Good Email, Bad Endings

Good Email, Bad Endings

Ken R. Anderson

It happens often, sometimes several times a week. A well meaning person will send me an inspirational story, full of poignancy, tugging at my heart strings, even inspiring and brightening my day,and I will be blessed. But then I get to the note at the end, the blessing evaporates, and I find myself saying, "O Lord, not again."

"Godly Guilt Trip"

There are two kinds of ending that at utterly inappropriate at the end of an inspirational story. One is the "godly guilt trip." There are many versions of it, but the last one I received said, "Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it. Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of
us. Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard
it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought
process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in!"
And then there was this "cute" one: "God won't ask how many
people you forwarded this to; He'll ask if you were ashamed to pass it on to your friends."

The guilt trip emails are sometimes sent by those who live their lives by "oughts and shoulds, and attend churches where it is normal to be "guilted' into giving, going, participating. Whole churches, even movements, are built this way, but it is not God's way. God does not motivate us, or move us to action through guilt. If we are doing something wrong, if we are guilty of something, God will move
on our hearts, convicting us of our sins, bringing us to repentance, and showing us the right way. But the guilt trip email is nothing less than manipulation. (Some call it spiritual witchcraft.) It is just not the way God works. If He wants us to send an inspirational email to a friend, He will lay it upon our heart to do so. We will feel the gentle nudge of His Holy Spirit. He will not come upon us, condemning us, making us feel bad for not having the courage of our
Christian convictions. Instead, we will be motivated by His love to share something helpful with someone it may bless.

"Good Luck"

The second inappropriate ending assures me of "good luck" if I
decide to send it on. Some even threaten something bad if I do not. "If you delete this after you read it... you will have 1 year of bad luck! But... if you send it 2 of your friends you will
automatically have 3 years of good luck!!! :-)" Another one
said, "The origin of this letter is unknown, but it brings good
luck to everyone who passes it on. Do not keep this letter. Just forward it to your friends to whom you wish good luck. You will see that something good will happen to you...." To the innocent this sounds so benign. Almost like passing on a blessing. But it is not.

The last time I received a "lucky email" I responded by
saying, "Wonderful story. Warmed my heart. Blessed my spirit.
Unfortunate ending."

We need to realize that "Luck" is not just a bad theological term. Webster's dictionary defines luck as the "force that brings good or bad." It is part of pre-Christian culture and religion. The ancient Greeks and Romans used to worship luck in the form of the goddess Fortuna. It also rules the Chinese popular religion of idolatry (including Feng Shui), and comes from a culture where the continual pursuit of luck keeps millions in bondage for their entire lives. It manifests itself in our culture through the world of gambling. Trying to increase our plus points while decreasing our negative. It is part of the ungodly world of superstition. "Knock on wood."

No, luck is not an innocent word. Neither is it a benign concept.
As Christians we are not "lucky," we are blessed. And we do not receive God's blessing by passing on inspirational emails to
everyone in our address book. It is good to bless people in any way we can, and to express it verbally, and I am sure that is what many luck-wishers intend to do, but fail. There are more appropriate ways to bless each other. Anglicans tend to say, "The Lord be with you," to which the appropriate response is, "And also with you." That is a much better salutation and response.

Innocent Hearts, Sinful Actions

I know that for the most part, the frequent forwarders of
inspirational email's have innocent hearts. They do not realize the spiritual principles involved. But, innocent intent or not, these principles are important, and what they are doing is wrong. The real danger comes not in failing to forward but in trespassing the principles of God's word, or worse, coming into agreement with an ungodly spirituality. If you are going to forward an inspirational story, delete the references to luck, and the manipulative guilt trips. Then perhaps the reader will receive a blessing, and just may feel led to pass it on to whomever the Lord lays on their heart.

(Now, this is an email that it just might be good for you to
forward, exactly as it is. In fact, if you send it to five people
five times within five minutes I promise that . . . Just joking.)

1 Timothy 4: 7 "Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly." NIV