In the past few weeks, my heart has been burdened. I am seeing a proliferation of people, mostly young, but some not so young, who I know to be Christian and who I know come from good Christian families - flagrantly posting two very offensive words/phrases on Facebook. What are these that I find so offensive? First, is the initials "OMG" and the second is the "F" word.
Why are these so offensive to me? Well, OMG is texting shorthand for "Oh, my God!" - which is taking God's name in vain. God takes His name and His glory very serious. That is why He wrote in the Bible, "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, . . ." (Exodus 20:7). So, just because it is abbreviated; makes it no less offensive - to God and to all Christian believers.
Creating slang versions of His name is the same, i.e., saying "Geez" or "Jeezus" - is just as bad as using, "Oh, Jesus!" as an exclamation.
Most of the people I have seen writing these have relatively good education - and I am sure that, if that person tries just a little, he/she can find a more appropriate word to use to vent their frustration, to highlight their point, or to make an exclamation.
And, what does surprise me the most - is that 95% of the people I have seen recently using these offensive words on public forums - are female.
When we, especially we Christian believers, post on public forums such as Facebook - we are representing all Christian believers; and we are representing our Lord. We are told in 2 Corinthians 5:20, "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."
When I read this Scripture verse, I am reminded of a story my good Friend and mentor, Pastor Sam Lacanienta, told us many years ago. When Pastor Sam was a young pastor in the Philippines, one Sunday a relative who also was the Philippine Ambassador to England, came to the worship service. After the service, Pastor Sam asked him what it meant to be an ambassador for his country. He told Pastor Sam, "My main job as an ambassador to England - is to not embarrass my nation while doing my job."
As Christian ambassadors for Christ when we write on public forums, and even when in private discussions - we should be very aware of not embarrassing our Lord.
For my young Friends, when you post such words on Facebook and other networking channels - keep in mind that you are representing first, your Lord; then, yourself - and, very important - you are representing YOUR FAMILY, your mom, your dad, your siblings - all your family.
So, please, I know that you do not purposely want to be offensive - and I know you do not want to embarrass your family or yourself. Therefore, when you write on Facebook or other networking channels - write your message as though you are writing it to your mother. Write messages you would not be ashamed to have your mother and father read. And, write messages which will glorify our Lord.
And, to my non-believing Friends, while you may or may not find these words offensive; keep in mind when you post on any Forum or network channel - that those things are offensive to we Christians. So, as a courtesy to us, please do try to find other words or phrases to use. For that, we thank you.
Thank you and God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill Gray
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