The Holy Bible Of...Twitter?

Renowned athletes, celebrated politicians, famous music and movie icons and everyday people like you and I are all tweeting their lives away for public enjoyment. What is a tweet you ask? A tweet refers to a short status message, limited to 140 characters, posted by members of the renowned, free-access micro-blogging platform website known as Twitter, which debuted to the public in 2006.

But someone else is on Twitter these days: Jesus Christ Himself. What is He doing there? Apparently, He decided the Bible was in need of an overhaul in order to meet the demands of an on-the-go, short 'n sweet, get-to-the-point messaging society.

According to reports from The Christian Post, 3,000 members of a church in Germany rallied around a project which aimed to condense "3, 906 Bible sections into 140 character messages" and construct them in true Twitter form.

The project begs the question "What would it have been like if God and Jesus had tweeted?" For example, God's tweet message during His day of rest (Genesis 2:2) in the Twitter Bible, reads "Thank God! It's Sunday!"

Under the username WWGT (Would What God Tweet), one individual, posing as Jesus, has been posting humorous, Biblically-reflective messages filled with pop culture references and clichés such as:

"The Lord is my iPhone. If I need to visit pastures, there's an app for that. If I need to walk valley of death, there's an app for that."

"If Jesus were walking on water today, He'd probably have to moonwalk for people to pay attention. (John 6.19)"

"More miracles [today]. 100-year-old Abraham impregnates 90-year-old wife. No Viagra involved. (Genesis 17.15-17)"

As an increasing number of notable pastors, Christian authors and religious speakers (including John Piper and Mark Driscoll) continue to employ the use of online social networking technologies such as Twitter to reach their audiences, many people are opposed to the Twitter Bible.

While I can understand the hesitant attitudes of many traditionalists and fundamentalist critics concerning a Twitter-based translation rewrite of the Bible, I also see the need for increased Biblical relevancy in today's ever-changing technological society. Our culture has become driven by and obsessed with these technologies. What better venue to saturate with the Word of God?

If Jesus were alive on Earth today, walking amongst us, would He be a tweeter? I'm afraid I do not know the answer to that rather interesting question. It is certainly a comical thought. But I do know it would not surprise me at all. Bear in mind that Jesus has always gone to where the people are. He was never one to shy away from mingling with anyone, even sinners.

For 2000 plus years, He has been the source of controversy, the reason for hope, the center of religious attention and the most culturally relevant figure in history. His name is Jesus.

"And it happened that He [Jesus] was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples. When the scribes and Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, 'Why is He [Jesus] eating with tax collectors and sinners?' And hearing this, Jesus said to them, 'It is not those who are healthy that need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mark 2:15-17, NASU, emphases added)

©2009 Joshua D. Givens & The Underground Christian E-Magazine

For more news, feature articles and commentary on pop culture from a Christian perspective, visit The Underground at: www.theundergroundsite.com.

This article was originally posted here: http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2009/10/the-holy-bible-of-twitter/