Why Didn’t Jesus Use Facebook?

Can you imagine Jesus on Facebook? The Beatitudes as tweets? The Sermon on the Mount on YouTube?

Just think of how many people He’d reach. I’ll bet Jesus would have more Twitter followers than Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift…combined!

In the title song of the 1970’s rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, Judas wonders why Jesus designed such an inefficient distribution plan for history’s most important story.

You’d have managed better if you’d had it planned.
Now why’d you choose such a backward time and such a strange land?

If you’d come today you could have reached the whole nation.
Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication.

Ever wonder why He decided to spend most of His time wandering around with a ragtag group of friends? Maybe Jesus knew something about the most effective way to spread an important story and change lives.

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Two years ago as we prepared for our 1500-mile Mississippi River ride, Michael White invited us to talk to the students at North Central University in Minneapolis. He also encouraged us to connect with an organization called Venture Expeditions.

At North Central we met Aaron and Paul from Venture and talked for a few minutes over lunch. We agreed to reconnect when Becky and I weren’t focused on moving down the river.

Several months later, a long conversation with Aaron included a life-altering suggestion, “You should join us for this week-long ride called IJM Freedom Tour. You need to see what Venture is all about.”

It was a nutty idea. I couldn’t ride 500 miles in a week. I couldn’t keep up with able-bodied riders. I couldn’t afford it, and didn’t know why I’d support International Justice Mission.

I guess my God wasn’t big enough. (If you haven’t read this post over at Bouncing Back, I encourage you to click the link now. I’ll wait.)

I’ve learned that Aaron and Paul are good at nutty ideas. The whole Venture story is crazy, by most standards. But somehow Aaron’s off-the-wall suggestion started to make sense, and in July of 2012 Becky and I traveled from Cincinnati to Washington DC with 25 cyclists who became like extended family.

Most of my objections proved to be accurate. I probably managed only 200 miles or so, mostly alone because I couldn’t keep up. I learned horrible things I didn’t want to know about modern-day slavery and IJM’s work to end this abuse.

When we finished, Becky and I believed we’d experienced a bit of Jesus’ unorthodox method for creating disciples and changing lives.

You take a small group of strangers away from their normal surroundings and out of their comfort zone. You invite them to unite around shared sacrifice for a common purpose. You eat together and serve each other, take turns leading and following. You spend extended time together, often in difficult environments. You talk about the journey, because for that time the journey is all that matters.

In that kind of setting, bonds form and strengthen—with self, others, and God. And since life is all about relationships, each person discovers a bit of themselves.

Sound familiar? Sorta like twelve guys following a teacher around the Judean desert in 4 BC. I’m not sure it scales well on YouTube.

Becky believed we could bring a similar model to our community. I, of course, figured it wouldn’t work. It would probably be too hard, too expensive, too complicated. I didn’t think enough people would sign up.

Perhaps someday I’ll learn I can’t out-dream God.

I’m grateful for Aaron and his nutty idea and the seed it planted. I’m grateful to Aaron and Paul and the entire Venture team for sharing their vision with us, for nurturing the seed with encouragement and love until it became Front Range FREEDOM Tour 2013.

I’m grateful for Becky’s big faith, for all those who encouraged and supported us. I’m grateful to each team member who accepted the risk and the challenge. It was hard and sweaty and scary.

I think that’s how it’s supposed to be. That’s why we don’t go alone.

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