SPAM? a lot

I hate spam! Don’t you? I’m not sure how it happens, but I get totally bombarded with spam about products I don’t need. There are the warning emails that scare you to death. The “my husband just died and I need to give you his billions of dollars” emails. And then there are the funny emails.  I don’t think people realize the power of the “send” button. Today, we can get the word out literally across the world in a few clicks. It’s a viral thing. That’s the way our message should be “viral.” We can use the same power that sends all that useless junk to our inbox for good rather then to waste time. How? Send out an evite from our website to let people know what God is up to at TCC.

Today, Zak shared an article with me about how to avoid getting so much spam. One reader made these suggestions that I’ve put in italics. We thought it was funny because it sounds like this reader wants to hide from anyone who wants to send him email. These ideas also apply to the way most Christians like to keep “the world” at arms length and avoid getting dirt on their hands and live a comfortable, safe life. Warning: my responses are meant to be sarcastic.

TIPS TO AVOID SPAM:

1. Create an email account that is “impossible” to guess. Nothing is really impossible, it’s just a matter of time. But the more difficult it is to guess your email address, the less likely you are to get spam.

In the Christian life, we do this all the time. We speak our own language that is impossible to translate. By the time they figure out our Christianese, they are much less likely to come to Christ. Churches even name themselves in ways to keep out the unchurched. Some of my favorite examples are: Send The Light of Fargo Baptist Church, Holy Three-In-One Lutheran Church, Fakes Chapel United Methodist Church, and my favorite, Believers United Christian Fellowship (who’s that church for, I wonder?).

2. Don’t share your email address with anyone who uses Windows. This may be extreme, but infected Windows machines are the greatest source of email addresses used for spam lists.

And whatever you do, don’t share your life with people who aren’t Christ-followers. Infected sinners are the greatest source of impurity.

3. Advise everyone you communicate with by email that they should not include you in any mailing lists of stupid jokes, videos, or anything else, or you will block all email from them.

Advise everyone you communicate with they should not waste your time with the things that they’re interested in. After all, it’s all about you. And you are much too holy to be tainted by them.

You might create some bruised egos with the last two suggestions, but if people are going to be good net citizens, they need to learn what is and isn’t appropriate, and be punished when it’s not. They can’t say you didn’t warn them beforehand.

You might never lead anyone to a relationship with Christ by following these suggestions, but hey, at least you’ll feel good about yourself.

Okay, so I’m overreacting a bit, but let’s get real. Even with all the hassles of email, I still check it regularly and try to respond. Sure, some of it is worthless, but we’re able to use it as a tool to communicate with the people we care about.

The same thing is true for us as Christ-followers. We can’t isolate and insulate ourselves, as tempting as that might be. We need to be on the front lines and get our hands dirty. That’s where life-change happens. And if we care about people, we’ll do whatever we can to clearly communicate the message of God’s love. Without spam!