Sunday Stories, January 21, 2018

Toothpaste and Facebook

Many years ago our youngest daughter set up my husband’s Facebook account.  Melissa is well known for her quick wit and subtle orneriness. She did not disappoint when engineering the social media presence of her dad.  When setting up his profile, she left me and her older sister out of the family. Several months later on the eve of my ministerial ordination in the Church of the Nazarene, she returned to daddy’s profile and made an update. Keith’s timeline announced that he and Gretchen Rooney had just married with the revelation that we were proud parents of new daughter Leah!  Congratulations poured in.

Our close circle of friends, including those present 20 something years earlier when we exchanged our vows, got quite a laugh. It was indeed funny. However, character is important and true to my nature of intense response, I agonized over new found friends and people across media that knew our Christian testimony and might question the validity of Christ’s presence in our life. Like tooth paste, that update couldn’t be put back in the tube.

I am not a fluent user of social media, but I love my few accounts. I savor the funny things your children do, yummy recipes and cool crafts. I pray when asked, and anxiously wait for news when tragedy strikes. Then there is this. Sometimes I cringe and think, “I don’t think I’d have told that.”

The human brain can think millions of ‘thinks’ daily. Maturity grants the ability to rapidly sift and sort, categorize and dispose of or use each impulse. BUT! Every thing that passes through every human mind does not need to come out of every moving mouth, or these days, finger tips. There needs to be a filtering process that occurs, because your news feed is a great indicator of your true heart and mind and like that line of cleaning cream on the bristles of your tooth brush, it can’t be undone.

Recently, Keith’s Facebook account again caused a stir when he reposted someone else’s testimony.  A life once bound by addiction and the dysfunctions that accompany those choices, found grace and freedom from sin.  Keith was deeply moved and rejoiced in their salvation. So he shared it…..without preempting it with a comment.  It appeared in his newsfeed as his very own.  Immediately, people began commenting. Several friends were astounded that he had kept his struggles hidden so well. Realizing his mistake and unable to discretely clarify, Keith removed the story, because it misrepresented his character. This story wasn’t going back in the tube either.

I can go back through my life’s story, or just my media archives, and see the blueprint of my character. I have sinned. The worst consequence is the hurt I’ve caused others.  Their pain hangs in the halls of my mind like portraits in a museum. Things I’ve done are like Colgate squeezed from a tube.

There is much room for shame and regret in the world of toothpaste impulses, social media blunders and interpersonal relationships ruined by sin. Except, God doesn’t work like an oral hygiene product. He sees us through the lens of His perfect creation. Isaiah 60 reveals that no matter the depth of man’s debauchery, God knows our original perfection, pre-sin, and has a plan of restoration.  He is love, He is good.

Protect your character like you do your credit score.  Both are important, but always remember, God chooses to see the best possible scenario and has a plan for its fulfillment.

With Minty Fresh Breath and Much Love,

Gretchen

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