It was early in Earths 21st century, and Gods yearning to

be with His children had Him anticipating His Sons imminent

return to Earth to reap the final harvest of righteous souls before
bringing mans reign on Earth to an end. As He contemplated
this momentous event, He took a moment to observe His
creation and see just how man was faring, but He was not
prepared for what He saw. Yes, there were acts of violence,
greed, deceit, and the general decline of character and morality
among mankind, but as repulsive as such behavior might be, it
was also the expected outcome of a race driven by sinful nature.
However, what He did not expect, what He found completely
disconcerting, was the state of His own children. He was aghast
to discover that His children, the church, His emissaries to the
world and witnesses to the sacrifice of His Son, had lost the

ability to relate to anyone outside their own little cliques, and

even those relationships had become precarious at best. The
situation was dire. Converts from the unchurched population
were almost nonexistent, and the children of the redeemed were
leaving the church in greater numbers than those who were
remaining.
God needed a plan. He could not let this problem persist.
He knew there were still many hearts around the world longing
to see the light. There were many men and women who needed
someone to love them and accept them for who they were, to
love them with His love. They did not need someone to judge
them on their ideologies, or sell them some denominational
brand. He knew that if they could ever experience true love, they
would eagerly turn to their creator, follow His principles, and
propagate that love to others. God was determined that these
souls would have their opportunity. He would not sacrifice these
children-to-be and He would not send His Son to the earth to
retrieve an incomplete bride.
The solution was clear. He needed a set of followers who
were untainted by the current Christian culture, followers who
could step in and reteach his people how to connect with a lost
and dying world. But how could He raise up followers to bridge
that gap in a culture so bent on separation? Then it hit Him. He
was not bound by the laws of time and space and He did not
have to recruit anyone from the current age. All He needed was
to find individuals in history who had already proven themselves
to be effective followers and transport them to the current chaos

of the 21st centuryand He knew just the men for the job. There
were twelve men who had changed the world of the first century
under the leadership of His Son, and if they could change the
world of their own time, surely they could redirect the church of
the current age.
The plan was simple. With His omnipotent power, He
would reach back in time, extract Jesus and the disciples from
strategic points in their lives, provide them with the cultural and
temporal preparation they would need, and then send them out
to teach the church what it means to be witnesses of His
salvation. Then, when their task was complete, He would simply
wipe their memories, return them to the points where they had
been extracted, and the timeline of history would continue
unbroken.
The final task was to determine where they should be
embedded, but that was an obvious choice. To effect the greatest
change in Christian culture He would place them in the region
where that culture was the most pronouncedthe United States
of America.
When the disciples arrived in this futuristic world, they
were amazed at how civilization had been transformed by
technology. Mundane day-to-day tasks had been essentially
eliminated, and people were now able to accomplish tasks the
disciples had never dreamed possible. With the right resources,
the world was at a persons fingertips. Journeys around the
globe were now measured in hours rather than years,

communication to anywhere was practically instantaneous, and

information on any topic imaginable was available at the stroke
of a few keys. They felt like cats in an unattended meat market.
There was a smorgasbord of choices and it was all there for the
taking. With all these modern conveniences, they knew their
task would be a cinch.
The crew went right to work. With technology in hand,
each disciple chose a region of the country, embedded himself in
that culture, and began carrying out his charge. Of course, Jesus,
being the Son Of God, was the most effective, and it did not take
long for Him to assemble a small network of believers and nonbelievers and to stimulate constructive interaction between them.
But the interaction did more than just open doors of
communication. Peoples lives began to change. Conflicts were
being resolved, prejudices were being overcome, and hard,
divisive convictions were being softened. As expected, the peace
and unity this interaction created in this small, yet diverse
population quickly became an oasis of peace in a broader society
steeped in conflict and division. Jesus little community began to
get noticed by others, and many who heard about it wanted to be
a part of this harmonious little micro community.
As Jesus little community grew, it eventually touched the
life of a prominent woman in a major metropolitan area of the
country. Though prominent and well connected in society, she
often longed for a world where people were kinder, more open,
and less selfish in their motives and actions. This community
that Jesus had created and of which she had become a part was

the epitome of her dreams. But she wanted it to grow faster. She
wanted this atmosphere of respect and acceptance to permeate
the world in her lifetime. So, she devised a plan to accelerate its
growth. She would use her influence to organize a banquet
where prominent political and social leaders of the U.S. could
come together to meet Jesus, hear what He had to say, and begin
implementing His principles on a much broader scale.
On the day of the big event, Jesus went to the banquet hall
early for prayer and self-preparation. Then, as the time for the
banquet drew near, Jesus wrapped up His prayer time and
decided to check in on the disciples to see how they were faring
in their endeavors. He took out his pad and tapped the Facebook
icon to see their latest posts. As He did, He was distracted from
his task as the doors to the hall began opening and guests began
to arrive. At first it was a trickle, but soon the room began
rapidly filling with people from all walks of life. Among the
early arrivers were President Obama, Hilary Clinton, T. D.
Jakes, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Bill Nye, Ken Ham, Richard
Dawkins, Ellen DeGeneres, Joyce Meyer, George Takei, Imam
Mohammad, and Al Gore. The list continued to grow as more
and more guests filed into the banquet hall.
As Jesus looked across this tapestry of individuals
gathering to meet Him, compassion began to well up until it felt
as if His heart would burst. There were so many passionate
people wanting to make a difference in their world, and all were
there for the purpose of meeting Him. Jesus could not wait for

the activities to begin. He wanted to get to know each and every

one of them. He wanted to know what motivated them. He
wanted to know their hopes, their passions, and their dreams.
Because, as love does, it makes the one who loves truly care
about what is important to the one who is loved. As He
expressed His love, their trust in Him would grow, and He
would be able to share more and more of how a life dedicated to
Him is the path to true peace, complete fulfilment, and
ultimately, eternal life.
As Jesus anticipated these opportunities, He realized that in
the first century, such a momentous occasion, though
stimulating, would also have been quite depressing since there
would have been no way to build relationships with so many.
But now, with the wonders of technology, meaningful
relationships were within His grasp. All He needed to do was to
connect with them through email and social media and He
would be able to interact with each of them on a daily basis
regardless of where they may be.
As Jesus contemplated the possibilities, He remembered the
task from which He had been distracted and decided to quickly
look at a few of the disciples posts before greeting His
esteemed guests. But as He scrolled through the pages, He was
perplexed by what He saw. Peter had posted an article criticizing
Obamas policies. James had shared a meme mocking the
presumed lack of intelligence of a particular presidential
candidate. John had posted a satirical comment that questioned
the character and intelligence of anyone who did not believe in

God. Andrew had posted a commentary on the arrogance of the

Supreme Court having redefined marriage. Phillip had shared an
article that presented anecdotal evidence that scientists were
promoting evolution to prove that God does not exist. Thomas
had posted a comment contemptibly questioning the validity of
the evidence for climate change. As Jesus continued scrolling,
the trend continued as each disciple shared other derogatory
comments regarding social and political issues of the day. Could
this be real? Had the disciples been so easily influenced by the
culture they were sent to change?
As the deluge of insolent comments was piercing His
thoughts, Jesus looked back up at the diversity of guests He was
planning to make a part of His life and connect with through
social media. But as He considered the comments they might
encounter from posts made by His own disciplesJesus wept.
Dr. J. M. Myers
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your
speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you
ought to answer each person.
Col 4:5-6
"We put no stumbling block in anyones path, so that our ministry will not be
discredited."
II Corinthians 6:3
"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be
made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and
trampled under foot by men.

Matthew 5:13