I want to express how frustrating it is when I see something great on social media, but the person who made it completely ruins the post with manipulative statements like "share if you love Jesus", or "Jesus' true followers will share this", or "Jesus said if you're ashamed of Him, He will be ashamed of you, so share this if you're not ashamed". When I see these things, I want to find the people who made them, grab them by the collar of their shirt, and shout at them "How dare you? How dare you take something so beautiful and use it to feed your own ego? How dare you take the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, in such a flippant manner?"
If you want people to share your stuff, earn it. Post something worthy of being shared. Don't try to guilt trip people into it, and especially don't blaspheme the Lord in an effort to do so. This kind of behaviour is unacceptable. And my brethren, while I don't often ask things of you beyond prayer, I do ask that you help curb the spread of this abomination. If you see something using the Lord's name in such an unholy manner, do not share it. Even if the thing would be worth sharing, it ceases to be so the moment the original author uses God for internet karma.
To follow my own advice, I will here reproduce the poem I would have shared had the post it was in not contained that dreaded conclusion, that somehow, Jesus will not love me if I do not click those buttons:
"A minister passing through his church
in the middle of the day,
Decided to pause by the altar
and see who had come to pray.
Just then the back door opened,
a man came down the aisle,
The minister frowned as he saw
the man hadn't shaved in a while.
His shirt was kind of shabby
and his coat was worn and frayed,
the man knelt, he bowed his head,
then rose and walked away.
In the days that followed,
each noon time came this chap,
each time he knelt just for a moment,
a lunch pail in his lap.
Well, the minister's suspicions grew,
with robbery a main fear,
He decided to stop the man and ask him,
"What are you doing here?"
The old man said, he worked down the road.
Lunch was half an hour.
Lunchtime was his prayer time,
for finding strength and power.
"I stay only moments, see,
because the factory is so far away;
as I kneel here talking to the Lord,
this is kind of what I say:
"I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD,
HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN,
SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHER'S FRIENDSHIP
AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN.
DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I
THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY.
SO, JESUS, THIS IS JIM CHECKING IN TODAY."
The minister feeling foolish,
told Jim, that was fine.
He told the man he was welcome
to come and pray just anytime.
Time to go, Jim smiled, said
"Thanks." He hurried to the door.
The minister knelt at the altar,
he'd never done it before.
His cold heart melted, warmed with love,
and met with Jesus there.
As the tears flowed, in his heart,
he repeated old Jim's prayer:
"I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD,
HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN,
SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHER'S FRIENDSHIP
AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN.
I DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I
THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY.
SO, JESUS, THIS IS ME CHECKING IN TODAY."
Past noon one day, the minister noticed
that old Jim hadn't come.
As more days passed without Jim,
he began to worry some.
At the factory, he asked about him,
learning he was ill.
The hospital staff was worried,
but he'd given them a thrill.
One week that Jim was with them,
brought changes in the ward.
His smiles, a joy contagious.
Changed people, were his reward.
The head nurse couldn't understand
why Jim was so glad,
when no flowers, calls or cards came,
not a visitor he had.
The minister stayed by his bed,
he voiced the nurse's concern:
No friends came to show they cared.
He had nowhere to turn.
Looking surprised, old Jim spoke up
and with a winsome smile;
"the nurse is wrong, she couldn't know,
that in here all the while
everyday at noon He's here,
a dear friend of mine, you see,
He sits right down, takes my hand,
Leans over and says to me:
"I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, JIM,
HOW HAPPY I HAVE BEEN,
SINCE WE FOUND THIS FRIENDSHIP,
AND I TOOK AWAY YOUR SIN.
ALWAYS LOVE TO HEAR YOU PRAY,
I THINK ABOUT YOU EACH DAY,
AND SO JIM, THIS IS JESUS
CHECKING IN TODAY.""
As you can see, the poem is quite beautiful. I found it very inspirational. It caused many positive emotions as I read it, and the background music wasn't awful. And as I said, I would have shared it. But I began to fear those words were coming. "Like and share if you love Jesus. He'll be ashamed of you if you're ashamed of Him, and if you're ashamed, you won't share..." blah blah blah. And sure enough, not long after the poem ended, there they were. Beautiful words spoiled by a disgraceful violation of the 3rd commandment. Inspiration shattered by greed. Joy engulfed by rage. Why? Why would you feel the need to add that monstrosity? You should be ashamed. Not of Christ, but of how you have dragged His name through the mud for something so trivial as an ego boost. Delete those repugnant posts, go to your room, close the door. You need to check in with Jesus today, and tell Him how happy you are that He is taking this grievous sin away.