I was recently invited to speak to a group of students and I as thought about my opening line the best I had was, "Who has SnapChat?" I immediately segregated the room by age; 12-21 and everybody else.
Don't get me wrong; the adult population is very familiar with social media. Facebook is the medium for everyone raising children and grandchildren. That's why the teens left the FB scene. Instagram is becoming the mediator for all ages; the teens were ready for adult invasion with this one. And SnapChat, well, it's for the cool people.
So, after most every students' hand was raised it was time to get to work. Identify the one person who could give me a clear-cut tutorial for how this SnapChat phenomenon works.
Phone in hand, app opened to a camera screen, she began snapping photos. So I said, "That's it! This is all the teenage buzz! It's a camera app!"
Then one by one, other students in the audience began making their appeal for the greatest app in the short history of apps. "You can choose filters! Add captions! Create groups! The photos can be erased! But you can take screen shots!" And the immediate feedback from these experts had my mind boggled.
Then it happened.
As we were standing there with phone in hand a new SnapChat message was received. Two ladies in the back of the room. Two mothers, whom I have the utmost respect, had taken to the SnapChat scene in the middle of my presentation. Are you kidding me?
But it couldn't have been at a more appropriate time.
Here's the crux of the story. We speak to what we are most passionate about.
The gospel of SnapChat has been utilized to tell millions of stories to millions of people crossing all lines of association; it's crossed the lines of age, race, socioeconomic status, sexual preference, and religious and political affiliation.
I made sure the students understood that the gospel of Jesus is no different. We will certainly share His story if indeed we find ourselves passionate about what He's done.
No amount of fear, frustration, or futility can stand in the way of us expressing our experiences to the masses of people with the platform that we've been given. This incredible news, the gospel of Jesus, is paramount to enlightening a generation of a life made possible only through the work of a cross. And that work is incomparable to any social media outlet we could ever experience.
So, why aren't we telling people about the gospel? It's easy. We've lost our appetite for His story. We've given our passions away to other, lesser things. We have found the ways of this world to be more satisfying than the ways of Christ.
What we need is a reminder of how satisfying He really is. To regain that passionate pursuit for the relationship He longs to have with us. Then, we will tell the story; the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
