Like anyone else, Jesus likes to take a break from his daily activities to peruse social media sites. He often “googles” Himself, checks out what his friends have been up to through Facebook, and even goes to Snapchat. He’s also joined a few neighborhood groups over the years just to make sure people are “loving thy neighbor.” “Even though I don’t technically live in these neighborhoods, I live enough in the hearts of some of the residents I count it,” said Jesus. “It’s just a good way to see how modern people are interacting with each other and to see if people are communicating with and treating each other in a way I see appropriate.” One of the many neighborhood sites Jesus belongs to is the Denver area Next Door site, which He visited recently. Jesus was shocked at the comments he was reading. “Dear God, some of the back and forth reminded me of Holy wars,” said Jesus. “Is that how people are connecting these days? Through semi-anonymous insults? To say the least, I was really disappointed.”
Jesus said that although he found the back and forth on some of the posts nauseating, he kept following it like a bad soap opera. “I really considered stepping in a couple of times,” said Jesus. “But, the human part of Me wanted to see how these things played out and just how ugly they could get. Does that make Me a bad person?” Jesus is really hoping this is rock bottom and that people learn to communicate more positively moving forward. “The reality for Me is that social media has only been around for less than 20 years of my 2000. So, I am doing my best to adjust and understand where things are going. But, being totally honest, I don’t like it. I mean some people were being total dicks, pardon My French.” Jesus recommends people do a little more empathizing when engaging with others on social media, including Next Door. “I know this may sound strange coming from a guy who has thousands of books written about Him, but it’s okay to listen to another person’s perspective without berating them. I still believe people can turn this around, but man, show a little restraint and thought before insults.” Jesus says He plans to give up social media for Lent. Editor’s Note: As Tom T. Hall said in his song ‘Trip to Hyden,’ “Every hundred yards a sign proclaimed that Christ was coming soon. And I thought, ‘Well, man, he’d sure be disappointed if he did.'”