May 11, 2011
Spam
Email spam used to be easier to identify, but the spammers are getting craftier all the time. Two that I’ve gotten in the past say, “The article is very professionally written. I enjoy reading Christianear.blogspot.com every day.” And, “You’ve got great points there, that’s why I always love checking out your blog.” I have to admit that just knowing the comments were false, didn’t stop them from striking a chord for my ego. No doubt we as believers are also guilty of using religious spam on one another. “I will show partiality to no one, nor will I flatter any man; for if I were skilled in flattery, my Maker would soon take me away.” (Job 32:21-22 NIV)
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2 comments:
Gail;
-----You know you’re being meaningfully addressed person to person when the expressions sent your way are packaged in terms you yourself commonly use. Only someone who knows you well can do that. By taking care to do it, they indicate real relationship is within their purpose. And when their own habitual expressions are mixed in, you know their purpose rises to the heart of your relationship with them. “The article is very professionally written...” and “You’ve got great points there...” are laden with generics meant to dissolve in the mouth of any personality. “I enjoy...every day,” and “...I always...” reach a bit beyond belief. Even the committed follower of your blog reads it some days only by force of habit; shoot, every normal person has days where they don’t find anything enjoyable anywhere. Moreover, you yourself have bad-hair-days and can’t get much deeper into writing your blog than plink, plink, plunk, plunking the keyboard. You have to admit, that day’s blog won’t be too enjoyable. Generic expressions just don’t settle into reality enough to smack of any particular purpose meant for you.
-----Then there are “Praise the Lord”, “Thank you Jesus”, “God is great”, “Give (gave) it to Him”, “It isn’t yours”, “It’s not about you”, etc. Don’t get me wrong; all such religious spam is true in its proper sense. But when it is applied to situations as if by a rubber stamp, you are left feeling like the particulars of what makes you haven’t even been noticed. That’s fine with the “It’s not about you” crowd, for to them “It‘s all about Jesus“. But the Word of God disagrees with ignoring the particulars, “Let each of you look...to the interests of others,” (Philip 2:4) “...let each of us please his neighbor for his good,” (Rom 15:2) and “...outdo one another in showing honor.” (Rom 12:10). How do you look to the interest of another without attending the particulars of that other? How do you please another without knowing what particularly pleases him? How do you show honor to another without honoring her particulars? It is about the particulars of the other you. To the “It’s all about Jesus” people I say that even Jesus said it’s about you, “...for I was hungry and you gave Me no food, I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome Me, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.” (Mat 25:42-43) Notice each particular need is met by its own specific requirement: food for hunger, drink for thirst, etc. Notice that specifically attending the particular needs of another He equates to attending Him. And to others you yourself are a specific other. Therefore Paul can say, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” (I Cor 12:26) The body is made of many members in all their particulars.
-----I avoid religious spam, cliché’s, and generic statements to a fault. Certain occasions do call for their real meaning, yet I still avoid them because their many senseless stampings have misshaped my attitude. That also fails to make relationship. Only through humble attention to the particulars of the one you’re with is your speech seasoned with salt.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
By the way, Gail, thank you for the great term: religious spam. I've struggled for years trying to mentally grasp this category of expression by an appropriate label. This label is perfect, because spam is not useless entirely. It is advertisement, albeit tasteless. And granted, often the real purpose of some religious spam is to advertise the spammer more than the Lord. But not all of it settles to that bottom of the barrel. Much of it really is meant to display the Lord's involvement in even mundane matters.
Steve
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