) while we do not obey his commandments and walk in His ways, our very souls may be in jeopardy. “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’, but not do what I say” (Luke 6:46)? Why do you claim to be a Christian and go to church, but you do not surrender surrender your politics to King Jesus’ reign?

John the Baptist had a similar warning to the good “church going” religious people of his day who wanted to be baptized for the salvation of their souls, but weren’t as interested in radically reorienting their way of thinking and acting (=”repentance”). He said:

8Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. 9Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. 10Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire” (Matt 3:8-10).

In our day we might say, “Don’t just say to each other, ‘Were safe, for we prayed the prayer, walked the aisle, go to church, and read the Bible.’ Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees of Christians and churches who are producing the wrong fruit, pursuing the wrong kingdom, trying to “take back America for God” when Jesus is waiting for us to take back the church’s pure witness from all the unholy allegiances we have forged.

We need to turn off our political podcasts, silence cable news, push mute on Tucker and muzzle MSNBC, read less opinion pieces and more Gospels. We need to spread the scandalous truth of the Kingdom, and stop spreading lies and conspiracy theories.

I’m challenging anyone reading this to read through the four Gospels starting with a chapter a day, and then repeat until Jesus returns and/or Jesus’ Way begins to go viral in us and through us.

“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…

Lead us not into temptation [to un-Jesus like agendas]

but deliver us from [the] evil [of false Christianities].”

Come soon Jesus! Until that Day dawns, rising in our hearts (2 Peter 1).