Monday, May 10

“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”

                                                                                                Romans 1:16

Remember Lydia and her face mask from a few weeks ago? Well, here we go again . . .

In March of 2018, The Franciscan University of Steubenville posted a series of Facebook ads to promote their online master’s programs. The next day, Facebook informed the school that they had rejected the ad for its offensive imagery. The reason given was, “Your ad can’t contain shocking, sensational, or excessively violent content.” Below is what they posted - The San Damiano Cross. It’s the cross often used by St. Francis of Assisi whose most famous writing started with the words, “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.”

(Look at Rev. Dan, adding pictures. Ain’t he a technological genius?!)

After the press got wind of the story, Facebook reversed course and allowed the ad. But in a surprising (but brilliant evangelism move), the university, in a follow-up blog, posted that they agreed with Facebook’s original decision. Here’s what they said:

“Indeed, the crucifixion of Christ … was the most sensational action in history: man executed his God. It was shocking, yes: God deigned to take on flesh and was “obedient unto death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8). And it was certainly excessively violent: a man scourged to within an inch of his life, nailed naked to a cross and left to die, all the hate of all the sin in the world poured out its wrath upon his humanity.”

The blog post concluded by noting that Christ’s love for us drove him to endure the violence of the Cross. “Love for you and for me, that we might not be eternally condemned for our sins but might have life eternal with him and his Father in heaven."

Do not water down the sacrifice Christ made. There is nothing that speaks louder to the love Christ had for us than Calvary’s cross.

Use every opportunity to share the Gospel - even a banned Facebook ad. We are called to do no less.

Father thank you for the love and sacrifice of Your Son. Give us the courage to share that love with the world . In Jesus’ name, AMEN.