In the lives of those of us who have Christ as Lord and Savior, we are connected to each other. We are connected because we were ransomed from hell and sin because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. We are connected because we now have one Father. We are also connected because Jesus sent the Holy Spirit into our lives. Those connections can be quiet evident even with strangers. I can look at some one and say he is a believer or she is a believer, before we even talk. Our relationship with Christ connects us with people all over the world. Up until a few years ago it was less concrete that this was the case. But the Internet and Social Media has changes all that.
We can now hear, see and communicate with people all around the world in seconds and with ease. This is a big change that my generation communicates and it can be challenging to describe to others. I’ll put it in my terms and with my example. I have people I truly call friends, whom I have never meet face to face. But I talk with them weekly and daily via Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Community Sites, Skype, etc). It is a blessing to connect with people who have things in common with and can tell you about new things you didn’t know about. It is even more of a blessing when they are a brother or sister in the Lord with you.
One of these friends is Amy Wright. We met each other via the enjoyment of the TV show LOST at the http://www.gspn.tv/ podcast network. We talked in groups, calls, and forum posts over the years. I shared my calling to go on mission trips to Colombia South America with the community. Amy prayed about it and the Lord led her to support my going through prayer and financial gifts.
I regret that I was not able to get to any of the community meetings that she attended. Work at school, working play productions, and finances prevented that. But It was a joy to get to know her. I and many in the community began to lift her up in prayer as she went into surgery. We continued to pray when the surgery revealed massive and untreatable cancer. We lifted her up as she blessed so many. She shared her situation and was so Christ like. She had the Lord’s peace and continued to encourage so many both near her in Tennessee and across the globe.
Today I learned (via social media) that she has gone home to be with the Lord. It is a hard time for her friends and family, but a joyous time as well. We know that she is in no more pain, she is at peace and more than that she is enjoying the direct presence of the Lord. Those of us who know the Lord look forward to the day when we can get to see her again in Heaven.
It is hard to explain to others (in my generation and older generations) about the impact both good and bad this has on me and the community. But it does not negate it. I just think it is just God’s plan of connecting people in the Gospel. He used the Roman system of roads and a common language to help spread the Gospel in the past. Now he is using another tool Social Media to do the same. It is just a tool and tools can be used correctly or incorrectly. Social Media does not have to separate us and keep people from direct contact. It can introduce people and start conversations that can be followed up in person. We just have to yield the tool to the Lord. Amy did that and she had a profound impact on people from all over the world.
