Deeper shade of grey | spam
junk mail… junk friends
I
can hardly believe it but I quite miss them now they are no longer around.
For several years I have been bombarded by e-mails from speculators from Africa wanting to be my buddy, wanting to be my best friend.
I’ve changed my ISP and email address so no longer do I hear from William Zuma from Swaziland; Mrs Janet Komoah from Ghana; Mrs. Grace Edward from Botswana; Brother Jeff Ikey from Zimbabwe; Mrs. Susan Shabangu or Deacon Allen from Nigeria wanting me to share in untold millions. I miss their friendship that knew no bounds. Their concern as they tried really hard to get to know all about me and their empathy for my family. I miss their interest as they want to share my life. Their agenda… my bank account!!
But not to worry, I now have people I hardly know wanting to be my friend on Facebook. It is all a bit bizzare to me - it is great that I have been able to catch up with genuine friends; re-connect with the Youth Club at Poplar; connect with family across the world - but on the whole 50% of those listed on my friends list I consider acquaintances, some even good, but not friends. There is another agenda thing going on - these ‘friends’ are after another form of currency that is counted in the amount of friends they have listed. I’m a Facebook scalp.
Friendship with an agenda of stealth can never be friendship. I still shudder at the instructions that we as Christians need to get out and make friends in order to evangelise them. It is so easy to see through. A distasteful shadow of what evangelism should be.
No offence if I once met you in a lift five years ago; or met you at a friend of a cousin’s wedding - unless you send me £5 you are, just like friendship evangelism by stealth, history!
Deeper shade of grey appears every Wednesday on theRubicon. Find past posts and a bio of Capt. Gordon Cotterill here.
2 Comments to Deeper shade of grey | spam
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You will not be poked, funwalled, superwalled, chumped, bashed with a pillow, bitten by a vampire, or even blessed by me then.
In the context of what you wrote, how do you work out the officer’s covenant: befriend those who have no friends? Doesn’t the calling to mission propel you into friendships you wouldn’t otherwise have chosen? And if it does, are they genuine friendships?
Might still send you a Spurs invitation though…
I’m sure the covenant says somewhere about abstaining from support of spurs - check the small print!
Actually we could probably take a step or two back from the officer’s covenant and see we are called to love our neighbour. My beef probably is with those who are making friends with me to meet their need rather than my need. Which I guess is where we would need to explore what genuine friendship is if we are to befriend as Christ would have and indeed does.