The Church Gets “MapQuest-ed” Too
November 28, 2009
I started a new job recently.
On the first day I was supposed to get to work a little early to start some paperwork before the Monday morning meeting. Since I have time issues, I usually take some measures to ensure I’ll get there when I am supposed to (I don’t have a great internal mechanism for letting me know I’ve begun to be late). Part of my plan for this particular Monday was to drive out to the office at some point during the weekend, just to make sure I knew how long it took to get there (and therefore knew when to leave).
And then I never got around to it.
So there I was on Sunday night, relating this to a friend, and she asks me if I need to take off in order to take that drive. To which I reply, “Naw, I’ll just MapQuest it.”
And then I promptly got on the computer and used Google Maps to plot out my course.
As I thought about this later, this is what struck me. I say “MapQuest it,” even though I fully intend to use Google Maps, because “Google Maps it” just feels awkward coming out. It’s a testament to just how great the name MapQuest was when they branded their online map service in 1996. But the reality is, even though I probably say “MapQuest it” all the time, I haven’t used MapQuest since the day I found Google Maps. Yet here I am tossing their name around, and then doing something, which may look like it is associated with them, that isn’t connected with them at all.
So, this morning Jehovah’s Witnesses came to my front door. During their (disappointingly short) presentation they called themselves Christians. And, you know, they do stuff that looks like it is associated with Christianity, but in reality isn’t connected with it at all.
The church gets “MapQuest-ed” too.
And I don’t want to pick on the Jehovah’s Witnesses. We’ve got people in the media, people in politics, people in other religious faiths, and people in pseudo-ministries who all toss around the word “Christian,” appearing to be associated with it, but in reality having no connection at all.
It’s a testament to the power behind the movement that was started by Jesus.
Paul wrote in Philippians:
“It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.”
It begs the question, “How can you be okay with people co-opting the message of Christ for their own gain? How does that benefit the message of the gospel?”
If I were to guess, I’d say that maybe in a time when the world had yet to hear about the resurrection of Jesus, however some spread the story, priming people’s hearts to hear the truth is a good thing. And that maybe it doesn’t matter if people are first exposed to a pseudo-gospel, or even an anti-gospel, because it will just make the real thing sound that much sweeter.
I suppose that Paul believed in the power of the truth. And that when the truth reached a man’s heart, it was more powerful than any darkness that might have already been planted there.
“So,” he says, “let them preach. They think it will hurt me, but really it will just make the glorious truth all the more powerful when it leaves our lips.”
I have to admit that I am a bit inspired while thinking on this. Today, we don’t have any control over who does things in the name of “Christianity.” Terrible things have already been done in that name, and I’m sure there are terrible things yet to be done. But our responsibility is not to quiet their voices, but instead continue to lift up our own. We speak with the power of the truth and love; the power of salvation, and there is a world of hearts waiting to hear our words.
November 28, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Excellent insights. It made me so emotional I used three kleenexes (by which I mean any type of facial tissue, obviously). It left me with such a dry throat that I had to drink a coke (by which I mean any type of carbonated beverage – I am in Texas, after all). I’m going to xerox copies of it to give to friends.
Seriously, though, I really do agree. I’ve taken to calling myself a “follower of Jesus Christ” rather than a Christian in recent years, but I’ve recently been reconsidering that. What will I do when (not if) some fanatical heretics start calling themselves “Christ followers” or “followers of Jesus Christ?” I think I need to make my peace with Christian and follow Peter’s instructions: “However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name” (1 Pet 4:16).
November 28, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Gary, I really appreciate your comment, because it touches on something that I meant to add, but forgot about. I’ve seen, too, the trend of calling ourselves something different, so as to distance ourselves from those who use the name Christian. But you’re exactly right, those names can just as easily get hijacked.
November 28, 2009 at 8:17 pm
By the way, Google shouldn’t be too upset if people call it “mapquesting” when they use Google Maps. After all, there are millions of people who refer to the use of any internet search engine as “googling.” Cuts both ways.
November 30, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Tim, appreciate your earnest look at our beliefs and our society. And thanks for the call today; I know it’s your job, but your good spirit shone through the sales pitch. Go with God, brother.