This post is about Jesus, and if you don't share it you're going to hell.

Did the title get your attention? Did it scare you a little, or did you flippantly pass it by like the heathen you are? (I guess if you did that you wouldn't be reading this question anyway, so I'll assume you were terrified!)

Because this is a post about Jesus. 

Do you love Jesus?
Because if you do, you better prove it by sharing this blog post.

You do know what Jesus says about not forwarding these kinds of things on email, Facebook, or Twitter... right?

Ok. So this is something that's always kind of bugged me, and I wonder why I haven't really written about it before (or why Blimeycow hasn't made a video for it, for that matter. ;) But I think God might have told me "Go for it!" So here I am, writing this post when I meant to write a different one. :D

There are a lot of chain letters on the internet.

Some are just random: 

"Share this if you heart Justin Bieber!!!" 

Some are threatening: "If you don't share this post or send it to everyone you know, your toenails will grow into your mattress while you sleep, you'll never find love, and a demonic warthog will kill your family."  

And some make you feel guilty: "Matthew 10:33 says, '...Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.' Share this post if you're not ashamed!!!" 

 The first one is harmless (maybe a bit annoying, but harmless), but the second and third chain letters can get really annoying. The second one because they typically verge on ridiculous, and the third one because, well, they're a different kind of ridiculous.

I can't say I know the intentions of the people who make those kinds of pictures or stories that are passed around by religious guilt. Either they want to make something that gains popularity so bad that they feel the need to guilt people into sharing it, or they actually think it's their way of evangelizing or something. Whatever the reason, there is no logic in it. If somebody posts a picture of a sock, and I don't 'like'/share that picture, does that mean I've just denied the existence of socks? Um... no. I like socks. I wear them. People see me wear them. I just didn't happen to share the picture. :P

Living with the internet, there are a lot of interesting things going on that weren't issues before. People can play games about exercising without ever exercising their jiggly behinds. People can convince the world that they're a beautiful blonde twentysomething when they're really a middle aged bald guy with a foot fungus. And of course, people can proudly proclaim they're "not ashamed" of Jesus at a click of a button without having to commit to it in "real life."

How did people prove they loved Jesus before the internet? 

They used their lives. 

They followed His commands instead of following Him on Twitter. 

They shared God's word in love instead of threatening hell to people who won't share a picture.

If you don't want to deny Jesus, then don't actually deny Jesus. If people ask what you believe, tell them. If other people deny Jesus, don't agree with them. That's what Matthew 10:33 is referring to.

So the next time you get one in your email, or your news feed, or your Twitter page, or your blahblahblah... Don't let it make you feel guilty. Look at it as a challenge to prove that you love Jesus by obeying Him! I've shared stuff like that before, so I'll do it too. :D