The Jesus I Follow and Hashtags to Avoid

When writing Instagram posts, I have learned to be skeptical of hashtags with Jesus’ name. This is how it goes.

My Instagram post is about Jesus’ mercy. But #JesusMercy is overwhelmed by creepy Jesus images.

#Jesus isn’t so bad…as long as you are convinced men have the most authority in the pulpit. (Example: a bazillion pictures of a man preaching. #Jesus)

#JesusLovesYou is a library of Christian platitudes. (“God has a plan.” #JesusLovesYou)

#JesusAndCoffee is the perfect blend if you are looking for posts from Jesus’ cheer team. (“It’s Friday, don’t forget to be fabulous!” #JesusAndCoffee)

This is not the Jesus I follow. He cares not that I am fabulous nor that I know the most platitudes. (Someone please initiate #JesusPlatitudes.) I chose the hashtag #SpiritualLonging for at least two reasons to tell you about the Jesus I follow:

1. Jesus hashtags often present a shallow Jesus. Any hashtag that inspires you to be your best, fabulous self is leaving out your primary call to serve your neighbor. We do not serve our neighbor out of our best selves, but out of our broken selves. Only because Jesus became broken, and I am as broken and my life is as messy as yours can we together follow the Savior who makes us whole. He does not tell us to get fabulous and take away the mess of our lives. He entered the mess, died for you, and lived to tell about it.
2. An important distinction in any proclamation of Jesus is this: Don’t tell me what Jesus does, instead let me see it, feel it, taste it, yearn for it. The only difference between a good sermon and a bad sermon is whether those words tell you about Jesus, or give you Jesus. Do the words point to Jesus, or do the words put Jesus in your heart, your mouth, and your bones? That is the Jesus for whom I long and the Jesus whom I follow. You cannot receive that proclamation via Instagram posts. You need a preacher, so a church community becomes helpful. (“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” Romans 10:14.

There is no room in #SpiritualLonging for only one gender and sexual orientation of preachers, or Christian platitudes, or a fabulous you. Instead, we are filled with longing in a world that is not yet as it should be for our neighbor. And in our brokenness, we are washed in the promise that we are all on the way, and you are beloved, just as you are. #BeYourBestForJesus