Jeremy L. Berg

I want to experiment this year with a different approach to Facebook. First, let me say that I’m hardly on it. It’s largely a one-way street for me: I share my own stuff, and largely ignore others. (Sorry!) For my own sanity, I resist doom-scrolling and try to avoid all the rage-bait and BS, which means I also miss your adorable family photos and silly memes. Again, sorry.

But as a pastor I also want to have some kind of positive presence in the Facebook neighborhood, and not remain a total digital recluse. But I got pummeled and beat down during Covid, George Floyd, January 6, etc. when I tried to contribute some biblical perspectives and pastoral commentary. Facebook must be the pigpen Jesus had in mind when he warned of the folly of “casting pearls before swine” (Matt 7:6).

So, I took a long hiatus from any serious Facebook engagement. To be completely honest, I’m also just a bit too thin skinned to play the game. I take it too personally. I get stirred up, and I’ll spiral and ruminate on a negative comment for days. I’m proud to say I’ve never even been on Twitter/X, which I’m told is even more toxic.

I’ve chosen to share my pearls of Kingdom wisdom more selectively, mainly with my congregation on Sundays, and here at Kingdom Harbor. But core to my vocational identity and pastoral calling these days is to be a “happy sower” of God’s Word, tossing it indiscriminately onto all kinds of heart-soils, and trusting God to “not let his word return void” but take root and grow and produce Kingdom fruit (see Isaiah 55:11).

So, toward that end, I want to experiment this year. Instead of political posturing, angry rants, desperate pleas, or preachy sermons, I mainly want to flood the zone with the words of Scripture and teachings of Jesus on my feed this year. Okay, I’m a preacher, so I’ll probably add a couple words of commentary and application at times. But I like the idea of people constantly bumping up against the actual words of Jesus when they come across my feed on Facebook.

Jesus had no illusions that his words would meet both receptive soil and hard-hearted resistance. His truth often scandalizes and offends, and boy does it divide! We rarely hear sermons on this verse where Jesus acknowledges that his Kingdom message will divide families across ideological lines:

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household” (Matt 10:34-36).

And this is why he ended so many of his sermons saying, “Let all who have (receptive) ears to hear, listen.” That’s why he sometimes had to “wipe the dust off his feet” and head on to the next town in protest. Elsewhere the Word is likened to a “sharp, double-edged sword” that cuts through our own sinful exterior and attempts to evade God’s truth (see Heb. 4:12).

We can’t change hearts. Only God can do that inner work. Until the Spirit opens eyes and renews minds, we are still “seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s” (Matt 16:23). And we can’t force Jesus’ upside down Kingdom logic on people who insist on clinging to conventional, worldly wisdom and so-called “common sense.” As it is written:

“Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe… For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength” (1 Cor 1:20-21, 25).

So, today I began my campaign of flooding the Facebook zone, not partisan talking points or angry rants, but the words of Jesus with a bit of commentary. We’ll see what becomes of these gospel pearls as they land on the wet, mucky ground of the Facebook pigpen. Here’s my first post:

“Then Jesus added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ (Matt 9:13)

Application: Are we more concerned with extending mercy to those suffering around us, or with attending church services on Sunday? It’s not an either-or, but Jesus clearly tells us which one takes priority. “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world [and partisan politics] corrupt you” (James 1:27).

I was so delighted to be part of collecting donations and groceries to deliver to families afraid to leave their home to shop or work. The church is uniting and showing up in beautiful, peaceful and Kingdom ways in Minnesota (that probably won’t make news headlines). “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matt 5:7). Keep shining, Minnesota.

We invite anyone to join us in the circle at MainStreet Covenant Sundays at 5pm where we try to wrap our hearts and minds around precious pearls of Kingdom teaching and go live it out together in our everyday lives. Learn more at Mainstreet Covenant Church website.